Weekly spotlight on breeding

Breeding authority Peter Wharton presents all the harness racing news on breeding from Australia, New Zealand and North America every week brought to you by Garrard’s Horse & Hound.

Breeding background of Inter Dominion champions

Leap To Fame, the harness racing track record-breaking winner of the $530,000 Inter Dominion Pacing Championship Grand Final at Albion Park, credited his sire Bettor’s Delight with his fifth success in harness racing’s signature race. He joins Ultimate Sniper (2019), Tiger Tara (2018), Lazarus (2017) and Beautide (2014 and 2015).

Bred by Paul Kahlefeldt’s Redbank Lodge Standardbreds, Wagga, Leap To Fame is the 12^th ID pacing champion bred in NSW and the sixth to have been sold at the Australian Pacing Gold yearling sales. He was knocked down to Kevin Seymour for $47,500 at the Sydney sale in 2020.

The champion four-year-old is the fourth foal of his dam Lettucereason (Art Major) and the first ID winner from the maternal family of Eastern Lady, a Prince Imperial mare foaled in New Zealand in 1907.

Apart from Leap To Fame and his older sibling Swayzee, the best members of the family in recent years have been For A Reason (Victoria Cup), Jewel Melody (Bathurst Gold Tiara), Steam Washed (Vic. Ladyship Cup) and Allblack Stride.

Just Believe, a seven-year-old gelding, completed back-to-back successes in the $265,000 Inter Dominion Trotting Final despite sitting parked throughout in a solidly run affair.

Bred by Ballarat breeder Pat Driscoll, of Yabby Dam Farms, Just Believe boasts a full international pedigree. He was gotten by the millionaire French-bred trotter Orlando Vici from Heavens Above, an American-bred mare by the Kentucky Futurity victor Like A Prayer who produced earlier winners in Shared Interest, Heavenly Sister and Namoscar, all Group material.

Just Believe traces through mares by top sires Joie De Vie, Speedy Crown, Star’s Pride, Rodney, Volomite and Axworthy to the thoroughbred mare Sally Sovereign (foaled USA in 1874).

Just Believe is certainly a splendid advertisement for the Franco-American breeding cross.

Won WA Golden Nugget

Winner of the WA Derby and Westbred Classic as a three-year-old last season, Tricky Miki (Always B Miki) downed the top four-year-olds in the $200,000 Golden Nugget at Gloucester Park, including a top a top ranking four-year-old in Wonderful To Fly, who finished runner-up.

Tricky Miki has only been lightly raced but has proved himself a young pacer of great ability. From 25 starts he has won 11 races and been nine times placed for $482,721 in stakes.

One of the first crop of the American horse to race in Australia, Tricky Miki is out of Harriet Elisabeth (1:57.4), by Modern Art (son of Artsplace) from the Group winning Beach Towel mare Jane Elouise, who left the Listed winners Soho Jackman 1:50.6 ($368,278) and Nikki Louise (1:53.2) and the good Gloucester Park winner Liam Neil 1:57.2 ($153,657).

Bred by Steve Johnson, Tricky Miki ranks as a half-brother to the exported Orlando Blue 1:52 ($147,987) and the recent Perth three-year-old winner Sweet Lucifer.

Major Major in 1:49.8

Major Major (Art Major) has joined the growing list of horses to enter the 1:50 list at Menangle. The four-year-old recorded 1:49.8 when he was successful in a $20,400 race last weekend.

Bred by Bruce and Vicki Edward, of Ballarat (Vic.), he has an all-American breeding background and one which has been most successful. Major Major is out of the Rustler Hanover mare Garden Gate Tina (1:53.2), who won 15 races in North America and $146,804 in stakes.

Garden Gate Tina, who was bred in Canada, was out of Silent Town (1:57), by Abercrombie from a smart race mare in Town Tattler (1:54.6), dam of the USA Stakes winner Tattler’s Torpedo (1:53.8) and grand-dam of the 2YO Colt of the Year Major In Art (1:50.8), a successful sire in Australia.

Major Major is a half-brother to the Melton winner and Group placegetter Beach Garden 1:52.9 ($135,844) and Tina Calls (1:55.7).

NSW Christmas Gift winner

Talent Agent (Gold Ace), who won the Christmas Gift Final, one of the features of the Menangle meeting last Saturday, in a new lifetime mark of 1:49.9, is a five-year-old gelding from the same family as that which produced a top New Zealand pacer and Auckland Cup winner in Roydon Glen.

Talent Agent, who was an Addington winner as a three-year-old, has been a widely travelled horse but he has shown up as a very useful pacer, and it was a handy field he beat at Menangle.

It was his fourth success on end and his tenth lifetime.

Art Buyer, the dam of Talent Agent, was by Art Major from Lendusaquid, by In The Pocket from the Smooth Fella mare Roydon Glenda, a daughter of the 1984 NZ Broodmare of the Year Roydon Dream, who founded a great winning line for Roydon Lodge stud.

Besides Roydon Glen, who won 22 races, Roydon Dream was the dam of a high class pacer in Roydon Scott and the ancestress of horses the calibre of the triple NZ Cup winner Terror To Love, Slick Vance (WA Golden Nugget), Ambro The Thug (NZ Sires’ Stakes 2YO Final), the dual Queensland Cup winner Mach Da Vinci, Jagged Knight (SA Derby) and Tuherbs (NZ Welcome Stakes).

Top NSW two-year-old trotter

The Sebastian K gelding Maximus Meridius firmly established himself as the top NSW two-year-old trotter of the season when he took out the Arizona Blue Final at Menangle. A week earlier he established an Australasian two-year-old male record of 1:56.3 in a heat.

Bred and raced by Colin and Cheryl McDowell, Maximus Meridius is by the deceased Swedish bred horse Sebastian K (sire of Next Level Stuff, Susan Is Her Name, etc), from Maximiser, who took a record of 1:56.4 and banked $101,075.

Maximiser was by the Canadian bred sire Majestic Son from Frozen Funds, by Pine Chip from the Chiola Hanover mare Inda Bank, a winner of three Group races and the NZ 3YO Trotter of the Year.

This is a long established NZ family and an earlier top two-year-old belonging to it was Continental Auto, who won the NZ Sires’ Stakes Championship in 2009. The smart Australian square-gaiters Kyvalley Boomerang, Kyvalley Finn, Kyvalley Maven and Chissy are also members of this tribe.

Crack youngster by Major Secret

A two-year-old to take a high ranking in South Australia this season was Bay Jim Major, one of the second crop sired by Major Secret, who is standing at Steve Norman’s Allenby Lodge stud.

He won five two-year-old races and was six times placed for $39,075. He won the $30,000 SA Sires Classic at Port Pirie last Sunday in the smart time of 1:57.7 and appears every bit as good as the Croweaters rate him.

Bay Jim Major is out of Jimbaran Bay, by Getting It Right (son of Classic Garry) from a useful racemare in Ensure, by Happy Talk and tracing back to the imported mare Norice.

Jimbaran Bay, who won six races, produced others in Winnedou and Peppa Itis. She is a half-sister to the Strathalbyn Cup winner Equity ($110,605) and Direct Cindy (1:58.5), a winner of 18 races.

Tenth winner from broodmare

When the Art Major two-year-old Petes Ona Mission won at the Penrith midweek meeting, he credited his dam Three Eagles with her tenth individual winner.

Petes Ona Mission, bred by Benstud Standardbreds, had been placed at Newcastle and qualified for the Nutrien Equine Classic earlier. Others from Three Eagles to win have been the NZ 2YO Colt of the Year and Derby winner Fly Like An Eagle ($, the exported Mach Doro 1:50.2 (Vic. Sapling), Higherthananeagle (1:50.2), Come Say Hi (Breeders Crown 2YO Silver), Three Squared, The Ethletic, My Golden Eagle, Cheeky Eagle, Playboy Cullen and now Petes Ona Mission.

Three Eagles, who died earlier this year, has since produced a yearling colt by Art Major. A half-sister to the Inter Dominion heat winner Anvil Vance, Three Eagles was a Falcon Seelster mare from Pretty Smooth, by Smooth Fella from Nell’s Pride, dam of the Kiwi superstar Chokin.

by Peter Wharton, for Harnesslink