I saw this in Harness Racing Update issue of 25 January. Given my recent blog on a yearling with double ups to the mare Rich N Elegant in our 2014 sales, I thought this might be of interest.
Russell Hanover is by Somebeachsomewhere from Rich N Elegant, so a half to Rocknroll Hanover, Red River Hanover, Rustler Hanover et al.
A hock injury early on seems to have put paid to a racing career. Hanover Farms were patient and waited for him to get sounder, which he did but not to the point where he could be trained.
Breeding to him has been largely in-house so far, on purpose, wisely seeing how things went, and his crops have been around 25 mares. The first crop will sell at public auction in 2015 as yearlings.
Jim Simpson of Hanover Farms says: “We are in the business of relying on genetics and I can’t think of a better bred prospect for a sire than he is. I understand that doesn’t always work out. We were devasted when he was untrainable and unsaleable. Being a Beach and a good looking individual, which he is, he would have been close to the top of our sale.”
Interestingly, Russell Hanover was an embryo transfer, and Hanover’s Farm Manager made the comment that Rich N Elegant (“Richie”) was such a good mother that had she raised the foal herself the injury may never have happened. See here for the full article (November 2012, when Rich N Elegant died).
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thanks for your blogs very informative. i am a very small breeder racing then breeding from the chaff bandit then breeding her daughter and racing her the time bandit which is in foal to yankee sensation. fingers crossed. racing atomic seelster and liz taylor imp from nz so i like falcon seelster. your blogs and your research have shown me that i can research their families and have turned up a lot of gems in their pedigrees that i never knew about, shy anne comes to mind, which gives me confidence in breeding. have been researching who i should put the time bandit to next year or race her again. i cant afford big stud fees so look for stallions with similar breeding as the more expensive ones. so thanks again, keep it up. janet, western australia