Bettor’s Delight crowned champion Australian sire again

The American horse Bettor’s Delight is Australia’s top sire for a record 13^th consecutive season. During the 2024 season the Woodlands Stud flagship sired 315 individual winners for $11,353,620 in stakes, over $400,000 ahead of the second placed Art Major.

Incredibly, Bettor’s Delight headed the sire’s premierships in New Zealand and North America last year as well.

The champion pacer Leap To Fame, cup class pacers in Max Delight, Speak The Truth, Don’t Stop Dreaming, the top racemare Major Delight, the Vicbred champion Ivseenheavenslight and the trotter London To A Brick were among Bettor’s Delight’s best winners last season.

Sweet Lou, fourth on the list in 2023, jumped to third position, followed by Captaintreacherous, American Ideal, Rock N Roll Heaven, Always B Miki and A Rocknroll Dance.

Of the top 20 sires, nine have either died or are no longer available to Australian breeders. And the top two stallions on the list are both getting on in years. Bettor’s Delight was foaled in 1998 and Art Major in 1999.

Sweet Lou, Bettor’s Delight’s studmate, topped the two-year-old sire’s list for the first time and the three-year-old table for the second consecutive season.

The first year sire to make the most impression was Poster Boy, whose first crop as two-year-olds produced 23 winners and $599,247.

Majestic Son, who stands at Alabar Bloodstock’s Echuca nursery, was the leading sire of trotters for the ninth season on end. His stock won 232 races and earned $2,331,921.

The performance of Volstead in finishing runner-up was an amazing one considering he had only two racing crops to represent him.

His three-year-olds banked a record $1,091,987 for the season. One of this crop was Keayang Zahara, the undisputed champion three-year-old of her year with an unbeaten sequence of 14 successes.

Volstead also took out the two-year-old trotting sire’s title with his youngsters racking up $342,562.

Bettor’s Delight captured the broodmare sire’s premiership for the third season on end with his daughters producing the winners of a record $14,559,628. Among his broodmare credits were Don Hugo, Jumpingjackmac, Canfindabettorman, Soho Spectre and Hi Manameisjeff.

The Cam’s Card Shark horse also was the leading broodmare sire of two and three-year-olds.

Victorian breeders brought out the winners of important races in other States last weekend. The Shallows, winner of the Hobart Pacing Cup, was bred by Ian Stanley, while Compete, who took out the New Year’s Gift at Menangle, was bred by Peter Gleeson

Everybodylovesme, a trotting winner at Bendigo recently, was bred by former leading Goulburn Valley studmaster Ross Gange, who conducted Lemon Tree Stud, the home of French Chef and Walton Hanover, for more than 30 years

by Peter Wharton, for Harness Racing Victoria