I first became aware of Midnight Jazz when my former wife, Sandra, told me she had been impressed when seeing her race at Wetherby, where the mare was second to Stephanie Frances in a Listed Hurdle. However, the first time I saw her in the flesh my eyes were only on Lifeboat Mona when the two met at Sandown 10 weeks later; and to my delight Mona powered past Jazz up the stiff uphill finish. A few weeks later, though, when she pushed Vroum Vroum Mag all the way to the line in a Doncaster Grade 2 Hurdle, I was definitely willing her on as a prospective future broodmare.
I expressed a firm interest in buying Jazz to her trainer, Ben Case, when she ran at Ludlow the following season, after which she ran second again at Sandown in the race won by Mona the previous year, this time beaten only half a length by Poppy Kay. The deal was finally agreed when I ran into Ben at the Doncaster Sales, the basis being that she would become available after running at the Cheltenham April meeting with the price increased by £20,000 if she won a Black-Type race in the meantime. I was at Warwick to watch her best chance of earning this bonus, when she led over the last in a Listed Mares Hurdle, but clipped the hurdle and weakened on the run-in to finish fourth.
As a racehorse Midnight Jazz was game, consistent and tough, but she was unfortunate to meet some good mares in her most important races. Accordingly, she never won a Black-Type race, which probably halved her value as a broodmare, but she did place in five Listed hurdle races and one Grade 2, the afore-mentioned effort at Doncaster. In 27 races she won six and placed in the first four on a further 12 occasions, for earnings of over £70,000.
Jazz is a small but strong mare with good limbs and the toughness one expects of her sire, Midnight Legend. With a dam (Ring Back) who was Black-Type Placed and who bred another tough Black-Type Placed mare, Coded Message, and with leading Jump sires Bob Back and Ardross as grandsire and great-grandsire respectively, she offers breeding potential that far exceeds what might be expected from many Black-Type Winning mares – at least I believe she does!
Early in her breeding career Jazz suffered several setbacks. She began fairly well (if not entirely for us) when her first foal, a 2019 colt by Telescope, brought €6,500 for her breeder when sold at the Goffs Ireland December Sale, but rather better for his new owners when bringing €37,000 as a 3YO. Named Moonlight Jazz and put in training with Henry de Bromhead, he has shown significant improvement from his early starts and was a good second in a maiden hurdle on his fourth appearance. Another Telescope colt followed the next year, but when being kept back for sale as a store he suffered an injury that prevented him from ever racing, and was given away on a Non-Racing Agreement.
There then followed three years out of four in which a ‘not In foal’, an ‘early abortion’ and a ‘slipped foal’ featured. However, the other year produced a big, strong colt by Jack Hobbs who brought our highest foal price to date when reaching €47,000 to a bid from Jazz’s former trainer, Ben Case, at Fairyhouse in November 2022. Hopefully, Jazz will now remain in foal to the very promising Irish stallion Vadamos and the success of her Jack Hobbs colt will put her in the mood to produce more such offspring in future.
Midnight Jazz’s full breeding (and non-breeding) record can be seen by clicking the Broodmares tab.