Weekly spotlight on breeding

Breeding authority Peter Wharton presents all the harness racing news on breeding from Australia, New Zealand and North America every week brought to you by Garrard’s Horse & Hound.

Honolua Bay is Inter Dominion material

Honolua Bay, who took out the Westburn Grant Free-for-all at Melton and has won his way back to a NR120 mark, is regarded as Inter Dominion material of the highest order.

Bred and raced by Bill and Anne Anderson, he is a five-year-old Somebeachsomewhere gelding out of a useful racemare in National Gallery (1:54.4), who produced others in Rocknroll Icon 1:52.2 ($210,648), the exported Mach Up 1:53 ($113,878) and Looking Fabulous (1:54.7).

National Gallery was an Artsplace mare from Lil’s Dream (TT1:55.7), by Smooth Fella from Miss Denover, by Boyden Hanover from the Armbro Del mare Ar Miss, whose family today is one of the b77est in the NZ stud book.

It includes the millionaire pacers Spankem and Ohoka Punter, Armalight (NZ Cup), the Derby winners Majestic Mach, Excel Stride and Muscle Factory (1:49.6), Arma Xpress (Aust. 2YO Filly of the Year), Our London Pride ($606,165) and Masked Crusader (Aust. Pacing Gold).

Ladyship winner by Terror To Love

Total Diva, who won the Group 3 Ranji Bill Ladyship at Menangle – Wainui Creek and B K Swy filled the placings behind her – continues to prove herself among the top bracket of NSW mares.

She is a grand stayer and the best racemare left by the Western Terror horse Terror To Love, who sired smart pacers of the calibre of Yoha, He’s Under Wraps, Mossman and Love On The Rocks.

Total Diva is a five-year-old mare from Jane, by the Australian bred horse Flashing Red (son of Echelon) from First Direct, by Motu Mister Smooth from Amourea, by Nero’s B B from Denyse’s Charm, by El Patron.

Total Diva has strong strains of colonial blood but she is none the worse for it.

Bundoran bred to be good

A most impressive winner at Menangle last Saturday was the Lincoln Royal gelding Bundoran, who is expected to make Grand Circuit class.

Only a five-year-old, he showed up last season as a four-year-old above average when he won a heat of the Inter Dominion and qualified for the final.

Bundoran is by a brilliant NZ colt pacer in Lincoln Royal from Mullaghmore (TT1:58.7), by Christian Cullen from Gowanlea, by Vance Hanover from the Scottish Hanover mare Classiebawn, a top flight racemare in NZ in the 1970’s.

This is the family that left the former Australian 2YO of the Year Stroma, Charlotte Brew (Vic. Oaks), Glengowan (SA Derby), My Glengower (Vic. Sires Produce), the NSW country cups winner Chantrey, Tintinara and Montana Falcon (NSW Sapling).

WA Group winner is gilt edged

One of the most capable young racemares racing in WA at present is Eighteen Carat, who is quickly working her way through the grades. Her success in the Group 3 WASBA mares’ feature at Gloucester Park was her third from four starts since being shipped from NZ.

Eighteen Carat has a background of blood to back up her claims to further promotion, being by Mach Three from Diamonds And Dust, by McArdle from Alta Vista, by Soky’s Atom from the American-bred mare Ballie Hanover.

Diamonds And Dust, who was only lightly raced, produced others in Betterbebetter (1:56), Churchill Downs (1:58.8) and the promising three-year-old Queen Of Diamonds (1:54.7), a winner of three races to date and a close second in the $50,000 Sires Stakes Magnifique at Auckland.

Diamonds And Dust was a sister to a grand pacer and cups winner in Five Star Anvil 1:51.5 ($779,733) and a half-sister to the NZ Sires Stakes champion and dual Tasmania Cup victor Let’s Elope 1:55.3 ($596,029), Downunder Stride 1:56 ($125,242) and the exported Gold Class (1:51).

Ballie Hanover, the third dam of Eighteen Carat, was imported to NZ by Tony and Val Dickinson’s Alta Breeding Company in the late 1990’s. She produced eight winners including Ultimate Desire (1:52.6), a winner of seven races and $87,190, Alta Sirocco (1:58.6), who won four.

A daughter of Ballie Hanover to breed on with marked success in Victoria was Alta Calypso (by Village Jasper). A triple Moonee Valley winner, Alta Calypso left a string of smart performers in Milly Perez 1:52.7 ($343,882), winner of the Vicbred 4YO Final and Mildura Cup, this year’s Redcliffe Cup winner Seb’s Choice 1:53.5 ($208,871), Changing Code 1:53.9 ($129,516) and the Sportswriter mare Charissa Tee, dam of the NSW Derby winner Patsbeachstorm 1:53.4 ($180,720).

APTS three-year-old winner

The $50,000 Australasian Premier Trotting Sale Final, for three-year-old trotting fillies, one of the feature races of the winter racing at Melton, was won by Used To Be A Maid, a little fancied filly by Used To Me from Maidstone Miss.

Used To Me, a French bred stallion from the Speedy Crown line, has been lightly used at the stud in Australia since he finished racing, and the oldest of his stock are six-year-olds. He has sired such winners as Imsettogo, a winner of nine races and $119,135, the Vicbred champion Don’t Care, Chateaubriant (1:56), My Used To Be (SA Trotters Derby) and others.

Maidstone Miss, the dam of Used To Be A Maid, won nine races including The Redwood and was a top trotter in her own right. She was a daughter of Sundon, the leading sire of trotters for many years, from Geena Hest, a Gee Whiz II mare who left the cup class trotters Mr Sundon (1:57.4), Countessa Hest and Dreamit.

Bred by Pat Driscoll’s Yabby Dam Farms, Used To Be A Maid ranks as a half-sister to the Hobart Trotting Cup winner Mascott and the dual Menangle winner Thebestbourbon (1:57.5).

Broodmare treble

The Falcon Seelster mare Flying Mrs Williams left winners in three different countries last Saturday.

You Fly With Me (by Somebeachsomewhere) won at Narrogin (WA), Flying Even Bettor (by Bettor’s Delight) scored at Woodbine Mohawk Park, Ontario in 1:50.6 and Let’s Fly Together (by Art Major) emerged successful at Vernon Downs, New York in 1:54.8.

Furthermore, Fleets Pocket, the dam of Flying Mrs Williams, left the winner of the Group 3 Melton Pace Final in Mighty Flying Art (by Art Major) on the same night.

The quartet were all bred by Waimate (NZ) enthusiasts Les and the late Heather Williams.

More Wanted is well related

The $50,000 Australasian Premier Trotting Sale Final, one of the major three-year-old trotting classics of the season, was taken out by More Wanted, a lightly raced gelding by the millionaire trotter Creatine.

More Wanted belongs to one of NZ’s leading families of trotters, being out of the unraced Muscle Ruby, by Muscle Hill from the Armbro Invasion mare Invasion’s Pride, who established a great winning line for Port Fairy breeders Richard and Pauline Matthews.

She left a six-time Group 1 and dual Inter Dominion heat winner in Let Me Thru 2:00 ($453,945), the cups winner Lord Liam 1:59.2 ($281,550), the Vicbred champion Miss Bullion (1:59.6), Sammy Charles (1:59.6), Queen Invasion and Class Of Her Own (8 wins), dam of the 2YO Trotter of the Year Always Ready 1:56 ($293,550).

Invasion’s Pride, who won six races, was out of a champion NZ trotting mare in Landora’s Pride, who won 34 races including the Rowe Cup, Dominion Handicap and Dullard Cup and $472,842 in stakes.

More Wanted can claim a doubling of Muscles Yankee blood in his pedigree through his sire’s dam (Berry Nice Muscles) and his damsire Muscle Hill.

Tenth winner from broodmare

When the Warrawee Needy two-year-old Test Of Fire won at the Tamworth midweek meeting, he credited his dam La Saint with her 10th individual winner.

Test Of Fire, one of the third crop by Warrawee Needy, had shown good placed form in the area. Others from La Saint to win have been Saint William 1:51.2 ($798,759), a Harold Park free-for-all winner, the NSW Breeders Challenge winner No Ah Saint 1:54.3 ($232,035), Treacherous Rock (1:52.8), No Ah Jack (1:55.6), Miss Zo Zo (1:57.1), La Pacific (1:58.4), Jethro’s An Eagle (1:58.4), Hitman Huey (1:58.5), Ivy’s Faith and now Test Of Fire.

La Saint, who is now in her 25^th year, has since produced a yearling filly by Warrawee Needy and is carrying a positive test to Tiger Tara.

A NSW Sires Stakes champion, La Saint was a Panorama mare from La Stace (TT2:00.3), by Monarch Hanover from Bogan Way. This may not have been one of the most successful branches of the Jessie B family, but for all that La Saint has made a worthwhile contribution.

by Peter Wharton, for Harnesslink