New sire boasts top American bloodlines

King Of The North, the first harness racing son of the leading American trotting sire Walner to be imported Down Under, is to join the stallion strength at Llowalong Farms, Kyabram, conducted by Dr Kath McIntosh.

He is a striking young horse in every respect, a bold striding trotter and one who boasts Group 1 blood in every remove of his pedigree.

King Of The North was the leading stakes-winning two-year-old male trotter in 2021 with $657,140 and one of the fastest with a record of 1:52.8. He won six of his 10 starts, including the $640,000 William Wellwood Memorial, $293,450 Peter Haughton Memorial and the $200,000 New Jersey Sire Stakes Final, and received the Dan Patch award for 2YO Trotting Colt of the Year.

As a three-year-old he won three of his last four starts, including the $200,000 Carl Erskine Memorial and elimination and final of the $800,000 Breeders Crown at Woodbine Mohawk Park in 1:50.6, a new lifetime mark and a fresh race, track and Canadian record.

King Of The North finished up with a stakes total of $1,370,242.

Like King Of The North, his sire Walner and grandsire Chapter Seven were both world champions and Breeders Crown winners.

Chapter Seven was the leading money-winning sire in North America in 2021 and 2022, while Walner was the top-ranking two and three-year-old sire last year and finished third on the all-aged list.

On his dam’s side, King Of The North comes from a family which has made a real impact on the American breeding scene. His dam Check Me Out, a Breeders Crown champion herself, earned $1.9million and took a record of 1:51.4, while his great grand-dam No Nonsense Woman banked $1.2million and was the top trotting mare of her day.

King Of The North has received a full book of mares at $12,000 in his introductory season at Tara Hills Stud in Ontario, Canada.

He is standing his first Down Under season for a fee of $7,900 including GST.

King Of The North’s pedigree boasts a doubling up of the blood of influential broodmare Amour Angus. He should prove an ideal outcross to mares by Love You, Sundon, Majestic Son, Pegasus Spur, Dream Vacation, Bacardi Lindy and others.

In further news from Llowalong Farms, former prominent trainer-driver Grant Campbell has joined the team as bloodstock consultant.

Campbell has driven more than 1200 winners – including 10 at Group level – and trained 157 who earned just shy of $1.1million in prizemoney.

Dual Victorian Horse of the Year Lennytheshark has been relocated to stand stud in Tasmania in the coming season.

The sire of the recent $50,000 Vicbred Home Grown Classic winner Little Miss Lily, “Lenny” will be based at the Tourello Standardbreds stud, of Kerrie Hymers, Sheffield.

The Swedish-born trotter Cardigan Boko, who won races in Melbourne and Perth and later stood at Ian Slater’s Goodtime Lodge, was represented by his first winner in the four-year-old Rastamon at the Kilmore mid-week meeting.

by Peter Wharton for Harness Racing Victoria