Owner : Rob Bewley
The family
Bushmill Boy is from a fine family of winners of German origin.
Although none of the progeny of the dam (Miss Holly), have won to
date, as a racemare she performed at a creditable level. She won 4
races on the flat (2 wins for Mark Johnson, 2 for Declan
Carroll), as well as winning twice over hurdles for Sue Smith. She
was a tough sort, running 24 times over 5 seasons, being placed a
further 11 times.
The granddam Seraphim was also a winning dual purpose performer(4
wins from 23 races), and is the dam of 6 individual winners. The
best of her progeny were winning hurdler/chaser Autograph and the
Grade 1 winning hurdler Makari.
The 3rd dam - German bred Sassika - won 4 races and was Group 2 placed, and has been very successful in retirement, having bred 8 individual winners .
About the sire
Malinas (b h born 2001) was trained in Germany by Arc-winning trainer Peter Schiergen where he showed high class form at 3 and 4 years of age. He was very consistent, with best performances in winning a Group 2 race before running Shirocco to a close 2nd in the German Derby.
Retired to stud in 2008, Malinas stood initially for 3 seasons in France
at Haras de la Hetraie before locating to Yorton Farm in England
where he proved a popular sire to NH breeders for 4 seasons.
In 2016, he moved to to his current base at Glenview Stud, where he
stands alongside his Derby conqueror Shirocco.
His best progeny are the Harry Fry listed chase winner American, Grade 2 winning hurdler Medinas, and Grade 2 winning chaser Black Thunder. His stock are now increasingly sought after in the sales ring, and further success seems sure to follow.
Local Jedburgh owner Robert Bewley is a well known figure in the Scottish Borders having trained successfully for many years under National Hunt Rules. He is the father of jockey Callum Bewley who is well used by Northern trainers and has over 80 winners to his credit.
But Rob still loves the jumping game, and can be often found at NH foal and store sales buying young stock. He trains a few Point to Pointers and in the last couple of years has sent a couple of horses to Dodlands Steading to run under Rules. Last season saw Bluefortytwo and Accordini in the yard, and these were trained to catch the eye of perspective buyers as they hit the racecourse in bumpers. Bluefortytwo was sold on after finishing runner up on his debut, whilst Accordini was not quite as precocious but after three encouraging runs was sold on by Rob to subsequently win a Point.
Bushmill Boy was acquired by Rob at the Goffs UK August '17 Sale at
Doncaster and is a son of the up-and-coming sire Malinas. He is a
nicely sized (over 16.1hh), athletic gelding with a lovely stride
and was introduced into the yard by Rob in September '18.
He'd undergone a wee bit of pre-training at that point but was quite
a buzzy, nervous sort.
But we were able to spend time with the gelding each morning, taking
him out first lot until he gradually settled in to his new home,
stablemates and the relaxed regularity of morning exercise.
Bushmill Boy made just one appearance in 2018-19 season, acquitting himself well when 7th in a bumper at Ayr in January. It was a fairly slow run race - nothing new for NH Flat races - and he was caught for toe slightly when the place quickened 3f from home. Nevertheless, Bushmill Boy stayed on nicely to finish just over 5 lengths behind the winner.
For season 2019-20, a hurdling career awaits but he may be given a further outing for experience in a bumper to begin with. A very likeable gelding, one that connections are looking forward to this season.
On 22nd January 2020, Bushmill Boy was sold out of the stable to join NH trainer Davie Thompson, based in County Durham.
| Season | win | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | other | |
| 2018-19 | NH Flat | 1 | ||||
| 2019-20 | NH Flat | 1 | ||||
| 2019-20 | Hurdles | |||||
