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.

NSW New Year’s Gift winner

One of the most capable young pacers racing in NSW at present is Compete (Sweet Lou), who is quickly making his way through the grades at Menangle. He has won his last four starts including the heat and $30,600 final of the New Year’s Gift.

Compete has a background of blood to back up his claims to further promotion, being by Sweet Lou from Celebrity Guest (1:55.2), by Mach Three from Celebrity Ball, by Presidential Ball from the prized matron Larrakeyah Lady and thus a member of the same family as Ride High, Safe And Sound and Petracca.

Celebrity Guest, a winner of nine races, has left four winners – all inside 1:56 – from four starters including the Listed winners Go Dancing (1:51.6), now racing successfully in America, and Star Celebrity (1:53.2).

Compete was bred by Maryborough breeder Peter Gleeson, who part-owns him.

Kanena Provlima wins Shepparton Cup

The most important race of the Goulburn Valley calendar, the $50,000 Shepparton Gold Cup, was won by the A Rocknroll Dance gelding Kanena Provlima, who was promoted after Captain Hammerhead, the first past the post, was disqualified.

Kanena Provlima, who has won a string of country cups in NSW and Victoria and has banked more than $350,000, has been one of NSW’s best pacers for several years.

He is a grand stayer and one of the best progeny left by the Rocknroll Hanover horse A Rocknroll Dance, who sired top pacers of the calibre of Blacksadance, No Win No Feed, Tango Tara, Curly James and others.

Kanena Provlima is a nine-year-old gelding from Mes Ti Tsepi (1:58.6), by In The Pocket from Kalypso, by Safely Kept from Willing Greek, by Golden Greek from the Armbro Whiz mare Willing Whiz, who established a great winning line for the late Dr Fran Hausfeld. 

She left nine individual winners and was the ancestress of top pacers the calibre of Caribbean Blaster (Victoria Cup and sire), Crunch Time (1:49.6), Grand Stride (APG 2YO Final), Rohan Home (Newcastle Mile), War Dan and Australasia’s first sub 1:50 two-year-old Lux Aeterna.

From top Tassie family

The NSW Southern Highlands pacer Nyack (Sweet Lou), who came from last to win the fast class race at Menangle, is a member of one of Tasmania’s top ranking standardbred families.

Nyack, who has now won 15 races and $242,729 in stakes, is a five-year-old entire by the Yankee Cruiser horse Sweet Lou, who sired four winners on the night, the others being a smart racemare in Sweet Mama (1:51.1), Compete (1:51.1) and Dom Toretto.

Nyack is out of Benediction (1:57.8), by the champion sire Bettor’s Delight from Queen Carey (1:56.3), a fine racemare by Walton Hanover from the What’s Next mare Draw Card, who left nine winners and founded a very successful branch of the Regina family.

Besides Nyack, Benediction, whose 19 successes included the Hobart Pacing Cup, is also the dam of the Globe Derby Stakes and Tasmanian Sweepstakes winner Kohanah (1:58.3) and Marcella.

Benediction was a sister to the dual Inter Dominion heat winner Devendra 1:52 ($483,544). 

Nyack was bred in northern Tasmania by Barrie Rattray and Lyndon and Deborah Dakin, who also own him.

Our Lady Jen star WA mare

Our Lady Jen, a daughter of the American sire Captaintreacherous, has been the star mare of the New Year racing at Gloucester Park.

She won on the first two metropolitan meetings – over 1730 metres in a new lifetime mark of 1:56.1 and over 2130 metres in a 1:56.9 rating.

Our Lady Jen is closely related to an earlier top pacer in Surprise Package, who won 28 races in NZ and Australia including the A. G. Hunter Cup and $848,679 in stakes.

Our Lady Jen is a five-year-old by Captaintreacherous from Lady Luxury, a NZ bred mare by Bettor’s Delight from the useful racemare Lady Dancer (1:57.9), by Christian Cullen from Jodi Vance, by Vance Hanover.

Lady Luxury, who was only lightly raced, was a sister to the good Gloucester Park winner Come Dance With Me (1:54.4), dam of last season’s smart juvenile Always Dancing (1:56.9), and to Dancing Dixie (1:58.1), whose first two foals are winners in Hooked On Winning (1:56.4) and Who’s My Mother (1:56.6).

NSW Derby prospect

The winner of the Leeton Breeders Plate as a two-year-old last season, Business In Heaven downed a smart three-year-old field in the Graham Head Memorial at the Shepparton Cup meeting.

It was the Rock N Roll Heaven colt’s sixth success and he will among the leading fancies for the NSW Derby in March.

Bred and raced by Leeton horseman Colin Thomas, who also trains him, Business In Heaven is out of the Courage Under Fire mare She’s All Business (1:56.8), a half-sister to five winners including the Listed winner Run Business Run (1:55.6), the Leeton Cup and Breeders Plate winner Business In Motion (1:57.7) and Miss Busy Business, dam of the Listed winner Metal Rock (1:53.5).

Their dam, Unfinishedbusiness, was sired by Troublemaker from the unraced Tibby, by Windshield Wiper from the crack WA racemare Burrows, who, at one stage, held the Australian mares’ mile record of 1:57.1 in a time trial at Gloucester Park.    

Won Hobart Pacing Cup

A horse who was bought sight unseen from an online advertisement won the $40,000 Hobart Pacing Cup last weekend.

It is the nine-year-old Shadyshark Hanover gelding The Shallows, who has a wealth of breeding on his dam’s side, being out of the Grinfromeartoear mare Exotic Angel, a member of the prolific Trixie Milne family.

Exotic Angel, who was unraced, was out of the talented mare Exotic Strike, won eight races including the Australian Pacing Gold 2YO Final and $171,945 in stakes. She became the dam of four winners including Striking Spirit (13 wins) and Smiley Ella, the dam of the brilliant but ill-fated Ella’s Puppeteer (1:52.8), who once held the Victorian mile race record, and Exotic Bushranger (1:52.6), a winner of seven races to date.

This family has consistently produced a number of good horses over the years. A close relative to The Shallows is Spiritwriter (1:53.1), the winner of two Listed races and a Vicbred and Breeders Crown finalist. 

Exotic Strike’s dam Exotic Strike was a half-sister to the SA Oaks winner Please Don’t Tease and to the dam of the Listed winner Goodtime Marjie (1:54.4) and the grand-dam of the Victoria Youthful Stakes winner Goodtime Sammy.

The Shallows was bred by Victorian western districts horseman Ian Stanley.

First winner by Uniclove

The French horse Uniclove, a Group winning grandson of Coktail Jet, was credited with a winner with his only Australian bred foal when Keayang Francisco emerged successful at the Charlton midweek meeting.

A five-year-old mare, Keayang Francisco is out of the French bred Beautiful River ($193,281), a Quaker Jet mare who was imported to Australia by Ballarat breeder-owner Pat Driscoll.

Keayang Francisco ranks as a half-sister to Lotus Louise, a winner of five of his six starts to date including two heats and the final of the Arizona Blue Series at Menangle.

by Peter Wharton, for Harnesslink