A group of owners are dreaming of Group 1 glory with their filly after Ma Belle Artiste's impressive win on debut for Joseph O'Brien at Leopardstown.
The daughter of Zoffany out of a Galileo mare got her head in front in a maiden over seven furlongs last month after being picked up for €170,000 at the Goffs Orby Sale last September by MyRacehorse and Phillip Antonacci.
MyRacehorse offers racing fans affordable horse ownership by way of fractional shares and, in most cases, they cost under €240.
One of the owners of Ma Belle Artiste is Michelle Hickey, whose father Michael Hickey was a breeder and former point-to-point jockey. He passed away in 1993.
Michelle recalls: "My dad Michael Hickey had a great love of horses. Back in his younger days, he was a point-to-point jockey, before he became paralysed after a bad fall at one of the races and spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair. This never stopped his love for the sport and he continued to breed, race and keep many thoroughbreds at home in Wexford during his life.
"We had a lovely broodmare, Little Welly by Little Buskins and she had bred a few winners, names I recall were Boots Madden by the Parson whom Venetia Williams bought from us and Bacardi Boy, by Lord Americo. I remember well when we had a horse called Pendara that Aidan O’Brien trained for us and; the days when Charlie Swan rode for Aidan.
"Back in May this year, when I saw Lot 291, a Zoffany / Toi Et Moi filly was purchased by MyRacehorseUK at the Goffs Orby Sale last September for €170,000 and because she was going to be trained by Aidan O’Brien’s son, Joseph at Carriganóg Racing, Co Kilkenny, I jumped on the chance to own part of this beautifully bred filly - it has in some way, brought me back to my dad who passed away in 1993 and those long ago memories. This was actually going to be my first time owning a racehorse myself."
Around 20 of the people who own shares in Ma Belle Artiste were at Leopardstown to watch her win under Declan McDonagh at odds of 13/2.
Michelle explains: "It was truly a surreal day! Still pinching myself really, can’t believe it.
She added: "It was the first time I had the opportunity to meet some of the owners.
"The lovely thing about it was most of them had already met previously when they had the opportunity to visit Joseph O’Brien yard earlier this year, so they picked up where they left off."
The trainer described the win as "somewhat of a surprise".
O'Brien said: "We couldn’t have been more pleased with her debut win. In fact, it was somewhat of a surprise that she was able to win on debut given it was a pretty messy affair. To manage to win on her first start really marks her down as an exciting prospect for the rest of the season."
So what's next for the filly?
The 29-year-old trainer commented: "She has a number of options in the coming weeks but a nice target for her would be either a Listed Stakes back in Leopardstown over the same course and distance as her debut win or the Moyglare Stakes at The Curragh.
"Both are on Irish Champions Weekend which promises to be an amazing weekend of racing. She will run somewhere between now and then and from there we will decide which race to target.
"Obviously, we still have a little bit to go in order to compete at Group One class but she is heading in the right direction and who knows where she could end up. We certainly think she is a potentially high-class filly and we’re very excited about her moving forwards."
"I think she will do really well in her career," added Michelle. "She is a top class filly with the top notch pedigree in her, she is certainly top tier material. I am certain that she will do very well on her journey.
"For her to be part of the Irish Champions Weekend on September10 (Leopardstown) or September 11 (The Curragh) would be something else.
"It will be fantastic to see the crew again, especially Kate Hardy of MyRacehorse who has made it all happen for us."
On MyRacehorse, Joseph added: "It is fantastic that people who are interested in getting involved in racehorse ownership can get an opportunity to do so at a fraction of the cost but the key point here is that MyRacehorse place their emphasis on having horses who can compete at a high level so as an owner you really get to own a percentage in a potentially high class racehorse."
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