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

Read Full Post »

Following on from my last post, I am interested to know what thoughtful breeders and observers think will be the future of the Direct Scooter line downunder.

We have inherited him he through two distinctly different sources: Matt’s Scooter (in North America) and In The Pocket (in North America but mainly as a sire in New Zealand).

It’s extraordinary how two individual horses can make such a difference to whether a siring line survives or not. It would make a great TV series: “Genetic lines that fought back!”

Harnesslink very recently published this article on the topic featuring the new Alabar sire Sunshine Beach, and it is true how the Mach Three/Somebeachsomewhere line has really set things alight in North America, Australia and New Zealand, and that we are latching into that with local blends such as Auckland Reactor and Sir Lincoln as sires.

In The Pocket

However I am really intrigued by the In The Pocket line, and whether there is still an opportunity, from all the wonderful potential sires here who carry that branch of the line, to find a standout sire (or two) who can carry Direct Scooter into the future.

Five years ago you would have put a very sound bet on Christian Cullen acting as the conduit for that to happen – so many good sons from some of our best mares.

Today? None of his sons have yet put their hoof in the air to say ME, and although there still time, each season without those really standout offspring puts their chances at risk.

How are they going?

Gotta Go Cullect and Gotta Go Cullen are no slouches and have good breeding, but the latter never got the numbers needed, and the former has yet to maximise on the numbers he initially got. I think Gotta Go Cullen will do a good job at Budding Bloodstock, south Australia, one of the smaller Australian stud farms. But the chance they will become a truly successful Australasian inheritor of the Direct Scooter siring line is now remote. Update (late December 2015) – Gotta Go Cullect is being tried again as a racehorse in New Zealand at this stage, read the Harnesslink article here)

Alta Christiano is a stunning individual, and with very interesting breeding and first foals just hitting the ground – but with far fewer mares than even Gotta Go Cullen got in his first season. He’s facing an uphill battle to get the mare numbers when the big four or five commercial sires are so dominant and capturing the market. But as a type he is one of the most “son of a sire” you could see, and as a racehorse he showed some of those same qualities of speed plus strength as his sire. His maternal line is different from many Christian Cullen sons – but I like it. I picked him out at the yearling sales for one of my virtual stable  But there’s more than that lucky guess on a class yearling in a parade. He has some very nice family connections coming though, including the progeny of his half sister Alta Camilla. With Tony Dickinson of Alta Breeding calling the shots, this line is going to keep stepping up.

Stunin Cullen got 54 live foals here in his first year at stud and although the numbers dropped off the second year, you get the feeling there could be renewed interest now that his first foals are yearlings and breeders seem happy with them. 40 of that first crop are already registered, which is a good sign. Stunin Cullen comes from the same maternal line as Gotta Go Cullen, one of the top maternal lines in New Zealand, but I would venture that Stunin Cullen’s is a stronger branch in both the male and female progeny overall, which is always a good sign.

The other branch of In The Pocket lies with siring sons Courage Under Fire (and what a long and successful job he has done as a sire of racehorses, but not yet left a siring son) and Changeover who has had very solid numbers and results so far, but is needing to get some outstanding foals winning top races to give breeders the confidence that he is picking up the mantle.

The fat lady hasn’t sung yet. Christian Cullen has over 300 foals on the ground since 2010, for example. But you get the feeling the fat lady is warming up for the last song, but may not be doing an encore.

Who inherits the legacy, the mares, the reputation and the rewards?

Tell me what you think. Happy to keep up more informed and thoughtful debate on this ticking over, but will not publish negative off-hand remarks. OK?

Read Full Post »