Nobel Joshua flies flag for Austrian breeding with Fairyhouse win

Nobel Joshua - who carries the letters AUT after his name - struck a rare blow for Austrian breeding by breaking his maiden in the opening claimer at Fairyhouse on Wednesday evening.

Gelded before he ever made his debut at Dundalk in March, the son of Joshua Tree prevailed by the narrowest of margins on his eighth start under Chris Hayes for trainer Denis Hogan and owner Mohammed bin Hamad Khalifa Al Attiya.

According to the , the three-year-old gelding was one of only ten foals registered in Austria in 2016.

Nobel Joshua was bred by Wilhelm Furtner and sold as a yearling for €7,500 by Gestut Raipoltenbach at the Baden Baden October Mixed Sale, when signed for by GTM GmbH.

Nobel Joshua is a half-brother to German Group 3 winner Nausica Time with that pair out of the Daylami mare Namat, a half-sister to Sandown Listed bumper winner Dayia, while Bahrain Trophy scorer Wells Farhh Go appears further back on the page.

Nobel Joshua is one of a handful of winners for his sire Joshua Tree, a son of Montjeu most famous for winning three renewals of the Pattison Canadian International Stakes at Woodbine, a race in which he also finished second as a four-year-old.

Joshua Tree - who enjoyed spells with Aidan O'Brien, Marco Botti and Ed Dunlop, as well as a stint in Qatar - made a winning debut in an August maiden at Gowran Park at two and annexed the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes at Ascot on his third juvenile start.

His race record was enough to earn him a berth Haras du Grand Courgeon, where he has stood the past five seasons at a high of €3,000.

Intriguingly, Joshua Tree is out of the Grand Lodge mare Madeira Mist, who in 2014 produced a pair of Invincible Spirit filly twins in Madeira Moon and Magic Mist.

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