Still breeding fabulous fillies after fifty years

The Late Alan Galloway Snr and then Alan Jnr have been breeding quality Standardbreds for at least the past 50 years. It all started out in the Adelaide hills but for the past 45 years Alabar Bloodstock has been based at Echuca in Northern Victoria.

There is a lovely selection of 7 fillies heading south to the Nutrien Melbourne Sale on Sunday 14^th April with the proven stallions Rock N Roll Heaven and Always B Miki represented plus the new kids on the block Bettors Wish, Ride High and the Trotter Elite Stride.

Lot 202 Bettors Wish – Capoeira Filly

This filly was just finding her legs on Christmas Day of 2022, having been born just a week before. However she is well grown and looks to be in the typical mould of the progeny of Bettors Wish.

Those progeny of Bettors Wish have been impressing horsemen at every Sale in Australia this year and this Lot 202 is the one and only filly by the dual Dan Patch Award winning stallion in the Melbourne sale.

You just have to love the fact that the owners of Bettors Wish sent him back to the racetrack as a 4 year old and he didn’t let anyone down winning Aged Pacer of the Year honours – the first horse since Art Major to win back to back Awards as a 3 and 4 year old.

Now speaking of Art Major, the granddam of this filly is a three quarter sister to that amazing horse and his brother Perfect Art 1.51.

There is some world class breeding in this Lot 202 – an opportunity of a lifetime to own a relation of the champion horse Art Major ……. And from a Somebeachsomewhere mare.

An added bonus if you need it is that this filly is from the Family of a World Champion filly, Worldly Beauty 1.49.6, plus another exciting filly in Rodine Hanover 1.54.

 Lot 244 Elite Stride – Illawong Helios Filly

 This filly, a plain bay, is nicely balanced and if she inherits any of the ability of her dam and granddam then you will be a very happy owner.

You will be happy if she inherits the ability of her Sire as well as Elite Stride was indeed an elite trotter as a 3 year old. Nine wins and track and race records from just 14 career starts put him on a pedestal. Being a son of Muscle Hill and from a powerful female pedigree gives Elite Stride every reason to become an elite stallion.

Illawong Helios 1.57.2 was one tough and brilliant trotter. She beat the boys in the Victorian Derby and then beat them again later in her career in Cups and Free For Alls.

She is by Majestic Son from an Award winning Sundon mare so that combines the blood of the two supreme Trotting stallions in the Southern Hemisphere for all of this Century.

Now an important update to this Lot 244’s pedigree. Her half sister Keayang Tweetybird was an amazing winner at Terang on 20^th March ….. one of Jason Lee’s six winning drives for the night. Take a look at the replay and then get ready to bid on this Lot 244.

 Lot 266 Elite Stride – Lunar Landing Filly. 

We are delighted with the looks of this debut crop of Elite Stride yearlings. This filly has a lot of length about her and looks a ready made athlete.

You could expect Elite Stride to be a very good sire of Fillies when you look at his breeding. His sire Muscle Hill sires females the equal of his sons . Then the dam and granddam of Elite Stride both excelled on the racetrack. The former won $386,000 and the latter $1.164 million.

Then this Lot 266 is a half sister to one of the more exciting Trotting females to have graced our racetracks over the past 12 years in Spider Girl 1.56.8. Twenty victories in just 42 starts defined her extraordinary ability.

Another half sister in Illawong Stardust 1.56.6 has performed at the highest level of the trotting ranks from a 2 year old through to competing in the Inter Dominion series.

Of course this is the famous “Maori“ Family so it never a surprise when another Stakes winner emerges.

It certainly wouldn’t be a longshot for this Lot 266 to be that next “Maori“ star.

 Lot 302 Always B Miki – Party Major Filly.

 A strongly built filly bred on a proven cross for success in Australia. The 3 X 3 cross to Artsplace has been quite emphatic in the success of Australian bred Always B Miki progeny.

Remarkably 5 of the top 6 richest Australian bred progeny of Miki have this 3 X 3 cross to Artsplace including the fillies Taking The Miki 1.54.2 and Not To Be Denied 1.50.1.

That in itself should be enough to have this Lot 302 on your Pacing filly shopping List. But when you look at the pedigree page you will notice it is laden with “ Five Star“ females like Champagne Party [the granddam], Democrat Party 1.54.9 , Party Party 1.53.2 and Cowgirls N Indians 1.56. These are the types of families you should be targeting when looking to buy yourself an Oaks winner.

Being from an Art Major mare gives this filly some extra firepower as well. Many of our superstars are from Art Major mares like Leap To Fame , Max Delight , Spirit Of St Louis and the females Tough Tilly, Maajida, No Win No Feed and Jewel Melody.

Lot 316 Ride High – Red Hot Roxy Filly.

 This is a filly that looks an athlete and with a combination of the blood of Ride High and Somebeachsomewhere [Sire of Red Hot Roxy] she should be “red hot“ on the racetrack.

It is a proven fact that horses can run faster on warm days as opposed to cold nights. So how good was the track record performance of Ride High when he scorched the Bendigo track on 1^st August 2020 in 1.49 with a closing half in 53.4.

As mentioned above Red Hot Roxy is sired by the “Minister of Speed“ in Somebeachsomewhere and she inherited some of that speed herself, winning 13 races with the majority as a 2 or 3 year old.

Then to balance the speed from the Sire and the Dam, this filly has double crosses of Abercrombie [4 X 5] and Cam Fella [5 X 5] to add some toughness and durability to the mix.

You will like what you see when you come to the Alabar barn on Sales weekend.

 Lot 335 Rock N Roll Heaven – Smiling Stunner Filly.

 There won’t be many fillies left available to buy when this one enters the ring, so this one is worthy of close inspection.

She is built in the mould of her Sire and looks to have plenty of zip about her. Rock N Roll Heaven is certainly capable of siring outstanding females as evidenced by the likes of My Mackenzie 1.52.4 , Rocknroll Magic 1.54.5 , Shez All Rock 1.51.8 and Heavens Trend 1.52.1.

He also has a strong affinity with the Artsplace sireline mares with 4 of his 6 richest Australian bred progeny being from Artsplace line mares ….. this Lot 335 is from an Art Major mare so the recipe is right to go.

Now also worth remembering that this Art Major mare, Smiling Stunner, is a half sister to one of the best fillies to have raced in NZ over the past 20 years, Lauraella 1.55.9.

Also worth remembering is that Corbie, the third Dam of this Lot 335, is a daughter of the legendary mare Blackwatch – so anything is possible for this late December foaled filly.

 Lot 347 Always B Miki – Thunder Cookie Filly.

 This filly is being offered by Sally Burgess, a long time employee of Alabar Bloodstock.

The filly is a well grown mature looking girl and having Village Jasper as the Sire of her dam is a big step in the right direction.

That Dam is a full sister to the impressive race mare Stylish Jasper 1.54.2 $118,491. Then there is strength in the granddam and third dam of this Lot 347, Saxony Style and Love The Look, who won 20 races between them.

The fourth dam, Pure Trick, is a half sister to two outstanding fillies of the 1980’s and 1990’s in Tender Trap and Blazing Spirit.

So this Lot 347 certainly descends from a Family that produces Stakes type fillies. Then there has been some champion boys in the Family as well in Shadow Sax 1.53.1 $558,353 and further back the great Pure Steel.

The sire Always B Miki has been a terrific sire of Fillies, both in North America and here is Australia and New Zealand.

by John Coffey for Alabar