NZ superstar Copy That to stand at stud in WA

Copy That, one of Australasia’s best racehorses of his generation, a six-time Group One winner and holder of a string of harness racing track and race records, will stand at stud at Murray Veterinary Services, West Coolup, near Perth (WA) this spring.

The champion’s spectacular CV includes victories in two New Zealand Cups to go with triumphs in town hall company in the $1million The Race By Grins, Taylor Mile, NZ Messenger, Ballarat Pacing Cup and Queensland’s Sunshine Sprint.

Copy That’s second NZ Cup win was also historic as he recorded 3:54 for 3200 metres, the third fastest time in the Cup’s history.

Copy That raced exclusively at the elite level throughout his five-year career. He won seven of his 12 starts as a three-year-old including the Alabar 3YO Classic, the Vero Flying Stakes and a prelude of the Great Northern Derby and looked to have the NZ Derby at his mercy until racing was stopped owing to COVID.

As a four-year-old he won 15 of his 26 outings and $778,664 – the highest earnings for the season – and was awarded NZ 4YO Horse of the Year.

The following season he earned $436,539 and in his final year of competition he banked $617,535 – another season’s high in NZ.

In all, Copy That won 33 races with 18 placings from 68 starts for $2,019,937 – an amazing $30,000 per start.

Possessed of unlimited stamina and blinding speed, he won over all distances from 1609 to 3200 metres on all-sized tracks with his lifetime record of 1:52 being put up over 1700 metres at Alexandra Park.

Among the top performers that Copy That met and defeated were King Of Swing ($3.3m), Self Assured ($2.4m), Amazing Dream ($1.9m), Spankem ($1.8m) , Lochinvar Art ($1.6m), Spirit Of St Louis ($1.4m), Akuta ($1.1m), Thefixer ($1m), I Cast No Shadow and Honolua Bay.

Four-time Inter Dominion-winning reinsman Anthony Butt was full of praise for Copy That.

“I haven’t driven too many horses faster than him. Very few horses in Australasia could have won the Wondai’s Mate from where he was in the running. And he picked them up so quickly, showing unbelievable speed.”

Blair Orange, the winner of seven NZ driving premierships, said: “He was right up with the best horses I’ve driven. You could drive him however you felt you needed to and, even when you drove him badly, he made you look good. He raced every year at the top level and just got better and better.”

Ray Green, who trained Copy That throughout his career and developed and trained King Of Swing and the Auckland Cup winner Sir Lincoln, stated: “Copy That fits every superlative you can think of. He was the whole package. He had speed and toughness, but most of all the greatest constitution and resilience.”

Blessed with all attributes necessary for stallion greatness, Copy That carries an impeccable pedigree made up of champion sires, champion broodmare sires and champion racehorses.

With a tally of $2 million, Copy That is the richest ever son of the champion USA colt pacer American Ideal (1:47.8), the sire of the winners of more than $230 million worldwide with 88 in the 1:50 list.

A member of the dominant Western Hanover sireline, American Ideal was a Top Ten sire in North America for more than a decade, has been among the top six horses on the  Australian sires’ list for the last nine years and the second leading sire in WA on four occasions.

On his dam’s side Copy That comes from a family which has made a real impact on the NZ breeding scene. 

His dam, Lively Nights, has left four winners – all inside 2:00 – from as many starters, while his grand-dam White Nights has three winners from three to race.

In the back removes of Copy That’s pedigree are top pacers the calibre of Luxury Liner, Christopher Vance and Lady Clare, all NZ Cup winners, the A. G. Hunter Cup winner Surprise Package and the WA stars Maczaffair and Precious Dylan.

A grand individual standing 15.2 hands, Copy That is a young stallion – he was foaled in 2016 – with the bloodlines, racing performance and conformation to commend him to the most discriminating breeder.

Copy That will stand for an introductory fee of $4,600 including GST which includes free shipment to all WA licensed AI premises and Qantas Capital City sites.

For full details or a semen order visit the website www.copythat.net.au  For further information or a brochure, email  merv@decron.com.au or phone Merv 0417 321 191

by Peter Wharton, for Harnesslink