Jane Foley recorded her first winner as a trainer at Limerick on Sunday courtesy of Magic Vixen, a five-year-old mare with roots very close to her family.

Magic Vixen’s close relation Kicking King

The bumper winner was bred by Foley’s father Michael Hickey at Sunnyhill Stud and is a very close relation to one of the stud’s most celebrated graduates, Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Kicking King. Not only do they share their sire, the late Sunnyhill resident Old Vic, but Magic Vixen’s dam, the Carroll House mare Magic Park, is Kicking King’s half-sister.

The winning owner/trainer is married to Joe Foley of Ballyhane Stud, the County Carlow home of stallions Roderic O’Connor, Arakan, Captain Rio, Dandy Man, Frozen Power and Majestic Missile.

At Sunnyhill Stud, Old Vic has been followed by another son of Sadler’s Wells, the 2004 King George winner Doyen, whose young jumps progeny include Kumbeshwar and Keys. He stands alongside the dual Group 2 winner Gamut.