Top trio delivers a boost for South Australian breeding

The deeds of South Australian harness racing bred and raced pacers Majestic Cruiser, Encipher and Bulletproof Boy at the top level on the eastern seaboard is ample proof that the Croweater State is punching well above its weight in breeding quality performers from relatively low numbers.

Majestic Cruiser (Art Major), who was bred and is raced by Mount Gambier couple Des and Heather Glynn, has emerged as one of the leading players on the Grand Circuit with a string of top performances in Sydney, Brisbane and New Zealand.

The gelding has won the $94,750 NZ Messenger beating Self Assured and Spankem and several Group races at Menangle, finished a neck second in the inaugural $862,500 The Race For Grins, third in the Queensland Cup, fourth in the Miracle Mile and sixth in the Inter Dominion Grand Final.

He promises to be a force to be reckoned with in the Inter Dominion series being held in Victoria later this year.

Encipher, a Captaintreacherous filly bred and owned by Kadina horseman Tyson Linke, won five races as a two-year-old last season including the $300,000 Breeders Crown, $100,000 The Allwood and the $50,000 Southern Cross and was clearly the best of her age, gait and sex. She banked $278,358.

The filly resumed from a five months layoff to donkeylick her rivals in track record time in the South Australian Oaks last Saturday night and is expected to be a leading contender for the remaining three-year-old classics.

Bulletproof Boy, a seven-year-old Art Official gelding bred by the late Charles Okmasich, Margaret Smith and Jeff Radomi and part-owned, trained and driven by former South Australian Scott Ewen, is proving one of the stars of open age racing in Victoria.

The gelding has won 10 races in his adopted State including the $50,000 Mercury80, $50,000 Smoken Up Sprint, Breeders Crown Graduate Cup and several free-for-alls at Melton.

Bulletproof Boy looks capable of substantially adding to his stake tally of $324,535 in the winter racing in Victoria.

by Peter Wharton, for SA Harness Racing