White Lion to turn heads when he steps out at Terang

Win, lose or draw, White Lion (Arctic Cat) will be turning heads when he steps out at Terang on Monday night.

Bred by Kerrie Hymers from Tourello Standardbreds, he is by buckskin stallion Arctic Cat out of chestnut mare Rainbow Banner, a combination that resulted in a rare cream colour for standardbreds.

The dazzling pacer has been in the care of Matthew Craven since he was purchased at the 2022 Australian Pacing Gold Melbourne yearling sale for $14,000.

White Lion presents visually as a palomino, however standardbreds at this stage cannot be registered as that colour.

A palomino is described as a genetic colour in horses, consisting of a gold coat and white mane and tail.

“I think he will probably be the first palomino ever to race in the world,” Hymers said.

“I’ve seen one of his trials and he looks terrific. I got a real surprise how well he was going.

“I met Mattie (Craven) at the sales in February and he said that he was quite confident in him so that was really exciting.

“He was three generations for us to create. It’s quite an achievement for us as a breeder to produce him. It’s exciting to see him on the track.”

White Lion has drawn barrier four in the Terang Co-Op Supa IGA 2YO/3YO Pace on Monday night.

The Craven-trained colt has now had four trials over the last eight months in preparation for his race debut.

Click here to see Terang Harness Racing Club’s Facebook page and to catch all the behind-the-scenes photos from the night.

Tourello Standardbreds is preparing three skewbald broodmares and one buckskin broodmare for the upcoming Australian Pacing Gold National Mixed Online Sale. 

For complete race entries, click here.

by Bronte Nieuwenburg, for Harness Racing Victoria