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As the Great British Bonus grows so do the stories of success so plucking an individual mare to showcase the scheme is difficult, especially in light of the achievements of mares like I Spy A Diva, Magical Maggie and Titanium Moon, in winning more than four bonuses each. However, You Wear It Well and her endeavours certainly capture the imagination. As her trainer, Jamie Snowden, puts it, "She's a Legend".
Bred by Jane Makin and her now late husband Reg, the Midnight Legend mare has, at the time of writing, amassed six bonus wins to the tune of £95,000. Jane recalls her as a foal saying: "She was always very special. I remember being at the supermarket one day when my husband phoned to ask when I would be home. The not yet weaned filly had jumped, cleanly and without issue, over the fence and was grazing happily on the lawn!"
Parting with such a filly was undoubtably a tough decision but Jane explains: "I was getting a bit long in the tooth and I knew she would go on and do something so I wanted to her to go somewhere that would look after her and give her every chance. Were delighted with how it turned out. She was always very clever and very special, were all hugely proud of her."
The filly was originally purchased for Philippa Cooper of Normandie Stud from the Goffs Summer Sale in 2020, a replacement for the covid postponed Doncaster Spring Store, by agent Matt Coleman, for £70,000 when she was offered through Battlefield Stud. "I was lucky enough to buy You Wear It well as a three-year-old and being fully qualified for GBB was certainly a huge incentive for Philippa, who has always been a stalwart supporter of GBB" explains Matt "It's incredible that You Wear It Well has gone on to win £95,000 in bonuses, any scheme that offers that kind of incentive is certainly too good to miss."
Runner-up on debut and then a winner of a Catterick bumper, she was sold in a private deal to former Arsenal Chairman Sir Chips Keswick as part of Normandie Studs reduction last year.
Last summer, the dams (Annie's Answer) latest three-year-old by Jack Hobbs came on the market in the Goffs Land Rover Sale. Coleman, so taken with You Wear It Well, went on to purchase the half-sister for 62,000 euros on behalf of Semore Kurdi, owner of Newcastle Falcons.
"She's called Audacious Annie and she will be making her debut in a bumper before the end of the year. She is fully qualified for GBB so she will be targeting those races and hopefully can achieve something like You Wear It Well has."
You Wear It Wells career has been curated by Jamie Snowden and her record of finishing second or first in nine starts has only been blemished the once. A six-time winner thus far, her biggest score came at the Cheltenham Festival where she recorded an all-the-way success in the Grade 2 Dawn Run Mares Novices Hurdle, carrying a penalty for her victory in the Grade 2 Jane Seymour Mares Novices Hurdle at Sandown Park the previous month.
Stepping out of novice company on the Charlie Hall undercard at the beginning of November, she once again made all under a penalty and is being pointed to the Festival once again by connections.
Whilst the Flemensfirth mare Annie's Answer is sadly no longer around, and her two final foals were sold, Makin does still have hold of Schiaparannie, a daughter of Schiaparelli, who was a six-time winner and gained black-type over fences.
Makin was quick off the mark, saying: "If anyone is interested in buying into the family, the first foal out of Schiaparannie is entered in the Goffs January Sale. She is by Passing Glance and is definitely worth a look. We're very pleased with how she has turned out."
In an update since the Yearbook was sent to print, Audacious Annie won a £10,000 bonus on her debut run.