Graeme sweet on the Lous

There’s no curbing Graeme Anderson’s enthusiasm for the harness racing stock of Sweet Lou (Yankee Cruiser).

Since 2020 the Westward Beach trainer and a handful of loyal clients have outlaid close to $400,000 at various sales for eleven colts by the Woodlands based stallion.

However it wasn’t a sales purchase that got him started on the Sweet Lous.

“It originally started when Trevor Casey bred one of his good mares Spirit Of Art (Art Major) to Sweet Lou. That was Spirit Of St Louis. He was quite small, fine boned and I guess Trevor thought if he put him through the yearling sales he’d get crucified. He gave me a half share and Mark Fuller, who broke him in and said he was a nice horse. He came back to me and I was at Forbury at the time so I bowled him around and he was a beautiful horse, good gaited with a bit of speed,” Anderson said.

Spirit Of St Louis won eight races for Anderson as a three year old before he headed to Australia where he’s won another eighteen and $1.2 million dollars. Most of the original ownership group including Anderson still has a share in the horse.

“I thought I needed to get some more of these. Some people didn’t like them but I bought Bluto, Cantfindabettorman and some others. Cantfindabettorman was one of the first ones I bought.”

He also purchased Sirius and Spirit Of Arion and has a handful of yearlings and two year olds going through their education.

“They’re good gaited, good to deal with, never hit a knee and they were well priced for what I wanted to do. I like to buy, develop and sell on. I’ve sold a few this winter because they’ve been nice horses out of good families.”

One of these was Arden’s Kiwi Lad (Sweet Lou – L’Oiseau De Nuit) a yearling he bought for $18,000.

“I sold him to a guy in Australia who I’d sold other Sweet Lous to. They’re doing well in Australia.”

The Woodland Stud website states a staggering 62% of Sweet Lou’s New Zealand bred winners have been exported to Australia and they’re highly sought after.

Sweet Lou has now sired over 300 individual winners across Australia and New Zealand.

Anderson’s thoughts on his Sweet Lou sales purchases:

Christchurch 2023 (Yearling)

• Sweet Lou – Excellent (Top Draw) purchase price $30,000.

“He’s just back in work now because we’ve had a s… of a winter. He broke in nicely.”

Auckland 2023 (Yearling)

• Sweet Lou – Rose Ryal (Prosperity) purchase price $45,000.

“Nice horse. He’s up at Brent White’s going through a preparation. I thougth he was one of the nicest Sweet Lous I’ve bought. He’s out of a Mach Three mare so it’s that Direct Scooter line which I like. He’s going through a non-pressure stage because we’re not big two year old believers.”

Christchurch 2022 (2 year olds)

• Sweet Lou – Whitershadeofpale (Hezasweetie) purchase price $16,000.

“I like him a lot. He’s a nice horse that’s always shown a lot of promise. We’ve had a bit of Australian interest in him. I’d want to keep a half share if I was to sell him. Once the weather improves we’ll start to hopple him. He when to Tony’s (Stratford) and he really liked him too.”

• Sweet Lou – Mantis Denario (Reset The Bar) purchase price $20,000.

“He’s out of a Somebeachsomewhere mare. He bowls along nicely. I see there’s a couple of nice ones out of Somebeachsomewhere mares doing well in America. Those two are priced under $20,000 so you can make a profit.”

Auckland 2022 (2 year olds)

• Sweet Lou – Better Be A Lady (He’s No Romeo) purchase price $40,000.

“He goes nice but he’s got a bit of an ugly head. That’s why he’s called He’s No Romeo. We’ve given him a bit of time because he’s quite a big horse.”

• Sweet Lou – Ice Imperial (Ice Laz) purchase price $24,000.

“He’s a nice horse who’s due to start hoppling. He’s out of a Bettor’s Delight mare who was out of an Art Major mare who’s a half-sister to Lazarus. It’s a good family and he’s a very nice horse.”

• Sweet Lou – Speights Girl (Dawson) purchase price $35,000.

“He’s doing his education down at Tony Stratford’s. We sent him down there to go round the track because we don’t have Forbury anymore. He shows a lot of promise. He shouldn’t be too far away from going to the workouts.”

Auckland 2021 (3 year olds)

• Sweet Lou – Spirit Of Delight (Spirit Of Arion) purchase price $90,000. 20-7-4-1 $56,396.
• Sweet Lou – Beach Parade (Bluto) purchase price $37,000.  6-3-0-1 $27,435.

Auckland 2020 (4 year old)

• Sweet Lou – Better Be A Lady (Cantfindabettorman) purchase price $41,000. 32-13-6-5 $239,546.

Owners Trevor Casey, Tony Gow, Steve Pulley, Ray Chaiklen, Dave McHugh and Brian Sceat have all supported Anderson in his Sweet Lou ventures.

“I’d buy them, get them going and then get the owners in at a bit of a price. I didn’t really like buying yearlings for people. Not every yearling is a good horse and you have to wait. So I take the risk and then bring the others in. They’ve had a bit of success so that keeps them going.”

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink