'It was a real thrill' - one-two in Goffs UK Spring Sale Bumper a delight for Swanbridge Bloodstock's Liz Lucas

It is not every day a debutant wins the most valuable bumper in Britain by 15 lengths, but that only tells part of the story for Swanbridge Bloodstock's Liz Lucas as she not only bred Saturday's emphatic winner Crest Of Glory, but also the second home in I'm A Lumberjack. 

The Goffs UK Spring Sale Bumper at Newbury included runners from the Paul Nicholls and Nicky Henderson yards, but the Anthony Honeyball-trained son of Black Sam Bellamy took apart what looked a classy field in stirring fashion. As one can imagine, Lucas's delight in the aftermath was evident to hear. 

She said: "It was a wonderful day and one we all dream about, it doesn't often come around and you've got to enjoy it when it's there."

"I was bowled over by what he did on Saturday and we had the second as well, which was a thrill. The first two were British-bred as well and by British stallions as I'm A Lumberjack is by Jack Hobbs. We don't have the mare population over here that Ireland has and a lot of us do it for fun, so it was a real thrill."

Crest Of Glory: impressive Goffs UK Spring Sale Bumper winner was bred by Swanbridge BloodstockCredit: Alan Crowhurst

In winning the £59,000 first prize, Crest Of Glory more than repaid his sales price of £48,000, having sold to Honeyball at last year's Goffs UK Spring Store Sale.

Lucas explained: "He was my favourite at the sales last year and I was thrilled when he went to a good yard, as it's half the battle going to a good home. 

"We always liked him but as a gelding he had to go, you can't keep them all and if you have to keep some it's the fillies really. He never took a lame step and was just a lovely, well-balanced horse with good conformation and attitude."

Crest Of Glory has an interesting backstory too as the fourth foal out of the Jethro Bloodstock-bred Hernando mare Dolly Penrose, the dam of another winner in Lord Roco and a full-sister to Flat stakes winner Misternando. The family is also that of the Aga Khan's brilliant Arc and Derby winner Sinndar.

Also a half-sister to Grade 2 Persian War Novices' Hurdle scorer Rimsky and the Grade 2-placed Mistanoora, Dolly Penrose is out of Mistinguett, a top-class hurdler who landed the Grade 1 Cleeve Hurdle by 15 lengths for Nigel Twiston-Davies and John Duggan in 1998. 

On how she came to own Dolly Penrose, Lucas explained: "His dam used to be owned by Jethro Bloodstock [breeding enterprise of the late Cornish comedian Jethro], who we were friends with before he sadly died a couple of years ago from Covid. 

"I had a few of his mares initially on loan and then bought one or two of them, including Dolly Penrose, who'd had a foal with him at this point and came in foal to his stallion, Rocamadour. I used to have Dolly Penrose's half-sister [Out Of The Mist] too, she was a good mare but was sadly killed in an accident. 

While Dolly Penrose is now reaching the end of her breeding career, there could still be a number of exciting updates to come, not least when she foals to Shade Oak's St Leger winner Logician next month. 

Lucas added: "She's in foal to Logician and is due towards the end of April, while we also have a Mukhadram two-year-old gelding out of her and a yearling filly by Postponed. She's the only filly I've had out of her so far.

"Dolly Penrose is 18 now and is getting on a bit but she's a lovely mare and it's a very talented family. Another filly would be great to keep the line going because she's in the twilight of her breeding career, although she could have another two or three foals."

Her four-year-old son is also poignantly from the final crop of Shade Oak Stud's Black Sam Bellamy, a dual Group 1-winning full-brother to the phenomenal Galileo. The sire of talents such as Sam Spinner, The Giant Bolster and Sam Brown, the late stallion looks to have another potential star on his hands.

Black Sam Bellamy in his racing pomp, his last crop are four-year-olds this yearCredit: Caroline Norris

She said of the mating: "Black Sam Bellamy suited this mare really well because she can be a bit sparky. He was laid-back and the covering produced a lovely foal."

While the British National Hunt breeding industry has some way to go to catch up with its Irish counterpart, there are signs of shoots beginning to emerge with a number of top-class young stallions joining the ranks. Two of them are very familiar to Lucas and both were winners of British or Irish Classics during their racing days to boot.

"We've got Logician and Jack Hobbs, whose first crop is doing well - we sold one of his as a foal and he won his point-to-point in Ireland before selling to John McConnell for £210,000 at the Tattersalls Cheltenham Festival Sale recently," Lucas commented.

"Golden Horn also moved to Overbury, I used him last year and got a colt by his born on Saturday lunchtime before the racing, so it was a fantastic day."

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