Walner – A generational change!

How does a harness racing stallion with total earnings of just $567,652 on his card from 10 lifetime starts, become a complete game and breed changer?

Well, it has happened and all breeders of the trotting gait throughout the world had better get their heads around the fact that this stallion has changed the breed forever.

Yes, we have had great stallions in the past such as Valley Victory and more recently the sensational Muscle Hill, but as the final chapters of his storied career come to a close, Walner’s are already being etched in folklore.

His incredible and immediate impact at stud is like very few before him. The question now is whether he will become the greatest stallion to ever grace our industry!

His offspring inherit such speed, power, and the innate ability to produce such breathtaking performances that belie the fact that he has undoubtedly taken the torch and run with it as a generational breed-changing talent.

Walner by Chapter Seven, with just three crops to the races, dominates the two-year-old, three-year-old and all-age list of money winning sires in North America in 2023.

Walner and his father Chapter Seven are first and second on all the lists of money-winning North American Sires in 2023, a first for any father and son combination and keep in mind Walner had just three crops to race in 2023.

Chapter Seven born in 2008 and his son Walner born in 2014 make it even more remarkable, just a six-year difference, given that Walner was from Chapter Seven’s first crop.

If you can believe them, here are some unreal statistics around Walner right now;

• Walner stands at $40,000 if a breeder is lucky enough to secure a breeding as he is a fully syndicated horse.
• His first crop to the races total 93 registered foals and those foals have an average earnings already of $151,565 per foal born
• His second crop to the races total 87 registered foals and those foals have an average earnings of $112,280 per foal born
• His third crop, 2023 two-year-old’s total 100 registered foals and those foals have an average earnings of $43,087 per foal born
• Total earnings for Walner progeny to date is a whopping $28,172,657 with just three crops racing.
• With the total of 280 registered foals old enough to race, Walner progeny to date has an average earnings of $100,616 per live foal.
• Walner has produced four millionaires to date and he has 68 winners of over US$100,000.

It must also be noted that the above totals do not include European earnings from exported horses by Walner.

Now it gets really interesting as from his top ten richest horses from his first crop born, 7 are fillies. From his second crop to the races 5 are fillies and from his last crop to the races 6 are fillies. The two most recent 2YO Fillies Breeders Crown winners were sired by Walner, and he has already sired the winner of a Hambletonian Oaks.

His best and richest mare to date (from his first crop) is the sensational Jiggy Jog S who has earned over $2.3m and was recently sold to a group of North American breeders for $1.6 million as a potential broodmare.

A breeding share of Walner was sold at Auction for US$750,000.

His two richest colts to date are from his first crop to the races as well. They are Breeders Crown Champion, King Of The North 1:50.3 ($1,370,242) and Temporal Hanover 1:52.2 ($991,847). Both were purchased by Ola Yoder of Kountry Lane Standardbreds, and both stood to full books of mares in North America in 2023 and both are fully booked again in 2024. A testament to the demand for the lucrative Walner genetics.

King Of The North stood Down Under in 2023 and bred around 173 mares at Llowalong Farm in Victoria with his 74 in New Zealand being the most of any trotting stallion last season.

King Of The North stands for US$12,500 in North America. A recent breeding to the champion son of Walner was recently sold online by Preferred Marketing for US$14,000 and in light of photos showcasing his early progeny, it’s easy to see why!

by Harnesslink Media