No planning was involved in the purchase of Astar Love. Sandra and I just happened to be watching NH yearlings being auctioned at the DBS November Sale in 2003 when I was surprised to see a well-bred filly (half-sister to a Black-Type winning French hurdler, GREAT LOVE) pass out unsold at 4,500 guineas. We went outside to look at her and found a well-balanced individual with considerably quality, not the best walker but clearly value for money. We bought her privately for £5,000.
A closer look at her pedigree in the cold light of day revealed good news and bad. The good was that the races won by her half-brother were not Listed events, as shown in the catalogue, but Graded. Indeed, one was a Grade 1 race in which he beat the champion of his generation (and later highly successful sire), Saint des Saints. This aspect of the pedigree continued to improve for several years, as Great Love went on to win further Grade 2 and 3 races, also placing second in the French Champion Hurdle.
The bad news was that this was effectively a ‘one-horse pedigree’, with no other Black-Type horses until the fourth generation (although Grand Schlem later provided a modicum of extra quality in the second generation by placing in two such events).
We should probably have tried to race Astar Love, but, because of the costs and time involved, made no attempt to do so. She was first mated at the age of four, the obvious choice being Great Palm, sire of Great Love, who now stood in Ireland. She produced an attractive, good-moving colt foal, initially chestnut with a sprinkling of grey hairs but who rapidly turned light grey. He sold for €22,000 as a foal, far more than other offspring by the sire.
The problem with Great Palm was that he was becoming recognised as a source of wind problems, and sadly Astar Love’s foal, Sergeant Grey, was no exception. He failed to reach his foal price when offered for sale as a three-year old, was put into training but never came near to troubling the judge in seven races over hurdles and fences.
Next, Astar Love went to Alflora, producing a chestnut colt that was good-looking but who was an unimpressive (‘lazy’ if you were being optimistic) walker. He was sold to go to the trainer Chris Bealby as an early yearling in 2011, but nothing was heard of him afterwards.
Astar Love’s final foal was born when she was only seven years old, this being a filly that had such a likeness to her mother that she was nicknamed ‘Mini Koo’ (‘Koo’ being the stable-name for Astar Love, in recognition of Prince Andrew’s former love, Koo Stark – much nicer than ‘Fergie’ we thought). ‘Mini’ was a medium-sized foal with a lot of quality and no real faults, but no-one looked at her when she came up for sale that November and I didn’t want to pay several thousand pounds for upkeep until she could be reoffered at three.
On a whim MIchael Murphy from Wexford bought her for 600 euros. I thanked him after the sale and asked his plans, to which he replied that he had the Champion Bumper in mind. I countered that the Champion Hurdle would be better. Actually, I expected that the filly would live a life of anonymity in Ireland; but, although the targets mentioned were never attempted, she turned out to be far from anonymous: ‘Mini Koo’ became better known as LIFEBOAT MONA.
Unfortunately, the production of Mona involved a protracted labour during which we found Astar Love sweating early in the morning and the foal did not appear until mid-afternoon. We had the mare thoroughly washed out and decided to rest her that season. However, when she was covered by Midnight Legend, Fair Mix and Alflora a year later, she repeatedly failed to get in foal.
She was boarding at Shade Oak. John Spencer, the vet there, is as good as any in dealing with ‘problem’ broodmares, but he found that Astar Love’s uterus was so damaged that it would be impossible for her to carry a foal. Indeed, after Lifeboat Mona won on her NH debut at Warwick, John told me that he had kept a photograph of her mother’s uterus to illustrate to students ‘the worst uterus I have ever seen.’ I believe he has now seen a couple that were worse!
I asked Peter Hockenhull to find Astar Love a home if he could. I have never asked him where the home was.