Happy days for the McMurray family as Happy Romance's breeding career takes off

While Happy Romance's prolific racing career may be at an end, connections of the high-class mare are eagerly anticipating the start of her second chapter. 

Having cost just £25,000 from the 2019 Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale, bought by Peter and Ross Doyle, the daughter of Dandy Man went on to earn nearly £750,000 in a career which included seven wins for the Richard Hannon yard and first-time owners the McMurray family. 

Happy Romance won two valuable sales races – the Weatherbys Super Sprint and Goffs UK Premier Yearling Stakes – along with a brace of Group 3s, namely the Dick Poole Fillies' Stakes and Hackwood Stakes, and a couple of Listed contests.

She also took her owners to the Saudi Cup and Dubai World Cup meetings in 2022, finishing a close third at Riyadh and runner-up at Meydan in the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint, and was by no means disgraced in a second crack at the Al Quoz last March, when finishing sixth.  

The six-year-old is now retired but remains in the family's ownership as she embarks on her career at paddocks. 

Oliver McMurray says: "The whole way through her career we stated that we were going to keep her. We didn't get many offers we thought were worth taking and we had such fun with her racing and she was such a cheap purchase, so probably against the advice of 99 per cent of people we bumped into we decided to give breeding a crack.

Happy Romance travelled to Saudi Arabia and Dubai during her racing careerCredit: Andrew Parker - Grossick Photogr

"It would have been heart-breaking to see her go, it's more a sentimental reason I think. She won so much prize-money that she's more than paid for herself, though we never came into the sport to make money."

Now residing at Chasemore Farm in Surrey, Happy Romance has made the trip over to Ireland for a date with 2023 champion first-season sire and fellow former sprinter Blue Point – winner of the 2019 Al Quoz Sprint among three top-level strikes. 

Besides the commercial attractiveness of the mating, McMurray feels that the Darley stallion's rise to the top could accelerate further after this year's results on the track.

"Keeping her to speed seems to suit the market at the moment, especially in Europe we're getting this speed obsession," he explains. 

"Blue Point did very well in the ring last year, the half-brother to Battaash went for 1,500,000gns, and his two-year-olds flew last year. If they live up to their potential this season then he'll be a 100 grand stallion this time next year, so I thought there was an opportunity to get into him this time instead of paying that premium in 12 months' time."

It is a case of so far, so good as far as Happy Romance's first covering is concerned. 

Oliver McMurray (right) with his father Ray at Newbury in 2020

McMurray, speaking on Monday, says: "She's having her second scan today and will be covered again this week if she's not in foal."

He adds: "We've been down to Chasemore a few times, they've been brilliant with us and Jack [Conroy, farm manager] has kept us informed the whole way."

McMurray is aware of the unusual good fortune associated with the family's debut racehorse, given her relatively inexpensive cost at the sales, adding: "I think we're in a very unique position with her being our first horse. We've not had five or ten bad horses and been trying to claw that money back, so we might as well take advantage of the situation we're in."

The family are keen to have a small number of mares to breed from, although they would need to sell some of the young stock to balance the books.

Happy Romance: "It would have been heart breaking to see her go"Credit: Edward Whitaker

McMurray says: "I'd love to build a small broodmare band up, and the plan for us would be to maybe sell the first foal to balance the books, but the overall plan would be to run it like a commercial stud, where you sell the colts and keep the fillies. 

"But so much has to happen between now and then, the foal has to be good, correct, sound and sell well."

On the racing side, the McMurray family also have a three-year-old Churchill filly called Ardara Rose, who is expected to improve with experience this season. 

Oliver McMurray has also established a syndicate with pals for a colt by Starfield Stud's first-season sire and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes winner King Of Change. 

He says: "We've got the Churchill filly with Richard [Hannon], who was very weak last year, and if we can get a win into her this season we'd be over the moon. 

"I've additionally bought into a colt by King Of Change who is also with Richard. I've put a little syndicate together with a few friends and he looks quite smart."

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