The mare Lamanver Homerun provides one of the examples (another is that of Feathard Lady) where I gave a friend the best advice I could about their breeding operations but it was completely disregarded. Given the outcome, I can’t say I felt unduly disappointed in either case.
Donna Christensen began with a single mare, Lamanver Homerun, who she bought as a young filly on an impulse and raced successfully to win a bumper, two hurdles and a chase, gaining an Official Rating of 139. Donna retired her to stud and there she produced a plethora of Lamanvers, all of whom Donna put into training. Of these, Lady of Lamanver won the EBF Mares Final at Newbury but was disqualified and placed second; Lamanver Odyssey won three NH MOPS prizes worth £25,000 (under the Great British Bonus it would have been £50,000); whilst four others of her progeny (a filly and three geldings) were soon showing promise in training.
However, with multiple horses in training the bills were mounting; and Donna and her husband, Phil, both retired doctors, had to reduce costs. I advised Donna to sell the geldings (Lamanvers Pippin, Bel Ami and Storm), keep her two broodmares (Lamanver Homerun and Lady of Lamanver) along with the remaining filly, Odyssey, if she wished to breed from her too (the filly Alchemy, another winner, had died). She could generate income by selling some of the progeny.
Instead, Donna decided to concentrate on promoting the family and so keep the three geldings and Odyssey in training, whilst selling the two broodmares. When Donna told me her decision I asked if she was really sure this was the best approach and she was. I told her was relieved I had never had to take her advice on whether or not to undergo high-risk surgery.
So Donna sold Lady of Lamanver, and Peter Hockenhull and I offered to buy Lamanver Homerun for a fixed price plus £5,000 if she subsequently produced a colt foal for us. Meantime Donna kept improving the pedigree when the mare, Odyssey, and the geldings, Pippin and Bel Ami, became Homerun’s third, fourth and fifth winners, Pippin also placing third in the Grade 2 National Hunt Chase at Cheltenham.
Homerun also played her part in helping us all by producing a very nice colt by Telescope in 2019, for whom John Bleahen paid €19,500 as a foal. John realised a nice profit when selling him for €60,000 as a 3YO. Named Big Mike he finished second in his first 4YO Maiden Point-to-Point; but failed to reach an apparent £100,000 reserve when offered for sale subsequently, and is yet to reappear.
The colt was followed by a good-looking filly by the same sire. Here, Donna continued her efforts to help the family by buying her from Peter and me with the intention of racing yet another Lamanver, ‘Stargazy’ (which sounded like a very appropriate name for the product of a telescope until Donna told me it is also the Cornish name for a pilchard pie in which the heads of the pilchards stick out of the pie).
Stargazy (the horse, not the pie) got her racing career off to a great start when dead-heating for second place (to an 8YO formerly trained by Ollie Murphy) in a 9-runner Point-to-Point at Larkhill almost three months before her actual third birthday. She is presently trained by top Point rider Will Biddick and hopefully will win one or more such races before going into training for a NH career – possibly with Homerun’s former trainer Paul Nichols, for whom Will acts as principal pre-trainer.
Homerun’s next foal, a 2021 filly by Dartmouth, did slightly more of a favour for Peter than me, after I sold my 50% to him for a most reasonable price when she was weaned (and before the keep fees began to come in). She grew into a good-looking 3YO and was resold for £16,000 to Andy Pierce, who had succeeded with several previous Hockenhull or Mayoh products. Hopefully she will prove to be another winner for all her connections, both racing and breeding.
With advancing age Homerun started to experience more difficulties as a broodmare, failing to get in foal in two of the next three years. However, in 2023 she produced a very attractive colt by Logician, who somewhat to our surprise failed to reach a €15,000 reserve at the Goffs Ireland December Sale. However, other foals sold well that week and I was not too disappointed, particularly when the now gelding grew into a big, impressive grey the next year. He will probably be sold as either a 2YO or 3YO, by which time I hope one or two of his siblings will have done even more to advertise Homerun’s outstanding breeding abilities.
In 2025 Homerun produced a filly foal by Logician, my half of which I sold to Peter shortly after she was born, gifting him the mare herself (whose age was rather too advanced for my taste). As of November 2025 she is in foal once more; and I hope for Peter’s sake she produces a handsome colt.
I have no idea what piece of magic persuaded Donna to purchase Homerun all those years ago, or made the mare such a good racemare and broodmare – but it isn’t obvious in her pedigree! Her sire, Relief Pitcher, was a tough, consistent racehorse but he won only four of his 22 races, the best being at Listed level; and though his dam was by Northern Dancer his sire was the little-remembered Welsh Term. He sired only one Flat winner and ten over Jumps, only one winning a Black-Type race; and when taking her sex into account Homerun was the best racehorse he produced.
Although Homerun’s dam, Bizimki, was half-sister to (an otherwise undistinguished) Grade 2 winner, Tonoco, her main pedigree asset was that she was a daughter of the great stayer Ardross. As a racehorse she was unplaced on each of her four outings and her only runner other than Homerun scored a career-high RPR of 24 when beaten 79 lengths in a Bumper on the fist of five entirely undistinguished outings.
With a background like that, who but an optimist could have foreseen that Lamanver Homerun would win four of her 14 races, with a career-high RPR of 140, and produce five winners from six NH runners to date, with best RPRs of 140, 128, 126, 113 (twice) and 99? In breeding racehorses pedigree certainly matters – but when you have evidence like that of both racing and producing ability close up, it matters far more!
