Ashley’s Phoenix breed a melting pot of success

Finley breeder-owner Ashley Haynes and Group winning trotters are synonymous in Victorian harness racing circles.

Eljaykay Phoenix (Sundon), who won four Group races as a two-year-old, the Vicbred champion Princess Phoenix (The Pres), the Inter Dominion heat winner Ofortuna, Peregrine Phoenix and the Maori Mile winner Arcee Phoenix are among the best horses he has bred or raced.

And the Finley butcher has a couple of potential square-gaiting stars waiting in the wings as well. They are the siblings Remus Phoenix (by Volstead) and Hephaestus Phoenix (by Love You), both trained by Romsey horseman Chris Svanosio and both out of the New Zealand bred mare One Yankee Hall.

Remus Phoenix notched his third success from six attempts when he came from last to win in restricted company at Melton Entertainment Park last Friday, clocking a sizzling 56.6 seconds for his last 800 metres.

The gelding has been earmarked for Saturday night’s $30,000 The Holmfield at Melton and, providing he measures up, the Vicbred Super Series, Victoria Derby and Breeders Crown.

“He went through the ring at the Nutrien sale as a yearling but didn’t make his reserve. We were quite happy to retain him,” Ash said.

“We left him in the paddock for a little bit longer than we normally would to give him every opportunity. He was broken in by Patrick Ryan, who really liked him from day one.”

Hephaestus Phoenix has won four races to date and has been placed at Group 1 level.

Though Haynes has enjoyed a fair measure of success over more than two decades in the light harness sport, he admits that it hasn’t been without a few hiccups.

“The first horse I owned was Knight Pistol with Ian Carmichael (of Nutrien fame). We only owned him for a fortnight and decided it was no good having a trotter in the western district, so we swapped him for the pacer Deliberator,” Ash said.

“Russell Edwards took over the ownership of Knight Pistol and you know what he went on to do.”

“I dropped out of the sport for a few years after that but got back into it when I bought a couple of mares in the half-sisters Dodo Rocket and Byrdie Num Num with good friend Chris Shaw and the late Ted Payne” Ash said.

The pair has been the cornerstone of Haynes’s success in the game.

He is now breeding from six broodmares – mainly from the Dodo Rocket/Byrdie Num Num line – who are domiciled in the Goulburn Valley at Benstud Standardbreds and Aldebaran Park.

“We are very excited about a two-year-old colt by Aldebaran Eagle out of Owe Dee Em Phoenix at the moment,” he said.

Yabby Dam Farms principal Pat Driscoll bred winners on consecutive nights at Melton in the champion trotter Just Believe and the two-year-old Sam Nien

Ghost Of Time, a winner at Melton last Saturday, was bred by the 2005 Victorian Breeder of the Year and former Breeders and Studmasters’ Association secretary Ian Kitchin

Soho Tribeca, who stands at Kath McIntosh’s Llowalong Farms, was credited with his seventh individual winner from his first crop when the two-year-old colt Beatitlikebeca emerged successful at Pinjarra (WA) on Monday

by Peter Wharton, for Harness Racing Victoria