b4breeding

I confess (lol) I’m not religious, but I was saying a little prayer for Father Frank coming around the home bend at the Cambridge workouts on Saturday (15 October 2016).

He had trailed nicely all the way around but was he going to fade out? He didn’t, driver Mark Johnson brought him out and he ran past and away from the nice Rev The Chev and David Butcher. Workout One: Won. (You count your blessings with Father Frank…)

Father Frank (Real Desire x Gold Return)

Father Frank was a yearling (Real Desire x Gold Return) bred by the Yesbergs that I picked out and bid on at the 2014 Christchurch yearling sales. He went to Frank Cooney, who also liked his look a lot, and I ended up taking a quarter share. Fast forward a few preps and some racing, it was clear Father Frank needed time. The penny, as they say, had not dropped. He was a bit lost, he had issues. The four owners agreed to sell or lease, and eventually he ended up down here at Cambridge with Kym Kearns so I get to see him regularly and keep in close touch with his progress,

Kym is, like many hobby trainers, putting in huge hours before and after a full time job at Cambridge Library. I have nothing but admiration for her discipline and patience. As a trainer she has the advantage of being able to really “read” horses and get into their world. That’s a gift, and something she had from a very young age in spite of having no family background in horses.

So it is lovely to see the very early mornings, the attention to detail, the bonding with Father Frank coming to fruition in a horse that is gradually (as Frank Cooney guessed) getting some strength and confidence.  But boy, it takes time! Has he any real ability? Father Frank is a “work in progress” and who knows what will happen at the races. Kym likes to keep hopes up but expectations low. That way she can enjoy the progress being made. He’s a big, lanky Real Desire who is only just filling out a bit now. The penny still hasn’t dropped, but it might be hovering on the edge.

Out of interest, he is closely related to Missinmemate (by Grinfromeartoear) and Bettor Be Gold who picked up the Sires Stakes 2yo Silver for the Purdon/Rasmussen team in May this year. The connection is full sisters Return To Gold and Gold Return by the Australian based sire Armbro Operative, who are grand-daughters of (Our) Stretto, such a great lovely mare.

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What a great year Bit Of A Legend N is having in North America. In April he won the Levy Final, then had a break late May and since winning a trial in early July he’s been highly consistent with two more wins and three seconds, mainly in $45,000 open handicaps at Yonkers. All in all, his North American winnings now total $610,950, which is almost exactly the same as his earnings down under before he was sold over there. So his total stakes are $1,270,636, and his record 1.51. As a 7yo, he still has another good season in him at least. That must rank him right up there with our most successful harness racing exports.

I was always a fan of his back here when Cran Dalgety trained him – a smallish horse with a big heart, and bred by Brian West from the family of Skipper’s Romance, who is a full sister to the very good racehorse and sire Nero. (And one of her sons is Seahawk Hanover who stood for many years in Australia.)

When I visited Brian in Christchurch back in 2013 I fell in love with a yearling filly from Bit Of A Legend’s half sister, A Legend. She was a dark, long bodied, leggy lass, with a tough nut head. The fact the filly was by Tintin In America, whom I bred, was another big plus of course. Read about that in a previous blog here. I bought a half share in her, and we named her Be A Legend.

She had a couple of preps and showed enough to keep us interested but was quite headstrong and needed a bit of time and patience. A year on, and after a long spell, she just wasn’t making much progress so we made a decision to change tack. I now have a racing lease with Craig (Spud) Crosse and we’ve brought her up to Arna Donnelly’s training stable in Cambridge.  She has thrived under Arna’s care, and over the last couple of months Arna has identified and improved quite a few issues she arrived with. I have to say the now 4yo mare is looking once again like the big, long bodied lovely individual I fell in love with three years ago! She’s also looking like a happy and settled horse, which is really important to me.

Be A Legend at Arna Donnelly’s barn after the workouts last Saturday 8 October

Last Saturday was her second look at the Cambridge workouts and after playing up behind the mobile arm, she flew off wide from the gate and showed gate speed to get from last to first in the first 200m. She bowled along nicely in front, handed up and then trucked home well for second behind an impressive Art Major 3yo filly called Artanne. The time was nothing, but they came home the last 400m in 28.1. Arna says she is still “a work in progress” but if we can keep finding improvement in her she will hopefully make an enjoyable race horse – and later provide a super platform to breed from.

Home straight at the Cambridge workouts 8 October 2016, with winner Artanne, followed by Be A Legend well ahead of the rest of the field.

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There was a win at Invercargill (North Southland Trotting Club) meeting on Saturday that interests me for several reasons. It wasn’t a huge win in terms of stakes, but it was a very impressive win.

The 3yo chestnut filly by Panspacificflight is from the good mare Weka Lass, owned and bred by Lester Smith, trained by Lauren Pearson and driven by Brent Barclay. It was her third start but she has been building nicely (with a 5th, then 3rd in previous starts), so understandably went out a pretty hot favourite. She returned a winning dividend to the punters and the main slice of the $7500 stakes money to the owner.

That is a nice example of reciprocity, which basically means “returning the favour”.

And after hearing race caller Dave McDonald struggle with the word and end up calling the filly “Recipro City” I can help him learn how to say it: “Reci Prossity”  with the emphasis on the Prossity. Think like you are saying “recipe” i.e. “reci-pe” but add the “-procity” ending instead. If you google it you can even hear a nice voice saying it for you. If anyone knows Dave, pass it on. It is a lovely name, and the filly is starting to put it into action.

Another reason I am following this filly is her breeding. She is from the line of the very good filly Oaxaca Lass (19 wins, 13 places from 48 starts and $456,134). She belongs to the big sprawling Tondeleyo family mainly associated with the Woolleys and Kerslakes with Adio Star’s descendants, but also with many other branches that are firing today – like the Rosslyn Rowan branch with Highview Tommy and The Falcon Strike, and the Paramount branch with Percy The Punter, Seel N Print, Smooth Crusa and more recently Say My Name. It is one of those families worth exploring through the Classic Families database.

Weka Lass was the first of Oaxaca Lass’s 12 (to date) foals, with only one year missed. And she has been pretty consistent, with all but one (Verde Lima, by Bettor’s Delight, 2 race starts only) of racing age being a winner. Of those retained in New Zealand, Weka Lass is by far the most successful so far, but Condrieu (colt by Bettor’s Delight) was sold to Austalia and has won $194,210 via 18 wins and 18 places from 63 starts. A tough campaigner, like his older brother Intrepid Traveller, who won $81,857 over exactly the same number of starts.

Illegal Immigrant is an American Ideal half brother to Weka Lass, current racing for Ken Barron and definitely worth keeping an eye on. He’s a 4yo now with a record of 12 starts, 2 wins and 4 places to date, but like many American Ideals will keep improving.

A further reason I’m taking an interest in this filly is her relationship to a young Kiwi breeder. Sam Langrope has Weka Lass’s Presidential Ball half sister Kusadasi (44 starts, 3 wins, 11 places, $43,747) and he was a breeder that got in touch with me a few years ago. He’s a breeder with his own thoughtful ideas and passion, and I’m delighted to see his first foal from the mare is showing quite a bit of promise – that’s Kardesler by American Ideal, sold by Sam through the sales for $19,000 and is currently owned by M H Fenton, R A Payne, Mrs R M Dakin with 1 win and 2 places from 6 starts. Sam Langrope has next bred a Changeover filly, now yearling, and the mare is served by Sir Lincoln. Talent showing up from the wider family is always good for a breeder, so good on you Sam for your own one, and getting into this talented family.

And now one last reason why this filly Recipocity has taken my interest – she is by Panspacificflight, a sire with a maternal pedigree that is simply excellent, and from the Western Hanover sire line. He stands at Macca Lodge. It is great to see some really nice horses showing up from this sire. This is not the first talented winner and will definitely not be the last. His maternal line is so close to Art Major it is not funny, but instead of the Artplace sire line he brings in Western Hanover (via The Panderosa) as his sire line.

In August last year Macca Lodge website posted this news:

The MACCA LODGE colours were in the winner’s circle for the first time this season when three-year-old Panspacificflight filly Sally Maclennane broke through maiden ranks at Gore on 23 August. After making a mistake when well-supported in her first run for the season at Invercargill a fortnight earlier, Sally Maclennane was eased out of the gate by John Dunn in the 2200-metre event. She made a run three-wide with a round to go before pressing on to lead at the 600-metre mark and holding on gamely to win in 2:49 neat. The McIntyres leased her dam, the Badlands Hanover mare Weka Lass, from owner Leicester Smith for a season to put to Panspacificflight. Sally Maclennane, who trialled in 1:58 as a two-year-old, is the second winner from her sire’s second crop here behind quality filly Arden’s Choice. Weka Lass, who is out of the big winner Oaxaca Lass, has also left a full-sister to Sally Maclennane called Reciprocity.

So there you go! Reciprocity’s older sister Sally Maclennane was sold to Australia early 2016 after she won at her third start here, and has had a couple of seconds and a couple of thirds since then at Globe Derby. But I’ll predict on the ability she showed on Saturday Reciprocity will end up with more wins under her girth strap than her sister.

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