Volstead deal assures semen for ‘down under’ breeding season

Down under trotting breeders rueing the missed opportunity to breed to one of the leading lights in the 2023 harness racing season have had their prayers answered somewhat unexpectedly.

That surprise extends to the individual responsible for making it happen.

What started as a dream and some basic enquires to stand the revolutionary trotting sire Volstead (Cantab Hall) turned into what is now a reality for Lauren Eggins, a young Equine Veterinarian from Wagga.

“It’s very exciting and a big privilege to be able to promote Volstead in Australia and New Zealand,” said Eggins.

“I have been following Volstead for a while and he’s been doing pretty phenomenal things for a first season sire. I had my eye on the stallion and new he had stood in Australia previously. I also knew that he didn’t come back across for one reason or another.

“Through family and friends, I had some contact in the USA and that led me to chatting with Dean Miller, the owner of the stallion. We realised that it was too late to bring the horse down this season, but he did have semen in the country and so we thought we might as well use it and make him available to the down under market for breeders to take advantage of his bloodlines sooner rather than later.

“It’s come up quickly and didn’t expect to be making Volstead available this season, but I am excited that it has fallen into place and we can. It’s a pretty cool opportunity and hopefully it’s the start of something that will grow even bigger in the future,” she said.

The Swedish Group One winning son of Cantab Hall stood two seasons down under at Yabby Dam Farms in Victoria in 2020 and 2021 serving books of 50 and 45 in Australia and 29 and 27 respectively in New Zealand.

His first two seasons at Dublin Valley Farms in Ohio yielded similar size books, yet it hasn’t deterred the cream from rising to the top with a number of outstanding individuals being realised with the debut crop of Volstead’s this season.

First it was ‘down under’ where in the space of a couple of days, daughters Violet Stanford and We Can Have It All were stakes race winners on both sides of the Tasman before combining a fortnight ago to quinella the Group One $100,000 Vicbred 2YO Fillies Final.

VIOLET STANFORD REPLAY

Soon after it was another pair of daughters in Sugar Instead and Jurassic Hattie battling it out in the stallions home state of Ohio in the $150,000 Next Generation Series where they would run the quinella.

JURASSIC HATTIE | NEXT GENERATION REPLAY

The winners have flowed steadily in the time since, resulting in Volstead being the current leading first season trotting sire in Australia and New Zealand, and 2^nd on the same list in North America behind Greenshoe despite having less then 1/5^th of the foals to that of his contemporary in his debut crop.

Understandably, the success had breeders down under looking for Volstead’s name in the most recent Australasian issues of the Standardbred Stallion Registers, albeit in vain.

While it is likely Volstead will shuttle down under in the coming seasons, knowing his services have been secured by Eggins for the 2023/24 breeding season albeit by frozen semen, breeders have access to the bloodlines of what is clearly a world class stallion in the making.

“I have spoken to quite a few breeders in both countries already and we have had quite a bit of interest. We only have limited semen but if anybody is interested, I am more than happy to chat to them about securing them the booking,” she said.

To many in the harness racing industry, the name Lauren Eggins mightn’t be a household name. With the Volstead deal however that looks set to change.

Eggins has been involved in the equine reproduction sector for over a decade and has plied her trade in many of the major states of Australia before returning home to New South Wales earlier in the year where her family with rich harness racing roots reside.

“I’m a vet and have been for over ten years plying my trade around Australia. I have always been interested in the harness racing sector. My interest comes through my Dad’s side of the family who have had trotters and pacers my whole life. My Grandfather is Harold Said, he was a trainer in Sydney ay Harold Park for a number of years.

“Dad used to train when I was younger and continued that on his interest more recently in Wagga and New South Wales helping to train participants and issue them their licenses so he has always been involved in some capacity.

I went into Vet school for the big animals and have always had horses in my blood, so that was always the route I was planning to take. A large part of my career has been involved in the breeding of horses and equine reproduction more than anything else, but I have always kept a strong interest in the bloodlines of the standardbreds that I am working with and externally in the wider racing community.

“I have done a lot of work in Queensland and then I have also worked in Victoria as well, when I was down there we bred a lot of Standardbred’s. We are back in Wagga now to be closer to the family when I had my children.

“It’s great to be home and I think there is a bit of a hole for NSW in the way of breeding sector for the trotters and I don’t think you can start with a better stallion than Volstead,” she said.

Volstead will be available to Australasian breeders for a fee of $10,000+GST via frozen semen.

Those interested in securing a booking can contact Lauren on her mobile: +61 400 871 509 or by email: laureneggins2@outlook.com

by Brad Reid, for Harnesslink