Kenny Alexander

I am really looking forward to Honeysuckle getting her season under way in the Baroneracing.com Hatton’s Grace Hurdle. She won it well last year and went on to have a great campaign, maintaining her unbeaten record in that brilliant Mares’ Hurdle at Cheltenham after a fantastic duel with another great mare Benie Des Dieux.

I think those two will be seen as two of the best ever contenders of that race. You’ve got Annie Power and Apple’s Jade, and you’ve Benie Des Dieurx and Honeysuckle and over the next few years, you’ll struggle to get mares as good as those four.

It was a proper Grade One. It was a great race. Probably the best race of the whole festival actually. You often get these races hyped up and then they fall flat, one of the horses runs way below form but the two of them came over the last together and came up the hill. It was a proper tussle.

Benie Des Dieux is seriously good. To beat her, it was definitely Honeysuckle's hardest race she’s had so far, by some way.

I’ve watched these mares like Annie Power, Apple’s Jade and it was a dream to have a mare even comparable to those two. She has a long way to go before she can compete with the number of Grade Ones that Apple’s Jade won, or the fact that Annie Power won the Champion Hurdle, but she’s fantastic.

I began buying better mares because if they perform on the track I would like to breed them in my stud farm at home in Ayr.

Of the ones that have ran in my colours that I bred, I’ve been fortunate. They’ve all won. Carrie Des Champs won about six and got black type. Gordon did a great job. Blazing Emily won twice and got black type with Willie. They both got injured and are at stud now. I had Doddiethegreat with Nicky Henderson out of the same mare that bred Carrie Des Champs, Austurienne. He won a bumper recently on debut.

You’ve got to be patient. It’s probably madness. I did say to Ruby Walsh once, “What do you think of breeding National Hunt horses?” and he did say, “Somebody has to do it!”

I enjoy it. I bought these mares, originally, because I thought it was the best chance of having a runner at the Cheltenham Festival.

“Then I decided I wanted to breed them, so I began to buy better ones. If they do it on the track, I’ll send them hopefully to the better stallions. Then you dream for four or five years and realise, whether it was worth your time and money or not. But there’s worse ways to waste your money I think.

Elfile is another very good mare I own that has gone under the radar but she has only been beaten by Honeysuckle and Benie Des Dieux in Grade One company and was third in the Mares Hurdle. I had a much bigger bet on her at each-way at 16/1 than I did on Honeysuckle.

You can put a line through Minella Melody’s run at Cheltenham. That wasn’t her running. She’s much better than that and I am looking forward to a good run again at Fairyhouse from her.

Gauloise was impressive at Thurles on Thursday and she looks like she might be a proper horse too. So I’ve been very lucky, though I’ve spent big money on some duds too.

The reports on Honeysuckle are positive. You’re always a bit nervous on the first run but hopefully she’s in the same nick as last year and from what I’ve heard, she is. And Henry de Bromhead and Rachael Blackmore know her well.

It is too early to be thinking about future targets. You wouldn’t rule anything out at this stage and she’s a year older. She will probably go jumping fences next year you would imagine. She has won her point-to-point and has the scope. But that’s for the future. Right now, I’ll be glued to the television on Sunday, hoping she does what she did last year in the Hatton’s Grace. That would be great.