New Zealand weekly breeding round up

Once again, we highlight some of the harness racing breeding successes from around the country for the week ending the 25^th of September.

Leading Pacing Sire: Bettor’s Delight | 6 winners

Leading Trotting Sire: Peak | 3 winners

Leading Pacing Broodmare Sire: Christian Cullen | 6 winners

Leading Trotting Broodmare Sire: Sundon | 3 winners

Not much more can be said about Bettor’s Delight, Christian Cullen and Sundon in their respective categories. They are in a class of their own and have the numbers and records at stud which speak for themselves by now.

Peak on the other hand, well he is worthy of a mention given this is the first time he has appeared on the list as the leading trotting sire for a weekend.

The New Zealand Trotting FFA winner who now resides at Mountain View Stud in Victoria struggled to compete for mares in a crowded market but has proven time and time again to have sired stock with some sizeable engines. Unfortunately, many came with the caveat for being highly strung, not the greatest mix for a gene pool that includes 100’s of daughters of Sundon.

His three winners for the weekend included a double at Alexandra Park with Invictus and A Trophy Wife both saluting for their connections. His third winner came in the first at Motukarara with Gazza Beatt who like the filly A Trophy Wife, cleared maidens at just his second start taking his lifetime tally to 41 NZ bred winners.

Click here to see the leading NZ Sires table.

Leading Breeder: An eclectic mix of breeders from all ends of the spectrum shared the honours for this weeks leading breeder with two wins a piece.

Brian West of Studholme Park and Woodlands Stud have each won the prestigious Breeder of the Year accolade at the Harness Racing New Zealand awards. Between them they breed close to 10% of the countries registered foal crop and while both may be scaling back their breeding numbers in the seasons to come, it is never unexpected to see their names prominent in the race results on a weekly basis.

West’s breeding winners included the A Rocknroll Dance four-year-old gelding, Rockin Va Va in the fourth on the card at Winton on Thursday, as well as the Bettor’s Delight three-year-old gelding, Bach in Race 7 at Addington on Friday. The Robert & Jenna Dunn trained Bach made it two wins from just two starts in the Show Day Futurity Prelude and was ultra-impressive in easily accounting for a quality field of three-year-olds after sitting off the pace. He is out of the Dream Away mare La Soiree who has also produced a full brother in Anthem who was placed at Group 2 level and ran sixth in a New Zealand Derby before being exported to America.

Woodlands Stud secured another win for their boom sire, Downbytheseaside when the Steve & Amanda Telfer trained Aardiebytheseaside notched her second win in as many starts. The two-year-old filly was driven like the best horse in the race by Tim Williams and she proved much too strong at the finish. She is out of the unraced (and now hacked) 18YO Christian Cullen mare Divine, who in turn hails from the famed Tabella Beth line showing why it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise to see a quality filly appear from the mare, albeit a little later in her career then most would have expected.

Their second success came at Addington also in the last on the card, when the blue blood Invitation Only (Bettor’s Delight) got the chocolates for Cran and Chrissie Dalgety. The three-year-old gelding is a full brother to Group One winner, Another Masterpiece, being out of the Christian Cullen mare Elegant Art. She was the only live foal produced down under by imported American mare, Elegance (Artsplace), who was a half-sister to the world champion $2.9 million dollar earner Darlins Delight.

Jenny Butt produced two winners from the incredible trotting line she and her late husband Murray Butt have had such a huge hand in overseeing going back to broodmare gem, Abundant (1985-Game Pride). These are the tail lines of trotters such as Dominon Handicap winner, Vulcan (Earl), 2YO Ruby winner, Custodian (Muscle Mass) and Northern Breeders Stakes winner, Princess Mackendon (Skyvalley).

Nazareth kicked things off on Thursday night when the three-year-old son of Love You cleared maidens in the sixth on the card. Nazareth is the fifth foal from Maysoon (Sundon), who was the 12th and final foal of Abundant. She is also the dam of the listed Sires Stakes Classique winner, Chloe Rose. The manner in which Nazareth cleared away from the majority of his opposition suggests there is plenty of fun in store for his connections.

NAZARETH REPLAY

A day later, Invictus (Peak) made it win number 13 when taking out the open trot on the card at Alexandra Park. He is out of the unraced Ambro Invasion mare, Aine, who is a half-sister to the 10-time Group One winner, Vulcan. 10 of the 13 wins for the Hackett/Wallis trained squaregaiter have come over his pet distance of 2200m and all but one of the 13 victories have come at the ‘ribbon of light’.

James Geddes did the double with his first winner coming in the last on the card at the Winton meeting on Saturday afternoon. American Ideal gelding Mogul continues to age like a fine wine and won the 17th race of his career at his 123rd start, a pretty honorable achievement for a pacer in this country. Geddes co-bred the pacer with Clarrie Scott who owned and trained the dam, Village Lady (Equitable II) who traces back to the 2005 NZ Broodmare of Excellence winner, Star Lady (Smooth Fella).

Geddes second winner came on Sunday at Motukarara when he and his father Jim produced another iron horse, Sods Law (Muscle Mass) to win fresh up on the grass. Wearing the famous Geddes black silks with the white sleeves and spots, Sods Law was able to win the ninth race of his career from his 103rd start. He is out of the unraced Sundon mare, Galleons Tribute, who is a half-sister to the wonderful producer, Rob The Nest (Chiola Hanover).

Finally, Grant and Di Beckett had a weekend to remember when Phoebe Majestic (Majestic Son) was able to help deliver the 500th training success for Cambridge horsewoman Nicky Chilcott at Alexandra Park. Phoebe Majestic is the third foal of racing age from Monarchy mare, Duchess Of Phoebe, who is off to a cracking start as a broodmare being the dam of 21 race wins from her first three foals. She is out of the 1-win Sundon mare, Ashley Sunset, a half-sister to Dominion Handicap and Interdominion Grand Final winner, William Dee.

The same family produced his second breeding success at Motukarara on Sunday when the Paul Nairn trained El Conqueror (Sebastian K) won the second race of his career in the penultimate race of the afternoon. He is out of the Wrestle mare, Phoebe Revival, a half-sister to the dam of Friday night’s Auckland winner.

EL CONQUEROR REPLAY

The cherry on top for the Beckett’s came earlier in the week when Royal Aspirations sired the 24th race win of his career at Addington Raceway with Royal Del. The pair stand the stallion on their farm at Phoebe Stud in Cheviot, Canterbury. It was a gamble that has started to pay dividends in recent times with the colonial bred trotting stallion kicking goals left right and center and looking likely to serve more than double his largest book in any one season this coming spring.

1: The number of breeding trifectas coming from last weekend’s racing.

We have seen a number of breeding quinellas over the last 6 weeks, but not a trifecta and we have put in a request to see how rare of a feat this one actually is.

Spreydon Lodge managed to breed the first three home in race nine at Addington on Thursday night with Franco Mac (Bettor’s Delight), Franco Norton (A Rocknroll Dance) and Franco Indie (Always B Miki) returning a dividend of $1909.40 for anyone who had the trio on a ticket.

Franco Mac was able to get the better of his more fancied stablemate Franco Indie with the pair being split by the fast-finishing Franco Norton in the Spreydon Lodge colours of Steven McRae.

The winner is out of a four-win Mach Three mare, MacFire who in turn is the fourth foal from Sparks Under Fire, the dam of 68 race wins from her nine foals of racing age.

73: The number of race wins by the progeny of the magnificent trotting mare, Juliana (Sundon). The daughter of Janetta’s Pride is a full sister to five Group race winners including three New Zealand Trotting Derby champions, Dependable, Ima Gold Digger and Shirley Temple.

And while her own racing career was limited to just five starts as a two-year-old, she has carried on the legacy of the Keith and Bevan Grice breed with a gusto. Her 73rd win as a broodmare came in the Group Three Sires Stakes Trotting Classique for three-year-old fillies when Hidden Talent (Bacardi Lindy) lived up to her name and trekked north for a sensational win.

It was very much shades of her full sister, Dark Horse, who had a sublime turn of foot but went amiss when failing in the 2017 Dominion Handicap. With any luck, this filly looks every bit as good and has burst on the scene as a possible threat to the dominant Double Delight come the New Zealand Trotting Oaks in November.

HIDDEN TALENT REPLAY

2796: The number of New Zealand bred race wins by New Zealand’s greatest colonial sire, Christian Cullen.

It’s becoming somewhat of a rarity to see his name in the winners list with his final racing crop of 13 now five year olds.

Makara was able to salute victorious for the 1998 New Zealand Cup winning sire at Alexandra Park on Friday night, marking his 3rd winner for the season, the lowest number of his career going back to 2003 when his first crop of two-year-olds produced five winners from 12 starters. As we know, his legacy lives on through his daughters and possibly his siring son Raging Bull who will resume stud duties in Australia in 2022.

by Brad Reid, for Harnesslink