b4breeding

Great night of racing, and some very classy fields.

Looking at some of the support races, I noticed a few quirky things from a breeding angle:

• Time’s On My Side (wonderful producer, now 24yo, breeder Barry Ward) is represented by two Bettor’s Delight foals, 5yo mare Free Bird is in Race 3 (a trot) and 3yo filly Bird Of Paradise is in Race 1 (a pace). Perhaps an omen for a one each way bet?? One of Time’s On My Side’s other daughters, Wonderful Tonight, has a Changeover yearling in the Premier Sale in Christchurch.
• Holmes Hanover is represented as a sire in Race 1 by Take After Me (12 starts, 2 wins, 5 places) who is one of only 8 4yos sired by the long dead stallion. 6 of those 4yos have qualified, 3 started in races, and this is his one winner to date but looks talented. Holmes Hanover still has a wee handful of 3yos and 2yos coming through, and even one foal born this season (2014) from the mare Have A Go Franco, a brown colt as yet unnamed.
• Juliana has three of her foals racing tonight – Sarah Palin and Monty Python (both by Pegasus Spur) in Race 3, and the 4yo Father Christmas (by Love You) in Race 10. Juliana is from the mare Janetta’s Pride and so a full sister to the top trotters Jo Anne and Dependable.
• In the trotting FFA (Race 7) Sundon is the damsire of 6 of the 10 entries.
• In the Harness 5000 (Race 4) for 3yo horses with a sire that cost $5000 or less, Changeover has 6 of the 13 entries, all winners and three of them (Onedin Onyx, Oneover, and Webb Ellis) are from Presidential Ball mares.