Breeding to carry ‘big dummy’ a long way in G2 Sires Stakes Champs

When it comes to juvenile trotting in harness racing, more often than not at the elite end of the spectrum, the apple doesn’t tend to fall too far from the tree.

A quick look at the field for Friday night’s G2 2YO Sires Stakes Trotting Championship at Addington Raceway is testament to that, with a group of two-year-old trotting talent by and large, bred in the blue.

Virtually every runner brings with them a mix of modern bloodlines and some of our best maternal families, with one such example being the Bob Butt trained Wilma’s Boy (Tactical Landing).

His sire has taken the North American and European trotting scene by storm with his first two crops, siring the winner of this years Hambletonian as well as the latest trotter to reach the magical million dollar mark with the Nancy Takter trained juvenile, Karl.

Tactical Landing has the rare distinction of being by a Breeders Crown champion in Muscle Hill, out of a Breeders Crown champion in Southwind Serena, who in turn has produced the Breeders Crown winners in Mission Brief and Tactical Landing himself.

The blood has come through in a big way, and despite only producing eight live foals in his first crop due to frozen semen and limited availability, he is represented by three of them in the 15 horse 2YO trotting feature tomorrow night.

They say it takes two to tango, and Wilma’s Boy is out of one of the fastest trotting mares produced in New Zealand over the last decade in G1 winner, Wilma’s Mate (Pegasus Spur). She wasn’t just fast, boasting a maternal pedigree of one of New Zealand’s great trotting pages being a descendant of the brilliant producing Rob The Nest.

The man tasked with training her first foal for owner/breeder Richard Cornelius see’s a lot of similarities between the pair having had a lot to do with Mum throughout her career with both Bob and his father David combining for all 14 of her victories in the cart on New Zealand soil.

“I won a lot of races with his Mum and he’s a chip off the old block. He has got the motor there, his body just needs to catch up with him,” said Butt.

“Originally we were going to give him a massive spell after he won his debut, but the way he went first up against a lot of these, we thought we would give him a freshen up to have a crack at these two races over the next couple of weeks while the money is up.

“The ability is there but he is a massive big skinny bugger who just needs to grow and fill out and in 12 months time will be the full package. Wilma’s Mate was a big leggy filly as a two-year-old who could do things wrong and then she came back at three and just about won everything.

WILMA’S BOY DEBUT

“He is a bit the same, that race when he won on debut, he more or less took the speed out of them, but as you would have seen at the Cup Day trial, he is very very quick as well,” he said.

The Cup trial Butt referenced was an unbelievable performance making up several lengths at the 400m to reel in the lead pair with consummate ease. It was the first public sighting since his impressive maiden success, which was followed by a tumultuous outing at Rangiora in a 2YO event where the odds on favourite galloped in behind the mobile arm and took virtually no part.

“It was just inexperience. It’s obviously not ideal, but was one of those things you have to expect with juvenile trotters. He is still learning and just a big dumb baby in many ways, and it was going to happen one day and I would rather it happen there than tomorrow.

“He’s not a silly bugger or anything like that, and while it could happen again tomorrow night, and I dont think the draw should be a concern,” he said.

Wilma’s Boy has drawn handsomely in barrier two and does look to have options with plenty of speed around him on the front line. As far as the opposition, Butt has huge respect for the whole field in what is one of the deeper juvenile ensembles to contest the time honoured feature.

“Theres a few of them to be wary of, it’s a tidy field,” said Butt.

“A few of them are probably in the same boat as my guy with needing to bring their manners, like Dream’s Pat and Tyron Eros, and then you have Empire City who was awesome winning at Ashburton and Princess Sadie looks like a wee professional and she goes real good too.

“Look To Da Stars and Paramount Lady have shown ability as well and it’s one of those fields where the form isn’t really that exposed with them all lining up together, and I would say a bit of a pecking order might be established out of tomorrow night for Grand Prix day,” he said

While Butt doesn’t have a runner in the G1 New Zealand Trotting Oaks, he does take the reins behind another blue blood trotter in the in form mare, Resolve (Andover Hall).

She contests the second instalment of the G2 $60,000 Trotting Mares Handicap having won the inaugural version last year and after two enormous runs over the Cup carnival which culminated with a G1 placing behind Oscar Bonavena in the Dominion on Show Day, looks to be a royal chance to add to her growing litany of black type.

The resume is stacked with multiple Group Race wins and placings which will evidently serve her well in her looming career as a broodmare.

“She has been served already this season but didn’t get in foal,” said Butt.

“When she went super over Cup Week we thought maybe she was in foal, but she is just a typical mare who when she gets in a good vein of form, she is a very capable trotter at the best level.

“She is up to them on class, the 30m just makes it tricky through the middle with who is carting who up. If a Galway Girl gets to the top and puts ten lengths between us early on, it’s going to be very hard. Just with the ones you have to get around. It’s probably easier driving her in the Open Class races because you always have a good helmet to follow, but here you will likely have to burn around and make your own luck and hope to avoid traffic issues along the way.

“As you saw in the Dominion, if it’s run true she can rocket home but I will just have to see how the race is being run and whether we need to get going and put her staying abilities to use, one good thing about her is she is versatile like that,” he said.

For complete Addington race fields, click here.

by Brad Reid, for Harnesslink