b4breeding

Tomorrow Tuesday 22 December may see the first appearance of Angus Fogg, the big and bold trotter from Sun Isa by Angus Hall, bred by Kym Kearns and named after the NZ V8 Supertourer racing car driver Angus Fogg (his Facebook page here).

Update after 22 December race, when he broke: Ahh, another learning curve. Frustrating though, because he has a lot of ability. Keep with him, follow his journey. Great team behind him. Lovely horse.

The other weekend I was at Pukekohe watching Angus Fogg the horse go around the workouts track and in the background I could hear the roar of cars (including Angus Fogg the race car driver) going around the Pukekohe race car track! Great timing!

Owen Gillies driving Angus Fogg at the Franklin workouts, Pukekohe training track on 12 December 2015, for a good second.

Angus Fogg racing car driver (left) and Derek Balle trainer, with Angus Fogg the trotter in May 2015.

He’s been a work in progress, being such a big lad, and tip o’ the hat to Derek Balle and particularly Owen Gillies for having the patience and putting in the hard yards. He’s a handsome, good tempered horse and may need another year to really learn the trade, but his recent workouts with standing starts have been good, and he has the long stride and acceleration of his Group 1 winning half brother Flying Isa and very talented half sister Smiling Isa.

He was sold at the 2013 yearling sales to Lincoln Farms, and they are still the owners with client T A King.

So it will be interesting to see how this trotter copes with his first big occasion and I won’t be putting the house on him. But I will be putting a sneaky supporting bet and cheering him all the way. It’s all learning. He could well be going around a few of the grass tracks this season, just getting the hang of it all. But he certainly has ability.

Kym Kearns with her founding mare Isa Countessa and the NZSBA Breeders Recognition Plaque

This is a lovely family and it really stamps from the mare’s side, and beyond that the from grandam Isa Countessa, who is now 28 years old. Daughter Sun Isa (by Sundon) is a big, bold mare and her progeny by both Pegasus Spur and Angus Hall are, to date, very much in that mould.  Isa Countessa’s other daughter, Toggle (by Britewell), is completely different in type. She is like her sire – smaller, compact and full of speed and attitude. Chalk and cheese – although both half sisters had a very competitive attitude when it comes to racing and both mares did well (Sun Isa with 4 wins, 5 places, and Toggle with 3 wins, 3 places). And both are great mums.

The current yearlings from them: a very attractive filly by Majestic Son from Toggle, her first foal, called Out Of The Box, and well named as she is one of those young horses that you could swear has been here before, a ready-made package. Takes it all in stride. Photos coming for this blog and the catalogue site. She is going to be medium sized, bigger than her dam, but has that same quickness and assurance about her. A really delightful filly worth more than a look.

The other yearling filly is a Pegasus Spur from Sun Isa called Library Lady, which Kym is keeping at this stage. She is a big yearling but incredibly well proportioned and even in her growth, with strong but not heavy legs.

These are all from the Isa Countessa family – the Count Bay mare that Kym bought as a cheap filly with a crook knee many years ago. Read the story here