Wesley progeny off to a winning start

The first crop of Wesley Foals are beginning to emerge, and on Saturday at Bunbury his first starter in Iseeubaby was able to win with ease in the opener.

The two-year-old filly by Wesley and out of Icanseeyou is owned and bred by Tracey Massimini and trained by John Graham, who was an influential part of why Welsey was initially sent to stud.

“John Graham was the one who initially came up with the idea of giving him a go, we never really thought of doing it,

“And it was probably because he was so well gaited and such a ready-made two-year-old that really encouraged us to give it a shot,

“As well as the double westbred (bonus).”

Siring six foals in his first season, Wesley was an earner of in excess of $163,000 is a son of Sportswriter USA out of El Jay Lombo and was bred by Lombo Standardbreds in 2013.

ISEEUBABY REPLAY

Winning his first three races as a two-year-old, Wesley was trained by Sarah Wall in Bunbury, and at just his sixth start in a race, took out the $50,000 Champagne Classic and then six weeks later was runner-up in the $100,000 Gr1 Pearl Classic, having a total of 53 career starts before retiring in June 2021.

Welsey had the two runners engaged in the first at Bunbury on Saturday night, with Wesmedad (out of Miss Tanaka NZ) starting first up for the Wall family and finishing fourth in the 2YO event.

Watching Wesley’s progeny was something else for Wall, who explained that although it’s always special watching a foal that your mare has produced, being able to witness a foal by a stallion that you raced is just that bit more special.

“I would recommend it to anyone, you just never expect to do something like that,

“You breed with a broodmare and that’s a huge thrill, but to actually have a stallion, it’s awesome,

“Our friend Mark (Forster) who passed away, his dad came and watched, and he was the first person we thought of because he was around when we first started all of this.

“We’re pretty proud, and we’re glad we did it.”

Mark Forster was a part owner of Wesley who sadly passed away in late 2020 at just 35-years-old.

Impressed by his progeny, albeit only a small crop so far, Wall is hopeful that they will continue to emerge as the season goes on and that more outside mares will book to the modestly priced stallion.

“When they were born, if you paid money to a commercial stallion, they’re really nice builds and they seem to be good gaited like him, everything’s been pretty positive, but we didn’t really know what they would end up like.”

“I think that’s what we’ve been relying on the whole time, whether these can, it’s still only a small crop to try and prove yourself,

“We just sort of thought if they can show some ability then maybe we might be able to get a few others this year coming.”

Welsey boasts the attributes of a great stallion, a nice horse to handle and although a stallion, even in race work he could be stabled and floated next to mares, which contributed to the reason he was kept an entire.

Wesley covered just the one mare last season (2023) for David Pybourne and produced three foals in 2022 and currently stands at stud for a modest $1300.

Contact Sarah Wall if you’re interest in sending your mare to double westbred eligible stallion Wesley this breeding season.

For complete race results, click here.

by Ashleigh Paikos, for RWWA