Country Crown, slick sale and more

IT is time to take the Breeders Crown back to where it began – the bush.

After a stellar month of regional racing – firstly in NSW at Bathurst and Wagga and now at Mildura – it’s clear taking the sport ‘on the road’ is vital and needs to be embraced even more.

Australian thoroughbred racing’s most iconic country carnival, Warrnambool – or simply ‘The Boo’ as it’s known – is just around the corner and it begs the question why Mildura is Victoria’s only true country carnival.

Sure we have a proud, robust and important country cup circuit, but building that into a couple more carnivals where participants and fans can gather and socialise as well as enjoy the racing looks a no-brainer.

And the Breeders Crown is a ready-made product.

It’s just my opinion, but the Crown has never felt quite at home at Tabcorp Park Melton.

I loved the days, albeit many of them cold, at Bendigo in the Crown’s infancy. And who can forget that epic two-year-old final at Ballarat when the almost invincible Lombo Pocket Watch snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

We’ve got some great racing at Melton and the end of the year is getting pretty hectic, so a country-based Breeders Crown would be a good change-up.

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A BIG tick to Nutrien for its first foray into harness racing yearling sales.

Having spent a long and cold three days at the superb Inglis Oaklands Junction complex for the parade and sales, it was clear Nutrien threw the kitchen sink at the sales.

I’ve been to loads of Inglis thoroughbred sales at that very complex and this felt very, very similar. Professional, strongly-staffed, attentive and even a dash of flair. Even the two coffee spots had the cheeky sort of baristas you’d expect to bump into in one of those iconic Melbourne laneways.

It all came together for a terrific atmosphere.

Sure there will be much discussion over the average prices and clearance rate, but for a first crack, Nutrien did everything it could.

For me, the key learning was the late Saturday afternoon timeslot for the first session – going up against harness meetings at Mildura, Menangle, Albion Park and others – needs changing. No doubt it’s easier said than done to find an ideal timeslot, but surely the industry working as one can find a solution.

It was great to see Victorian newcomers like Tim Butt and Nathan Purdon (son of Mark) taking float loads home.

And hugely successful Victorian owner Jean Feiss broke a “five or six year” drought from buying at the Aussies sales, to splurge $180,000 on the sales-topping Bettors Delight-Our Golden Goddess colt.

The growth of the trotter was underlined when Alabar Farms paid $170,000 for a colt by Father Patrick out of Victoria Oaks and Derby winning mare Une Belle Allure with a view to racing and hopefully “making” a stallion. He goes to Andy and Kate Gath.

It’s always good when a former star racemare turns head at the sales and Matty Craven ensured that happened for Miracle Mile placegetter Arms Of An Angel. He paid $110,000 for her second foal by Art Major.

Queenslander Shannon Price changed the trend of the sale late Saturday when she paid $100,000 for a Captaintreacherous colt out of Musical Delight.

“I’m still haunted by being the under-bidding for Lazarus a few years back so I wasn’t going to miss this guy,” Price said.

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DANNY Zavitsanos has quickly become a leviathan in the sport.

Few could begrudge him winning his first Mildura Cup with Mach Dan as it came while he was still writing the cheque to pay for the three yearlings he bought just minutes earlier at the Nutrien sales, including $90,000 for a Bettors Delight colt out of Miss Hazel, bound for Nathan Purdon’s new Lara stable in Victoria. He also paid $80,000 for a Captaintreacherous colt out of Lovelist to be trained by Emma Stewart and Clayton Tonkin.

Zavitsanos, as good a bloke as he is supporter of the sport, spreads his horses around, supports Australia and NZ and oozes passion and enthusiasm every time you see him.

It’s remarkable to think it was less than three years ago Zavitsanos and wife, Joanna, won their first Group 1 race as an owner when Enhance Your Calm took out a Harness Jewels final at Cambridge.

He’s since kept winning them, most notably with Cruz Bromac in the 2019 NZ Cup at Addington.

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AUSTRALIANS will see a lot more of NZ’s best pacer Self Assured next campaign.

Owner Jean Feiss said the five-year-old would have one more run for trainer Hayden Cullen this campaign in NZ before a spell. He will then return for a defence of his NZ Cup crown before a possible Sydney Inter Dominion tilt and other Aussie features like the Hunter Cup and Miracle Mile.

“While he’s had a few hard races, it’s been a lighter season than we expected because of COVID which meant he didn’t travel to Australia,” Feiss said.

But don’t expect Self Assured to change stables.

“When Mark (Purdon) and Natalie (Rasmussen) said they were taking a break, I said I’d stay loyal to Hayden (Cullen, who took over the stable) and that’s exactly what I’ve done and will keep doing,” Feiss said.

Feiss confirmed the sale-topping Bettors Delight colt she bought at the Nutrien sales on Sunday was already booked to head to Cullen’s NZ stables.

Sky Racing – Adam Hamilton