Death of Ann Jenkins, breeder of Lush Lashes; BLOODSTOCK WORLD.

Byline: Tony Morris

THE British breeding industry lost an outstanding horsewoman and great personality when Ann Jenkins died on Monday at the age of 72, writes Tony Morris.

Although latterly identified with Foxford House Stud near Newbury, Jenkins spent 45 years at Heatherwold Stud, in Burghclere, an operation that was founded on 60 acres in 1959 by Norwegian-born Elisabeth Longton, with a single mare imported from Norway.

Needing someone to take on the day-to-day running of the property, Longton hired Jenkins, who in time oversaw its transformation into a 200-acre farm with 60 boxes, housing high-class home and boarding mares.

A true hands-on horsewoman, Jenkins was for a time styled as stud groom, and later as manager, but in fact she always did everything from foaling to sales preparation, and - not least - used her vast knowledge of pedigrees with great success in devising the mating plans for the Heatherwold mares.

A key development in the rise of the stud's profile was Longton's acquisition of stock from the estate of Lady Sefton (who had boarded them there), including the sisters Anegada and Fiesta Fun, daughters of Antigua, the last surviving mare by Hyperion. The General Stud Book states that Fiesta Fun's 1987 son Saumarez was bred by Longton, but the mating that produced him was down to Jenkins, who selected Rainbow Quest as the sire, and enjoyed immense satisfaction at the colt's Grand Prix de Paris and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe wins.

The only two fillies out of Fiesta Fun had both been sold before Longton's death in 1994, and subsequently Jenkins - by now part-owner of Heatherwold - determined to reintroduce the family to the stud. Fiesta Fun's unraced granddaughter by Arazi, Hilaris, might have seemed an unlikely mare to revive past glories, and her death, after having produced only one filly, did not augur well.

But that one filly was Dance For Fun, a daughter of Anabaa who won one of her two races, and in her first season at stud Galileo was Jenkins' choice of stallion. The outcome was Lush Lashes, whose achievements as a triple Group 1 winner in 2008 were a source of great pride to her breeder in her final months.

No less clearly, that filly's brilliance provides a fitting testimony to the talents of one of the finest horsewomen of her age, whose loss will be keenly felt by the host of friends she made over half a century in the business.