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On 29th October, the Dan Skelton trained Molly Ollys Wishes won her fifth Great British Bonus (GBB) of £20,000, making her the first mare to win £100,000 from the lucrative scheme.
The eight-year-old was bred and is owned by Dean Pugh, who named her after the childrens charity Molly Ollys Wishes, which grants wishes to seriously and terminally ill children all over the country. It is hoped that the mares success will raise awareness of the charity and help its fundraising efforts.
Nearly two years ago, in late December, the Black Sam Bellamy mare won a Handicap Hurdle at Kempton to secure her first bonus. Her next win would come in the following February, when she landed the Listed St Marys Land Mares Hurdle at Warwick.
After a summer holiday, Molly Ollys Wishes won another Listed Hurdle and secured her third bonus at Wetherby in October 2021, before heading to Ascot for the Grade 2 SBK Mares Hurdle in January 2022, when she won her fourth bonus of £20,000. An exciting Listed Hurdle at Wetherby, in which she narrowly beat six-time GBB winner Martello Sky, saw her land her fifth and final bonus.
Skelton said: It has been a pleasure to train the first mare to win £100,000. The GBB is a fantastic scheme and I think it has improved the fillies programme and improved the attraction of the fillies in the UK and abroad. Molly Ollys Wishes has been amazing to train and the days she has given us at the racecourse have been fantastic. Hopefully there is plenty more to come from her. Shes now passed the age barrier for the bonuses, so well move on but keep an eye on all those other mares we have in the yard that can win.
For each of her bonus wins, Molly Ollys Wishes was ridden by Harry Skelton, who told the Nick Luck Daily Podcast (Ep. 587) about the difference that GBB was making: With GBB and all the bonuses, as well as the improvement to the mares programme, we have a very good team of fillies. Look what Molly Ollys Wishes has done shes gone right to the top.
The mare was transferred to GBB after the previous scheme, NH MOPS, was brought to an end. In January 2023, she will be nine years old and will have graduated out of the scheme, but we look forward to seeing her continued success and watching her career as a brood mare.