Solskjaer gelding Found A Fifty winning a Gr 1 novices chase at Leopardstown on Boxing Day ( (Image: ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy)
In the Gr 1 My Pension Expert Arkle Challenge Trophy Novices’ Chase yesterday, it went unnoticed that sandwiched between the winner Gaelic Warrior and the South African connected third-placed Il Etait Temps was a horse called Found A Fifty, who is by the late former Summerhill Stud-based stallion Solskjaer.
The Gordon Elliott-trained seven-year-old won a Gr 1 novice chase at Leopardstown on Boxing Day and yesterday was his third Gr 1 runner up finish in novice chases.
He started his career by winning a Point To Point by 15 lengths in 2021 as a four-year-old.
As a five-year-old he also had only one start and finished second in a National Hunt flat race.
Then as a six-year-old he won his first start over hurdles before finishing second in a Gr 2 and two runs later he finished fourth in a Gr 1.
He has had five chase starts for two wins, including that Gr 1, and three Gr 1 seconds.
Haversham Park’s Nigel Riley owned Solskjaer at one stage and they recently told his story on their website:
Solksjaer was imported to South Africa for stud duties at Summerhill Stud in 2007 and his first few crops impressed most experts with their beautiful, flowing strides. There were many bread-and-butter runners among the early crops, but he didn’t quite make the grade and Mick Goss decided to retire him in 2013.
Soon after he was retired in 2015 he was placed on an auction where he received no bids, but Advocate Nigel Riley of Heversham Park Stud came to hear of him and secured him for only R5,000 after negotiating with Greg Muir, the former Stud Manager at Summerhill.
Riley tells: “Solskjaer was a half-brother to Yeats (Sadler’s Wells), who won seven Gr1 races and at the time was picking up momentum as a sire of excellent jump horses.
We made some enquiries and sent Solskjaer back to Ireland to stand as a jump stallion at Coolagown Stud in County Cork.
“Being so closely related to Yeats, Solskjaer drew immediate attention and we were amazed at the support from breeders. He covered 80 mares a season in his first three seasons but then he scaled down after his busy time.”
