'I keep rewatching the race because she keeps winning' - Coolmore's Garden Of Eden delivers breeder Hanly a dream result

One of the better performances at Royal Ascot last week was that of Garden Of Eden, whose genesis is rooted in a savvy acquisition by her co-breeder Mark Hanly.

The Coolmore-owned filly’s commanding three and a quarter-length victory in the Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes provided a euphoric result for Grange Hill Stud, the Tipperary nursery run by Mark and his wife, broadcaster Sally Ann Grassick.

“It was spectacular, we don’t get winners like that every day,” Mark Hanly said.

“That’s our first Royal Ascot winner. It was gobsmacking. She was going away, she was incredible. My mum [Stephanie] is co-breeder and she was too nervous to come over to watch, so she stayed at home on the couch and had a glass of champagne afterwards.”

The Aidan O’Brian-trained Garden Of Eden is out of Kodiac mare Komedy, who was purchased by BBA Ireland for €70,000 from From Knocklong House Stud at 2014 Goffs Orby Sale.

After only managing three placings in seven starts, she was sold by her trainer Charlie Hills to Manuel Alvarez Gomez for 9,000gns at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale in 2015 and she was subsequently exported to Spain, where she broke her maiden in a six furlong event.

While no standout on the track, Komedy is a sister to dual stakes winner On Her Toes, who was also placed in Group 3 company, and a half-sister to the Listed-winning Captain Rio mare Jane’s Memory.

The page proved more than enough to entice Hanly – who was on the hunt for a filly at the time – into booking a last-minute flight to Madrid.

“I was in Newmarket in 2017 and I was trying to buy a filly at the sales, but I was struggling. I met bloodstock agent Barry Lynch and asked if he knew of any fillies that were around for sale privately,” Hanly said.

“He said there was one but that I might not be interested because she was in Spain. I had a glance at her pedigree and I was on the next flight out of London to Madrid and bought her straight away.

“Her full-sister was Listed-winning, so I knew I had to move quickly. I had a lot of people ringing me to buy her afterwards and I turned them down.”

Komedy proved Hanly’s judgement right with her first foal Internationaldream, a winning son of Acclamation who placed in the Group 3 Molecomb Stakes over five furlongs. She then produced two winners by Churchill in Komedy Kicks and Daysofourlives.

“I sent her to Acclamation – he’s always been a great stallion to get mares started for us – and he ended up being a stakes horse, and then she went to Churchill twice,” Hanly said.

“She had a very nice filly by Churchill [Komedy Kicks] who we sold during covid at the [Goffs] Orby Yearling Sale in Doncaster for £100,000, and the brother [Daysofourlives] made £110,000 at the Tattersalls September Yearling Sale in Newmarket. He went to Marco Botti and is rated 100 plus; he was fourth at Royal Ascot last year in the Royal Hunt Cup.

“Then I sent her to Saxon Warrior, which produced Garden Of Eden. Saxon Warrior has been a very lucky stallion for me. I love Deep Impact. I just took that factor into it. When I saw him at Coolmore I loved the stallion and he suited the mare 100 per cent. The fact he was a Guineas winner, the cross with the Kodiac mare worked very well.

Garden Of Eden made €160,000 when she was offered by Grange Hill Stud at the Goffs Kildare November Foal Sale in 2022 – not a bad return on Saxon Warrior’s 2021 fee of €20,000. She was bought by Camas Park Stud, who sold her to Peter and Ross Doyle Bloodstock for €200,000 at the Goffs Orby Sale the following September.

“When I sold Garden Of Eden as a foal, Trevor Stewart had Victoria Road, who was a Breeders Cup winner by Saxon Warrior out of an Invincible Spirit mare. The fact that Invincible Spirit is a half-brother to Kodiac, it was a very similar cross and that’s how she did so well at the sale,” Hanly said.

Komedy returned to Saxion Warrior in 2024 and the resulting colt made an even more handsome return at the sales last November after Garden Of Eden’s Listed second in the Ingabelle Stakes as a juvenile.

“The Saxon Warrior colt, Jamie McCalmont Bloodstock bought him for Marc Chan, who loves Deep Impact. He made €250,000 which I was very happy about. Garden Of Eden was already Listed-placed at that point.

“Kodiac mares have always tickled my feathers, I always wanted one and it’s been an incredible journey. The mare currently has a very nice colt by Mehmas and is back in foal to him again.”

Saxon Warrior Coolmore Stud, Fethard, Tipperary, Ireland June 2022

Saxon Warrior, a son of Deep Impact, stands at Coolmore StudCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

Despite the obvious speed on her dam side, Garden Of Eden has clearly blossomed stepping up in trip in her two latest runs and is now set for Group 1 targets as a middle-distance filly, with both the Irish Oaks and an American expedition put on the table by her trainer.

“Talking to Aidan, it took a while for the penny to drop and to find the right distance for her,” Hanly said.

“When Ryan Moore rode her at the Curragh he said she needed further, and eventually she won the Listed at Naas over a mile and two [furlongs], and they were very positive going into the Ribblesdale then.

“It’s an extraordinary business. You just don’t know what comes around the corner. It’s what gets us up in the morning – results like that at Royal Ascot.

“That’s the biggest stage on the face of the earth; it’s the Olympics of racing. I’ve never felt anything like it in my life. Maybe I shouldn't say that because getting married should probably be on top, but that was the next best thing.

“I keep rewatching the race because she keeps winning. They don’t come around too often so you have to cherish it. This business has so many ups and downs, so you have to take those days and celebrate them.”