Melton set to showcase celebration of Victorian breeding

With a total of $1.5million up for grabs across 12 races, Saturday night’s meeting at Melton will showcase the best Victorian-bred two, three and four-year-old pacers and trotters in commission.

The meeting is the pinnacle of the $2million Vicbred Super Series, conducted with heats and semi-finals at Melton and country tracks over the past fortnight.

A dozen champions will be crowned on the night, with four horses looking to claim their second Vicbred titles. Three-year-old trotters The Locomotive and Rockinwithattitude, four-year-old trotting mare Revelstoke and the three-year-old pacing filly Joyful are out to achieve the feat.

Bonny four-year-old mare Amore Vita will attempt to become only the second female pacer to annex three Vicbred championships when she lines up in her $150,000 final. Maajida is the only pacing filly/mare ever to accomplish the grand slam (in 2021).

Vicbred finals night will not only highlight the champion horses, trainers and drivers, but the leading breeders, stallions and broodmares.

Durham Lead breeders Bruce and Vicki Edward have the largest representation in the pacing division with six runners, while Alabar Bloodstock has five pacers and a single trotter. Sydneysiders Emilio and Mary Rosati will be represented by two pacing fillies and three trotters, and Lauriston Bloodstock and Helen Head both have three entries.

In the trotting section, Pat Driscoll’s Yabby Dam Farms has an unprecedented 14 entries across the six Group 1 $100,000 finals. Aldebaran Park has five runners, Jim Connelly three, and Dean and Blanche Poole, Brad Angove and Kaye and the late Martin Hartnett two each.

Among the sires, Art Major and Sweet Lou lead the charge with nine entries, followed by Captaintreacherous (seven) and Always B Miki, American Ideal and Rock N Roll Heaven (five).

The American stallion Father Patrick has the biggest entry in the trotting division with seven. Sebastian K has six and Majestic Son, Muscle Hill, Volstead and Creatine five apiece.

Only two broodmares in Shes Norma Jeane (Hes Charlies Angel and Our Roku) and Savoie (Moonwalka and All That Remains) are dually represented on the night.

No less than seven former Vicbred champions have progeny in this year’s series. They are the broodmares La Coocaracha (The Locomotive), Shes An Image (Ewing), Bella’s Delight (Sergeant Lou) and the trotting stallions Danny Bouchea (Mitchell Wrap), Sundon’s Courage (Courage’s Law), Tennotrump (Ee Be Mac) and Blitzthemcalder (Gaelic Lad).

$20,000 Vicbred Silver finals for two, three and four-year-old trotters and a $10,000 Bronze final for three-year-old trotters will be conducted at Kilmore on Thursday night.

On the following night, Bendigo will host $20,000 Silver races for two, three and four-year-old pacers of both sexes and four $10,000 Bronze finals.

Prominent breeders Bruce and Vicki Edward had a red-letter night at the Vicbred Super Series semi-finals at Melton last Saturday. The couple bred three winners in Stormryder, Draw A Dream and Talk Time and own Sweet Bella, Draw A Dream and Talk Time.

To cap a great weekend, they also had the winner of the Tasmanian Sweepstakes at Hobart with their homebred two-year-old gelding Hazewillrev.

Captaintreacherous took the siring honours at Melton last Saturday with a winning treble – Stormryder, Petracca and Talk Time – and four placegetters.

Sweet Lou (Our Luciano and Sweet Bella) and He’s Watching (Techys Watching and Draw A Dream) both sired doubles.

For complete race entries, click here.

by Peter Wharton, for Harness Racing Victoria