With the Epsom Classics now in the rearview mirror, the countdown to Royal Ascot will soon be uppermost in everybody's thoughts, most definitely if your name is Michael or Anne Gaffney, the breeders of the hugely exciting Senorita Bonita.Already the Starspangledbanner filly has made headlines once this year when stealing the show at the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-up Sale. Consigned on behalf of the Gaffneys by Mark Flannery of Egmont Stud, she fetched fully 350,000gns more than the next top lot when knocked down to Anthony Stroud for 900,000gns, following what Flannery described as an “exceptional breeze”.Of course, that alone is not sufficient to book a two-year-old their place at Royal Ascot. It's in a race that the truly exceptional must prove themselves, which is why, Michael Gaffney admits, relief was the overriding emotion when Senorita Bonita carried the Victorious Forever silks to a last-gasp debut victory at Nottingham last Wednesday.“It was really brilliant,” Gaffney says of that performance. “Oisin [Murphy] gave her a fantastic ride. He let her find her feet, tried to educate her, and then produced her with a sparkling winning run. It was just a huge relief to see her run so well, considering the reputation that she was carrying – and the hopes.“From very, very early on, Mark and his wife, Jess, were adamant that she had an unbelievable turn of foot. Everything came effortlessly to her is what they would have said. Obviously, she has shown that now.” 900,000gns buy Senorita Bonita (Starspangledbanner) makes a winning debut @NottsRacecourse pic.twitter.com/gD30Y1s445— Racing TV (@RacingTV) June 3, 2026 Show it she certainly did, to the extent that Senorita Bonita now finds herself locked together with the wildly impressive Carlisle winner Wild Blossom (Mehmas) – herself a 300,000gns purchase at the Craven Breeze-up Sale – at the head of the ante-post betting for the G2 Queen Mary Stakes.“It is the pinnacle of what any breeder would wish to do,” Gaffney says of producing a bona fide Royal Ascot contender and the scale of the achievement. It's not a first for his family's Churchtown House Stud, either, with the operation having previously bred the G1 Coronation Stakes heroine Alcohol Free (No Nay Never).Gaffney adds, “To breed an animal that is able to go to Royal Ascot is amazing. We certainly hope that we can be there on the day to see her. However nervous we were watching her run at Nottingham, I think the nerves in Royal Ascot will be 10 times higher!”The breeder might be anticipating some anxious times on the horizon, but he reveals that Senorita Bonita never caused any headaches during her time in County Cork.“An absolute beauty,” Gaffney says he immediately labelled the first foal out of the unraced Ruler Of The World mare Belicious, who has since produced a yearling filly by Modern Games and a filly foal by Sioux Nation. More recently, she featured in the first book of mares covered by Coolmore's Camille Pissarro.Gaffney continues, “We were over the moon when she [Senorita Bonita] arrived on the farm. From day one, she has been one of those animals that never gave trouble, was always just easy to work with and had a fantastic temperament – very much like others from the family that we've had.“We bred the dam, Belicious. She's the last foal out of Amazing Krisken, who was acquired by my brother, Tom. We put a good bit of thought into breeding Belicious. She has two three-parts sisters, [G3 Prix de Royaumont scorer] Sub Rose and [Listed winner] Astonishing, by Galileo, so we wanted to use a son of Galileo to hopefully produce a filly, which obviously worked out.“Ruler Of The World and Duke Of Marmalade are half-brothers, and Duke Of Marmalade has been a fantastic broodmare sire for us. We also have a Duke Of Marmalade mare on the farm called Wannabe Better, who has produced several black-type horses.”He adds, “We put a lot of thought into it and, thankfully, it has worked out that we got a filly that was always going to be kept as a broodmare to continue the line. For all of this to come together is just brilliant, absolutely brilliant.”Whilst a lot of thought might have gone into the breeding of Belicious, Gaffney concedes that there was only ever one candidate when it came to choosing a stallion for her maiden cover.“Starspangledbanner is our go-to sire,” he explains. “He's been a fantastic sire for us over the years and given us loads of black-type horses, including Castle Star, Unexpected Issues, Midnight Strike, King Of Stars and Two Stars.”Certainly, Starspangledbanner's stock has never been higher than it is right now thanks to the exploits of last month's Irish Classic winners, Gstaad and Precise, among others.For Gaffney, however, the stallion's soaring popularity didn't immediately pay dividends in the case of Senorita Bonita, who failed to find a buyer when offered first at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale and then at Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. On both occasions the bidding ground to a halt at 75,000gns, just a fraction of what she went on to command at the Craven Breeze-up Sale.“I was sort of amazed that other people didn't see the potential that I thought was in there. That's why we kept her,” says Gaffney.“If you know Starspangledbanners, they are exceptionally good racehorses, but they're not exactly sales horses in that they don't have a great, athletic walk. Unfortunately, Senorita Bonita didn't have that massive walk that catches people's eye, but we felt that she had an awful lot of natural ability, just watching her in the field as a foal and as a yearling. She was just gliding around and we kind of said, 'Wow, there's definitely something there to go to racing with.'“Therefore, we didn't have an issue holding tough and breezing her when she didn't sell as a yearling. We weren't going to give her away.”That decision to hold tough ultimately brought with it a significant lucrative that still has Gaffney pinching himself, the better part of eight weeks on from that fateful evening at Park Paddocks.“It hasn't fully sunk in yet,” he confesses. “The magnitude of it is unbelievable. It was an unbelievable result for us, and for the Flannerys, to top the Craven Breeze-up Sale.“Mark took three horses to the sale and he also had a Sea The Stars filly [Sea Venture] that won first-time-out for Highclere Thoroughbreds. She's also going to Royal Ascot so, for two out of his three horses to be going to Royal Ascot, it's a great vote of confidence in their ability to see it when they have very good horses.“Mark has broken an unmerciful number of horses for us. When Mark says you have something good, then he is generally bang on the money. With Senorita Bonita, very quickly he said, 'There's only one place for her; she has to go to the Craven because I think she's special.'”With her special qualities having been confirmed at Nottingham, once again there is only one place for Senorita Bonita. To Royal Ascot, the countdown begins.The post Gaffney Dreaming of Royal Ascot with Craven Breeze-Up Sensation Senorita Bonita appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.