'She was a queen on the track and can be a queen off it' - chase ace to be sold

Fireworks are expected at the Aintree Sale next week when last year's Queen Mother Champion Chase winner Put The Kettle On goes under the hammer.

The eight-year-old's owners are sure they will never find another horse as good as the dual Cheltenham Festival winner, but they believe selling their horse of a lifetime is the right thing to do.

John Dermody, one of the part-owners, described the nine-time winner as a queen and believes that, in order to maximise her potential as a broodmare, she needs to join a top stud.

Watch Put The Kettle win the Champion Chase

He said: “We'd love to keep her but we don't have the facilities or the expertise to cater for a broodmare like her. She was a queen on the track and I have no doubt she will be a queen off it.”

“She hasn't been able to reproduce her top form this season and, for that reason, I suppose it was obvious that we would be thinking of selling her after her racing days were over.

"We had the option of dropping her in grade, where she could be more competitive but, from our perspective, she was a legend on the track and now she deserves to be a legend off it. Offering her up at auction is the best thing to do for everyone and I have no doubt that she will find a home at one of the leading studs.”

Put The Kettle On with delighted connections after the 2020 Arkle Chase at CheltenhamCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Put The Kettle On, who beat Fakir D'Oudairies in the 2020 Arkle, is a rare commodity, being the first mare to win a championship race over fences at the Cheltenham Festival since Dawn Run's Gold Cup triumph in 1986 and Dermody said he plans on reinvesting some of the proceeds Henry de Bromhead’s ace makes at the sales.

He said: “There has been a lot of interest in her since Cheltenham. We'll go in again – we won't disappear off into the sunset. Buying three-year-old fillies is an approach that has worked well for us and I'd imagine we will look to do the same because, when their racing career is over, they still have a residual value. But I doubt we will ever be able to buy one as good as Put The Kettle On.”

Read these stories next

Champion Chase heroine the star of Goffs UK Aintree Sale

Confirmed runners and riders for the 2022 Scottish Grand National at Ayr

Big-race tips: why this horse can win the 2022 Scottish Grand National at Ayr

Fakir D'Oudairies 'in great nick' for defence of Melling Chase at Aintree

For all our exclusive free bet offers and must-have daily promotions click the free bets button or go to racingpost.com/freebets