Weekly spotlight on breeding

Breeding authority Peter Wharton presents harness racing news on breeding from Australia, New Zealand and North America brought to you by Yabby Dam Farms & Racing!

Yabby Dam Racing, principal Pat Driscoll’s dream to breed and race world class trotters was born after seeing a billboard on the Champs Elysees in Paris advertising the famous trotting race the Prix d’Amerique. Driscoll attended the Prix d’Amerique and immediately a love affair with the trotter was formed.

Driscoll spent the next five years visiting world class trotting establishments in Europe before embarking on his own venture here in Australia where he has lead the charge in the significant advancement of Southern Hemisphere trotting.

Along the way Driscoll formed friendships with many of Europe’s leading owners and breeder.

Queensland trip for Hi Manameisjeff

Star NSW pacer Hi Manameisjeff (Art Major), who is being self for a tilt at the riches of the Brisbane winter carnival, gave a further taste of his class when he easily won the $30,600 J. D. Watts Memorial, the main event at Menangle.

He was not in danger of defeat over the last 800 metres.

HI MANAMEISJEFF REPLAY

Bred by Glenys Chmiel, Hi Manameisjeff is a seven-year-old by Art Major from the Bettor’s Delight mare Honour Lady, whose dam, Ladona Franco, was by Falcon Seelster from Lotta Talk, by Talk About Class from Lotta Class, by El Patron.

Lotta Class left the Derby winners Late Bid and Lotsnlots, the top NSW pacer Franco Lotsmore and the Queensland Group winner Franco Looks Good.

Close relatives win at Melton

Two of Victoria’s top pacers at present, and both winners at Melton last Saturday who promise to be force in the forthcoming classics, are Let Her Roll (Sweet Lou) and Perfect Class.

Both trained by Clayton Tonkin are members of the family founded by the Windshield Wiper mare Larrakeyah Lady.

Let Her Roll, who won the Victoria Sapling Stakes and is unbeaten in four attempts, is by the Yankee Cruiser horse Sweet Lou from the dual Group 1 winner Rocknroll Magic 1:54.5 ($466,183), by Rock N Roll Heaven from All The Magic, by Live Or Die from Celebrity Ball, by Presidential Ball.

Perfect Class, the winner of nine races and $279,880, is a four-year-old Captaintreacherous entire out of Perfect Life (1:58), by Live Or Die from Secret Life (1:58.6), by Safely Kept from Lifeline, a Classic Garry half-sister to Celebrity Ball, the third dam of Let Her Roll.

A third winner from this tribe at the Melton meeting was the very promising Keayang Tokyo. Bred, owned and trained by Marg Lee, he is a four-year-old gelding by Captaintreacherous from the good racemare Keayang Secret 1:53.2 ($100,333), by Always A Virgin from Feel The Magic (1:59.6), by Fully Loaded from Dreams, by What’s Next from Larrakeyah Lady.

The Larrakeyah Lady family has earned a place of all its own in producing racemares such as Beauty Secret, Treachery, The Good Times and Rocknroll Magic – all Group 1 winners – and colts in the same class such as Safe And Sound, Ride High, Major Secret, Petracca and others.

Cheeky Kiss unbeaten three-year-old

Cheeky Kiss (Always B Miki), who stretched her winning sequence to four when she captured the $30,600 3YO NSW Bred Final at Menangle, could develop into one of the best her age and sex this season.

On a rain affected track and starting from a wide draw, she carved out the mile in a career best 1:54.3 with the last half in a flying 56 seconds.

By Always B Miki, and one of the third crop of the Always A Virgin horse who stands at Alabar Bloodstock, she is out of Allnight Kiss (1:56.4), a Bathurst Sales Classic winner by Modern Art from Sheb Ace, and thus a member of the Norice family which has produced five Miracle Mile winners in Sokyola, Iraklis, Monkey King, Holmes DG and Mount Eden and has been one of the most successful winning lines in NZ.

Eye Keep Smiling is well bred

One of the most capable young mares racing in Queensland at present is Eye Keep Smiling (Sweet Lou), who is quickly making her way through the grades. She has won 10 of her 15 starts to date and $179,166.

Eye Keep Smiling has a wealth of blood to back up her claims to further promotion, being by Sweet Lou from the Listed winner Oh Eye See 1:54.5 ($101,705), by Armbro Operative from the broodmare gem Grace Robinson, by Perfect Art from Jasmarilla 1:55.2 ($503,000), an Australian two-year-old mile record holder and rated one of the best racemares of her era.

Oh Eye See, whose 11 successes included the NSW Breeders Challenge 3YO Regional Championship, produced others in the brilliant but ill-fated Private Eye (1:50.3), Parfait Amour (1:59.9) and Yes Eye See.

Oh Eye See was a sister to the Seymour Nursery winner Two Eye See 1:52.4 ($306,703) and a half-sister to the NSW Breeders Challenge champions Eye See Diamonds 1:51.6 ($284,875) and Hardhitter 1:51.4 ($175,430) and to the Fake Left mare Zoeyzoey, dam of the SA Kindergarten victor Eye See Double 1:57.9 ($127,941) and the exported Seeuinnashville 1:51.1 ($246,160).

Eye Keep Smiling was bred and is raced by Jackie Gibson, who conducts Success Stud at Young (NSW).

Finvarra star WA free-for-aller

Finvarra (American Ideal) advanced strong claims to being one of the best pacers in Western Australia today when he scored an end-to-win win in the Ray Duffy Memorial at Gloucester Park.

It was his second consecutive win. At his previous start, he disposed of Jumpingjackmac and others in a Free-for-all at the Perth headquarters’ track.

Finvarra has not done a great deal of racing, having averaged eight starts a season. In five seasons of racing Finvarra was won 15 races and has been 14 times placed from 40 starts for $286,797.

By the champion Western Ideal horse American Ideal, the gelding is out of Nuala (1:55.6), by Changeover (an In The Pocket horse from the Lady Agnes family) from the smart racemare Forever Blue 1:54.2 ($244,742), by Live Or Die from Blue Bee, by Individual (son of Fallacy).

Finvarra is the first foal of the dual Gloucester Park Group winner Nuala.

Classic winner by A Rocknroll Dance

A bright future is being predicted for Dance With Carmer (A Rocknroll Dance), the season’s latest two-year-old classic winner in beating a handy field in the $30,600 2YO NSW Bred Final at Menangle.

Bred in the Hunter Valley by Rodney and Kristen Merciaca, of Carmer Standardbreds, is a colt by A Rocknroll Dance from the unraced Christianship, by the champion NZ sire Christian Cullen from Saplingship, by Sapling (son of Young Charles) from Derby Rose, by Lordship.

An interesting feature of Dance With Carmer’s pedigree is that it combines several lines of rather notable colonial bred blood through Christian Cullen, Sapling and Lordship, all top racehorses.

Christian Cullen and Lordship were both NZ Cup winners and Sapling won an Auckland Cup.

Eighth winner for broodmare

When the Captain Crunch two-year-old Captain Stirling won at Pinjarra (WA) on Monday, he credited his dam Chemical Romance with her eighth individual winner.

Captain Stirling, one of the first crop by Captain Crunch, had been placed in the Champagne Classic at his previous start.

Others from Chemical Romance to win have been the Group winners Bettor Reward (1:52.7), Bettor’s Destroya (1:56.2) and Sovrana (1:56.3), Bettor Romance (1:53.3), Overly Excited (1:56.6), Kellieann Marie ((1:57.1), Destined To Rule (1:57.5) and now Captain Stirling.

Chemical Romance, who is now in her 18^th year, has since produced a weanling filly by Bettor’s Wish.

Owned by premier WA breeder Steve Johnson, Chemical Romance is a Northern Luck mare from the WA Oaks winner Ferrari Trunkey 1:56.6 ($267,527), by Tarcoola Frost from Celevale Trunkey.

Breeding of Elitlopp winner

Horsy Dream, the winner of the Elitlopp at Stockholm, Sweden recently in a European record 1:49.4, is a great grandson of And Arifant, one of the first French stallions ever bred to by Australian breeders.

One of And Arifant’s sons, Goetmal’s Wood, a multiple Group winner and a leading sire in France, ranks as the sire of the Cochran Cup winner My Tribeca.

On his dam’s side, Horsy Dream carries the blood of the dual USA Breeders Crown champion and Elitlopp heat winner Sugarcane Hanover (his grand-dam sire), a son of the world champion  Florida Pro, who, in turn, is the progenitor of the leading Australian trotting sire Keystone Salute.

by Peter Wharton, for Harnesslink