It is amazing how the harness racing breeding business is rapidly changing throughout the world and here is a word of caution for any commercial breeder contemplating what they are breeding their mares too currently, in Australia or New Zealand.

Last Friday night at Tabcorp Park Melton, Victoria, the Australian Breeder’s Crown Finals were raced and the results for each of the six Pacing Finals showed just how much of a shift the breeding business is going through right now. The past few years have been completely dominated by the great Bettor’s Delight, without a doubt one of harness racing’s greatest ever stallions, but there is a change in the wind.

The new sire line that is taking a hold on the breeding world (and commercial breeders should take note) starts with Mach Three and his great son Somebeabeachsomewhere, and now his great son Captaintreacherous. Sadly and a tragedy for the breeding world both Mach Three and Somebeachsomewhere both died as young stallions. That leaves Captaintreacherous and his young sons Captain Crunch and Capt Midnight who are now both fully booked in Australia but still have bookings open in New Zealand.

Crown domination by Mach Three, Somebeachsomewhere & Captaintreacherous 1 — **Mach Three, sire of progeny earnings of over $230,000,000 throughout the world**

Mach Three and his son Somebeachsomewhere and his son Captaintreacherous sired the winners of all the six Breeders Crown Finals last Friday night.

Here is a list of all the Breeder’s Crown Finals for the pacing divisions;

The $50,000 Final for four-year-old stallions and geldings (Group 2) 2240 metres

1st – Honolua Bay by Somebeachsomewhere from National Gallery by Artsplace

Honolua Bay – Life record – 18 starts 11 wins 1 second 1 third ($146,150)

The $300,000 Final for two-year-old colts and geldings (Group 1) 2240 metres

1st – Catch A Wave by Captaintreacherous from Coppagoodone by Christian Cullen

Catch A Wave – Life record – 7 starts 6 wins ($199,990)

Watch this race of Catch A Wave winning here.

The $200,000 Final for three-year-old colts and geldings (Group 1) 2240 metres

1st – Act Now by Somebeachsomewhere from Mollys Ideal by American Ideal

Act Now – Life record – 24 starts 13 wins – 7 seconds ($469,535)

The $200,000 Final for three-year-old fillies (Group 1) 2240 metres

1st – Ladies In Red by Mach Three from Kabbalah Karen by Western Terror

Ladies In Red – Life record – 17 starts 14 wins 3 thirds ($489,500)

The $300,000 Final for two-year-old Fillies (Group 1) 2240 metres

1st – Encipher by Captaintreacherous from Our Cavort by Falcon Seelster

Encipher – Life record – 6 starts 3 wins 2 seconds ($223,679)

The $50,000 Final for four-year-old mares (Group 2) 2240 metres

1st – Maajida by Somebeachsomewhere from Arterial Way by Art Major

Maajida – Life record – 33 starts 20 wins 4 seconds 1 third ($547,880)

Such an amazing story to see that as a young sire, Captaintreacherous is beginning to dominate around the world.

In Australia Captaintreacherous is now the leading sire of two-year-olds by far. With 33 starters from 77 live foals he has average earnings of $28,607 per starter. It is again amazing for any sire in Australia to have 42% starters as two-year-olds.

The most important thing for commercial breeders to take into consideration is that Captaintreacherous has his biggest crop of 111 rising two-year-olds in Australia and 46 in New Zealand which is nearly double the amount of foals in his previous crops in both Countries. His domination as a sire looks assured over the next few years of racing down under.

Here is a list of average earnings for two-year-olds for all sires in Australia as at today’s date;

Sires – Pacers & Trotters 2YO	Starters	Starts	Winners	Wins	Places	Aust $	Av. $ per Starter min. 10 starters min. 1 starter
CAPTAINTREACHEROUS (US)	33	203	20	49	59	$944,027	$28,607
BETTORS DELIGHT USA	44	286	24	50	88	$772,667	$17,561
ALWAYS B MIKI USA	43	223	24	49	57	$615,773	$14,320
SOMEBEACHSOMEWHERE USA	36	206	24	41	59	$516,108	$14,336
FLY LIKE AN EAGLE	33	272	18	36	72	$514,805	$15,600
ART MAJOR USA	47	253	23	47	71	$512,311	$10,900
BETTING LINE USA	57	312	24	48	91	$491,676	$8,626
A ROCKNROLL DANCE USA	48	263	23	41	67	$438,378	$9,133
TINTIN IN AMERICA NZ	17	103	9	21	29	$372,115	$21,889
SWEET LOU USA	38	202	22	42	55	$369,268	$9,718
AMERICAN IDEAL USA	41	206	16	29	55	$308,030	$7,513
FOLLOW THE STARS	26	268	11	18	74	$281,613	$10,831
SUNSHINE BEACH USA	39	219	15	22	58	$280,863	$7,202
PET ROCK USA	44	192	10	18	56	$260,740	$5,926
MAJESTIC SON CA	15	114	7	17	32	$242,885	$16,192
BLING IT ON	17	85	10	19	15	$241,676	$14,216
SPORTSWRITER USA	31	162	11	16	41	$233,354	$7,528
WELL SAID USA	29	173	14	19	44	$198,297	$6,838
SHADOW PLAY USA	12	61	7	14	19	$182,873	$15,239
BETTERTHANCHEDDAR USA	24	151	10	19	35	$169,953	$7,081