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Archive for the ‘Pedigree matching’ Category

Breeders Crown Semis – and fingers crossed for Zee Dana

Posted in Harness racing, Pedigree matching, Standardbred breeding on August 22, 2015| Leave a Comment »

I’ll be glued to Trackside TV for the  2yo colts and geldings semi-final at about 9pm tonight NZ Time.

Very nice field, and a tough ask for Zee Dana (Tintin In America x Zwish, Dave Kennedy the breeder) – drawn wide, top 2yos drawn inside.

I remember when Tintin was racing as a 2yo and Mick Guerin referred to him as a “one trick pony” because as a young horse he appeared to be less a tough staying type and more a “use his exceptional speed” type.

But looking back through Tintin’s 2yo racing replays I see much more than that.

As a really keen horse, a strong willed horse, part of his education thanks to Geoffrey Small and David Butcher  was to make him more versatile – to lead, to take a trail or even (as in the 2yo Sires Stakes Final) take three back, but have the ability to finish it off from wherever he was when they turned for home.

His own Breeders Crown was won that way too.

I see a lot of that reflected in Zee Dana’s training and racing to date. He has the ability and speed to cross and lead from almost anywhere, but he’s also been allowed to relax and sit in a trail, to learn patience and then making the ultimate effort. It is not easy for a young horse to do, when all they really want is to run and to win.

So fingers crossed tonight, as this is a very good field for a semi final. I’m cheering for him and his owners. To make it to the finals would be brilliant.

I’m also cheering for Tintin, because he’s got an x factor (always had), and he’s overcoming some big odds as a “less commercial sire” to put up some very classy success stories from his first crop to race.

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Bee’s watching He’s Watching

Posted in Pedigree matching, Standardbred breeding, tagged , , , , , on August 12, 2015| 3 Comments »

I know thousands of you (lol) have been wondering why a Real Desire fan like me hasn’t blogged yet on the availability of He’s Watching (from a Real Desire mare), a top racehorse with a great predigree, now available at Alabar.

Of course he’s been well covered in terms of his arrival:

The commonly quoted summary of his pedigree is:

The secret to He’s Watching’s brilliance can possibly be found in his breeding. He has a freakish pedigree.
His sire American Ideal is by a son of the champion mare Leah Almahurst and is out of a daughter another champion mare in Three Diamonds. These two outstanding mares are closely related having their third and second dam respectively as the great K Nora.
Remarkably, the dam of He’s Watching carries the same cross. His own fourth dam is Leah Almahurst and the dam of his maternal grandsire is Three Diamonds.
So four strains of a dominant mare in K Nora via sex-balanced duplications of two champion mares – a pedigree enthusiasts paradise.
To round off a great pedigree he also has eight daughters of Tar Heel (six of them unique) in his sixth generation.

He ticks a lot of boxes as a very complete package – great performance on the track, tractable type, extremely well balanced and symmetrical pedigree.

Sometimes with such a lovely, complete package it is hard to immediately think how it combines with something else. It’s like a perfectly oval uneaten chocolate easter egg.

Alabar has no problems with this, and I sometimes have a wee giggle at their pedigree matching recommendations because I try to find one sire or siring line that they miss out from their suggested matches. This time they are noting the siring lines of Abercrombie, Cam Fella, Western Hanover and Direct Scooter as having merit, which covers probably 90% of pacing sires.

I’m not so interested in that siring line click aspect. I think his matching with NZ mares is a lot more challenging than that.

I would look more towards out-crossing. And I do agree that Direct Scooter could be a key here, especially as our In The Pocket (and other) lines from Direct Scooter are a different pathway from the Matts Scooter line in He’s Watching’s pedigree. And yes, there is the indication that some ITP mares are crossing well with American Ideal.

Having said that, I have already heard from one breeder who is tempted to go further towards line breeding/in-breeding, because the maternal references in He’s Watching’s pedigree are just so classy. That opens it up to a lot of Australasian mares with the Golden Miss line in their pedigree, or those with Leah Almahurst sons Western Ideal and Make A Deal – or damsires like Grinfromeartoear, Safely Kept etc. Even for the brave a Real Desire mare which would be a 3 x2 cross. So there is a lot of interesting things ahead, and inevitably a long wait before any patterns (if any) become clear. I hope the sire gets the numbers to make this “statistically significant”.

We have come across He’s Watching’s great-grandam before – Cheer Me Up is the dam of Rob Roy Mattgregor who stood here briefly and has since died but did offer much more in terms of pedigree than his number of mares indicated. And interestingly so far of his NZ bred foals that have qualified (all 3yos, his only crop here), 3 are from Falcon Seelster mares and one from a McArdle mare – the Warm Breeze sire line which I think was a bit of a “and just in case” footnote in the siring line list Alabar has put forward.

Cheer Me Up is also from the same maternal line as Mr Feelgood.

His grandam Babe Watching (by Jenna’s Beach Boy) was a good enough racemare (1.53 and $170,000). Her two Real Desire foals Baberhood and I’ll Be Seeing You were very average. Baberhood has gone on to produce a champion. About all you can say is the eventually really good lines do produce really good results – but which and when and how consistently is only seen over a longer time frame. And our individual breeding decisions will form part of that answer.

So, yes, He’s Watching is an outstanding acquisition, and it will be very interesting to see how breeders picture their mares fitting with what he has to offer.

Another fascinating aspect of He’s Watching is his size (and of course that is not often referred to). He’s only 15h. I think we have gone past the stage where size counts – except for the heart and the number of quality wins – but I do give a tip o’ the hat to sires like Courage Under Fire (14.3h) and Washington VC (15.1h) that have paved the way for that more recently – and of course giants on the track and in the barn like the wee Good Time in our harness racing history. Rock N Roll Heaven (15.2h on tip toe), Bettor’s Delight (15.1h), his son Highview Tommy (15h) and Tintin In America (15.1h) are all doing their part in more recent years to dispel the myths around size of sires and offer some respite from the 16h sires.

I’m very much looking forward to seeing him in the flesh if Alabar have their usual very interesting stallion parade this year.

Re sizes, I’ll do a quick round up of views/research on size of mares/sires and resulting foals next blog.

 

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A toast to Breeder Michele Carson

Posted in Harness racing, Pedigree matching, Standardbred breeding, tagged , , , on August 8, 2015| 1 Comment »

Michele Carson is a long-time breeder, for many years in partnership with Tony Milina, and is one of the few who try to survive without an additional income. She describes herself as “crazy” for trying but it is a passion that endures and by focusing on quality she has had a good degree of success. Again, her word for it is “lucky” and while that is true of how she and Tony came to get the founding mare Cinnamon Toast, it is much more than luck that grabs an opportunity and builds it into a successful family.

While Michele is still breeding from that family, she also has added a few more mares along the way including Black And Royal (by Elsu) one of the last foals of Spirit Of Venus; the trotting mare Strapless (by Straphanger); and more recent purchases being: the Christian Cullen mares Panforte (the dam of Grumpy Possum racing successfully as Ima Grumpy Possum in Australia) and Divine (who is a daughter of the very good broodmare Sokys Sunday). Michele is also now a co-owner the trotting mare Aspiring Monarch (who is an unraced full sister to Royal Aspirations).

Her cornerstone broodmare has been Toast Of New York, a New York Motoring daughter of Cinnamon Toast, and subsequently her two daughters Bury My Heart and Follow My Heart – and potentially the youngest daughter Show A Heart, currently a small but lovely striding 2yo by Big Jim.

Of those, Bury My Heart was very successful on the racetrack and has been a gem in the breeding barn to date, producing the very good Texican as her first foal.

Bury My Heart is an In The Pocket mare, and Michele has stuck to the In The Pocket cross with Bettor’s Delight for the next four foals – and the mare is due to give foal late this season to the sire again before possibly trying Somebeachsomewhere.

Texican is now doing his racing in North America – and just last weekend added another 1st to his list, bringing his total earnings to $549,104, a best time of 1:50.3 and 24 wins. He is competitive in very good quality fields, and has developed from a winning 2yo in New Zealand to a successful all aged pacer in the United States.

Texican N takes personal best in 2014

Texican N takes personal best in 2014

Here is the write-up of his latest win from Harness Racing Update newsletter:

Texican N, from post position No. 3, won the weekly pacing feature. Sitting pocketed to 17-10 choice Michael’s Power (Bartlett), he then held off a three-hole The Real One (Pat Lachance) by a nose in 1:52.3. The favorite decided to retake from the eventual winner (:27, :56.2, 1:24.4) passing the first substation, but faced in the lane. Frankie’s Dragon (Sears), Michael’s Power and Take it Back Terry (Brennan) came away with the lesserloot. For second choice Texican N, a 7-year-old Down Under Bettor’s Delight gelding trained by Peter Tritton (three winners Saturday) for owner Harry von Knoblauch, it was his fourth win in 22 ’15 tries.

1-Texican N (g, 7, Bettor’s Delight–Bury My Heart, by In
The Pocket) O-Harry von Knoblauch. B-Mrs M Carson, NZ.
T-Peter Tritton. D-Eric Carlson, $24,000, Lifetime Record:
88-24-16-10, $549,104.

The mare’s 2010 foal was a compact but attractive full brother to Texican who went through the yearling sale ring as “Derringer” and sold for $22,500 but was immediately renamed Strawberry Heart by owner Strawberry Pastoral Ltd. He has ended up in Australia after looking like he had early potential but hasn’t gone on with it.

Michele didn’t give up on the mare or the name! After missing to Art Major, she sent the mare back to Bettor’s Delight for another colt – and named him Derringer once again. A Derringer is the pistol that the wilder ladies of the West used to hide in their knickers and garters in case of trouble! The colt looks promising, having sold for $75,000 at the 2014 yearling sales, qualified as a 2yo and having just three starts for a 2nd for trainer Mark Jones – the last start was an eye-catching 4th at Addington yesterday (Friday 8 August 2015) where he was badly checked and ran on very well.

The latest foal from Bury My Heart is the Bettor’s Delight filly Capture My Heart who is entered for the 2016 yearling sales at this stage, but it will depend on what the mare foals this season.

Toast Of New York’s daughter Follow My Heart, a 4yo Mach Three mare, has just started on a breeding career and is in foal to Betterthancheddar – a son of Better’s Delight from a Hall Of Fame mare Lady Ashlee Ann.

Another daughter, Toast To Cullen, is a broodmare for Biddlecombe Equine Ltd and has done a very solid job so far.

Toast Of New York’s last foal is a colt by Sir Lincoln who has just turned a yearling and is a nice attractive type, Michele says.

Toast Of New York is a 24yo and in great nick – the dam of 14 registered foals, and now enjoying her retirement.

Michele’s trotting mare Strapless was on the market briefly with a Angus Hall foal at foot, but Michele retained them in the end and the result is the talented Angus Bolt. Michele has since bred the mare twice to Majestic Son.

She has also bred and sold a Majestic Son filly  from trotting broodmare Aspiring Monarch, and the mare is back in foal to the same sire for co-owner Shane Hayes – on an alternate foals breeding arrangement.

Black And Royal is another broodmare Michele has – although she may look to moving her on in future – and was one of the first Elsu mares to have a yearling in the sales. That was the Mach Three gelding Jack Black who has 5 wins to date in Australia. Since then there is a 4yo Christian Cullen gelding Hard N Fast who was bought  for $40,000 by Paul Court and has been at workouts and trials as a 3yo but yet to get to the races.

Game Of Thrones filly by Christian Cullen from Black And Royal

Game Of Thrones filly by Christian Cullen from Black And Royal

This year her Christian Cullen filly Game Of Thrones sold for $25,000 at the yearling sale to Australian interests. A Well Said colt was sold to John Street for $10,000 at this year’s weanling sale, and the mare is foaling this season to Raging Bull, a horse that Michele saw in the flesh as a racehorse and regards as one of the finest looking horses she has seen.

It’s not all plain sailing as a breeder, and Michele can vouch for that.   She lost four foals in one year in 2013, all potentially very commercial including a Somebeachsomewhere foal from Bury My Heart. The emotional and financial hit was hard, and the reasons were random and varied – two born dead, one with a twisted leg and one with an inoperable growth. So the highs of successful results are always tempered by others that are just average and some that are simply tragic.

Still, she keeps going.

As an industry, we are lucky to have “crazy” people like Michele Carson who are very astute and passionate breeders and who provide quality racehorses year after year.

Toast to you, Michele!

 

 

 

 

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Staying in touch with your mare’s family can pay dividends

Posted in Pedigree matching, Standardbred breeding on August 2, 2015| Leave a Comment »

There is a lot you can learn about your mare’s family by looking back at its roots and then following the development of its various branches, and finally looking forward to new talent coming along.

It can help identify which connections might add value, or where the overall family seems to be going. And it may well show how hard it is to duplicate outstanding individual traits simply by repeating a cross.

But researching your mare’s family isn’t just about scanning the pedigree pages.

It’s also about scanning the race fields in your Best Bets! Or checking out what’s at the workouts and trials.

Recently I’ve been following some racehorses from my own mares’ family – the Zenover family, of which I have Zenterfold from the Zenola Star (New York Motoring) branch.

At the workouts in Cambridge on 1 August, and indeed the previous week, a very nice looking horse called Spyda (Mach Three x Elsurah) won his learners pace, leading them in a crawl and sprinting hard for the last 400m. Elsurah is a full sister to the great Elsu (Falcon Seelster x Interchange). She raced briefly as a 3 and 4yo, just 5 starts for a second, before starting her broodmare career. Elsurah is very closely related to my mare Zenterfold, the dam of Tintin In America et al.  Zenterfold’s grandam Now And Zen is a half sister (by trotting sire Chiola Hanover) to Interchange. Not only that, but New York Motoring appears as the sire of Interchange and as the sire of Zenterfold’s dam Zenola Star.

Spyda

Spyda, owned by Sean McCaffrey, Schnapps Bar Syndicate, A Learmonth, Betty Newcombe, and trained by Sean McCaffrey, in the prelims before his learners pace workout at Cambridge.

The wider Zenover family includes top performers like Copper Beach (dam of De Lovely), Revonez, Motoring Magic, Zenad and of course Elsu and Tintin In America, as well as a raft of other solid performers like Zen Zan, Zenable, The Blue Lotus, Destination Moon, Zenola Seelster and Zena’s Art.

But like every big family tree, there are branches that seem to be dead ends, and others that have strong buds emerging, as well as those branches that are the reliable croppers.  Future interest also lies in some widely diverse female lines which are producing the next generation both here and in Australia.

Inevitably, because of the Elsu factor and to some extent with Tintin In America being by McArdle, another son of Falcon Seelster, almost every branch is dotted with attempts to duplicate that success by crossing with the Warm Breeze sire line. But in many cases, the results have been less than spectacular in terms of racing performance.

I’m not saying that breeding to a sire (or his sons) that has had success with the family is a bad idea. Not at all. But it certainly is no guarantee of immediate success, and it shouldn’t stop you looking elsewhere if another sire seems to bring more to the match in some way.

Following successful crosses very closely can give very different results. Again, in the family I am most familiar with, Zenterfold has an In The Pocket full sister Zenola’s Princess (qualified as a 3yo, not raced). She has been bred twice by Bruce Greenhalgh to McArdle to get a brother in blood to Tintin In America (Zen Warrior, 4yo, 9 starts for 1 win, 2 places to date) and a sister in blood (Zena Mac, 5yo, 50 starts for 2 wins, 17 places to date). So more later developing types, unlike the precocious early ability of Zenterfold and Tintin In America. Dare I predict that Zena Mac will become a very good broodmare after a couple more wins? And Zen Warrior will build a bit more strength this season. I’ll follow them both with interest.

Another from the family that caught my eye and gave me a nice return on my TAB investment on Friday night was Zenmach (Mach Three x Zenardle) who won a 2yo race at Addington on Friday night and paid over $17 for the win!  Zenardle is a grand-daughter of Now And Zen (from the Sokys Atom mare Zenara) and as the name suggests, her sire is McArdle. I blogged about Zenardle when she was one of the first McArdle mares to have progeny at the yearling sales in 2012, and she’s gone on to do a good job – that first foal of hers at the yearling sale was Zenable, who is now a 6yo Bettor’s Delight mare racing in Australia with a total of 18 wins, 19 places and over $170,000 to her name (and another a great broodmare prospect). Her next foal is Jeremy’s Jet gelding Elroy Jetson who is also in Australia now with 5 wins to date. And her third foal is Zenmach with just two starts for a win.

So this is another instance where the attributes of the family cross with Falcon Seelster/McArdle may be adding value in a subsequent generation. One of Zenterfold’s own daughters by McArdle (bred by Aria and Geoffrey Small) was on the market recently as a broodmare, having been only lightly tried. She was bought off the Smalls for a very good price as a weanling, but the real rewards may be downstream for a breeder.

Both Spyda and Zenmach are by Mach Three. Does this indicate any potential click with the family? My guess is that it reflects more the sense of going to a speed sire like Mach Three for a mare that lacked that speed herself.

A couple of other “young bucks” from the family that look to have some potential are Zach Maguire (3yo Bettor’s Delight colt bred by Ray and Diane Kennedy from Zenola Starbuck, a Christian Cullen half sister to Zenterfold). He was sold for $34,500 at the 2014 yearling sales. His older brother Zin Zan also shows a lot of speed and promise. Incredibly their Rocknroll Hanover half sister Angie Maguire was passed in at this year’s yearling sale for $15,000 – you would have thought she was worth double that in broodmare prospects alone.

From my own mare The Blue Lotus (Grinfromeartoear daughter of Zenterfold), I’m looking forward to seeing her first foal, a filly by Bettor’s Delight called Amazon Lily, make her debut this season. And I’ll be watching for Thephantomtollbooth (Real Desire x Zenterfold) to develop into a nice 3yo as he learns and strengthens.

If you have seen something (or have bred something) from the Zenover family that looks promising, share it here. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Mulling is the key – 2015/16 breeding

Posted in Pedigree matching, Standardbred breeding, tagged , on July 28, 2015| 4 Comments »

Listening, reading, looking and thinking is the best route to finding a good match for your mare. Mulling is essential.

My own decision making this year has been slower than ever before. I’ve not felt really sure of my decisions until relatively late in the piece for me. But I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the process.

In parallel I’ve been investigating some options (mares and sires) for those of you who ask for some help or advice. It’s free by the way. That process is also helpful for me, as it teaches me about families I might not know otherwise, and it opens my eyes to some alternatives that surprise even me.

I found myself the other week suggesting two pacing sires for a mare from an immediate trotting background! But anecdotal evidence and family investigation opened up some questions that I had to really think hard to answer. All I hope is that some of my research and ideas keep your minds open and active when looking at breeding options, whatever your final decision is.

We need to be curious, agile and sometimes adventurous to find the gold nuggets we are looking for.

I push myself to go outside my instinctive likes or dislikes, or what is top commercial crossed with what is top commercial. I look for things that hang together well, from different directions on the pedigree but particularly what strengths and clicks there might be on the maternal lines of the mare and the sire.

The process for me is to work through to a short-list of potential matches, print them out (from the basic stud TesioMatching report) and leave them floating around – at the breakfast bar, on my bedside table, at my desk, folded up in my work lunch bag…whatever it takes to have them around where I can just relax, mull them over, and get a feel for them. Part of that is knowing (or reminding myself as I don’t have a photographic memory) what happens in the next few generations beyond.

This is a process that stands me in good stead. It gives me a sense of the overall balance of a pedigree match as well as the time to investigate detail if something looks interesting. Its a mix of Sherlock Holmes with Vincent van Gogh and a few vinos in between lol.

This year I am breeding only two mares – The Blue Lotus and Dreamy Romance. That is mainly a financial call, as I have opted in the last couple of years to breed or buy a share in several foals that are not aimed at the yearling sales. So I need to be prepared for the costs of raising, training and hopefully racing those foals. It is just a different emphasis for me for a few years.

The Blue Lotus with the Snow Leopard

The Blue Lotus and her Shadow Play colt “Leo” playing in February this year.

The decisions this year:

To send The Blue Lotus back to Shadow Play. This was a close call with Sunshine Beach being the other preferred option. Lots of mulling.

To send Dreamy Romance to Mr Feelgood. Loved this match the more I mulled, and got my blog friend Richard Prior to add his mulling as well. Result? Mulled wine, we hope.

  • I am a huge admirer of the sire as a race horse and his pedigree, and most especially his ability to adapt and be excellent in two totally different styles and hemispheres of harness racing.
  • His performance so far as a sire.
  • His pedigree match with this particular mare, and also the potential of a more medium sized athletic sire to give a bigger mare a more balanced foal.

It is something quite special, to make these  choices. The result will have my signature on it, just as much as the mare’s and the sire’s. So that is quite a responsibility.

Worth mulling over.

Note: Mr Feelgood’s frozen semen is available from Nevele R Stud or from Equibreed NZ Ltd. Contact them direct. See previous blog.

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Kays Shadow links two of Alabar’s newer sires

Posted in Pedigree matching, Standardbred breeding, tagged , , , on July 7, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Kays Shadow (Shadow Play x Pink Is Perfect) took one of the season’s fastest times for 2yo fillies in North America with her 1.54 debut at Mohawk recently, as Alabar reported in its email newsletter. (This appears to be quickly usurped by much quicker times on 6 July in a race where she came second). A check of her pedigree had me intrigued – it rang as few loud bells, and of course it is the same maternal family as Alabar’s other new-ish sire Big Jim.

Check out the wider family pedigree here

It is one of those pedigrees that epitomises “balance” and I don’t mean just the so-called delta affect.

What I mean is that almost every line is contributing a couple of important things, paying its way if you like. It’s full of maternal lines that have origins in speed and heart, and broodmare sires that are real “engine room” contributors. And there is a mix of double ups but also complementary matches, i.e. lines or individuals that seem to add value to each other.

Then add a bit of personal brilliance from the siring line, and voila!

Fingers crossed she will be given time to develop.

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Real Desire 2yos – adding to the mystery or providing an answer?

Posted in Pedigree matching, Standardbred breeding, tagged on July 5, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Yesterday I went to the Alexandra Park workouts and witnessed a big bunch of Real Desire 2yos performing very well. These are from Real Desire’s biggest crop, born in 2012, before his numbers once again dropped off dramatically and he was retained in America by his owners.

Workout/trails results 4 July 2015:

  • Race 1 – Thephantomtollbooth (Real Desire x Zenterfold) – 2nd (See previous blog)
  • Race 2 – Father Frank (Real Desire x Gold Return) – 3rd (See previous blog)
  • Race 3 – Vega Star (Real Desire x Star Of Venus) – 1st, Real Lucky (Real Desire x Lucky Pocket) 2nd. (See photo at end of this blog)
  • Race 5 – Diamonds Forever (Real Desire x TA Sportsplex) 1st, Cerberus (Real Desire x Culley’s Asset) 2nd, Bull Hayes (Real Desire x Dromsally) 3rd. (See photo at end of this blog)

I have been a Real Desire fan for some time, and that is a mix of his quality pedigree, his own performance and his ability as a sire to produce that exceptional talent factor in some of his foals. He is not a sire of early speedy types – and yet he has been and can be. But that is almost his downfall in terms of his siring career in New Zealand, because some of the exceptional talented 2yos from his first couple of crops – flashy would be the word – led people to believe that he was an “early type” sire. High expectations were soon disappointed.

Some years ago I wrote an article about Real Desire (part of a longer, joint series with Australian breeding expert Ray Chaplin about Life Sign’s legacy downunder as a sire).

In that article I said: Real Desire’s ability to be a quality sire that can leave speed sets him apart from the other sons of Life Sign who have been offered here.

I still hold to that, but the path to tapping into what he offers as a sire has been a winding and bumpy one.

Why? Firstly his numbers have been very up and down. And why is that? Because his progeny have been very hard to read and siring career here has been fragmented. And at the start, we read him wrong, and that led to some of his more precocious types being pushed early and breaking down or switching off.

He started off with a hiss and roar with 202 mare (152 live foals) from his 2007 season at stud, and then did not return the following year. That wasn’t a show stopper as the second season and even third season can drop quite a bit usually as breeders wait and see. But when he came back, he was up against some sires who were really hitting their straps commercially – Bettor’s Delight and Mach Three at Alabar in particular were sucking a large number of best mares out of the pool. However Real Desire’s first crop produced such eye-catching talented 2yos like Let’s Elope and Cowgirls N Indians, so his 2011 stud season was a lot more popular, with his top number of 212 mares (for 159 foals born in 2012).

And then it was clear that those precocious 2yos were a minority, and the many with ability and talent actually took longer to mature. Some of those early ones broke down or went off the boil for a year or so while they developed more strength. Others were not given the opportunity to develop if they showed nothing early.

Later some of the more mature Read Desires started to strut their stuff  – Freespin, Who Dares Wins, Voluntad, Spirit And Desire, All Star Man, more recently Lilac Desire finally hitting a good patch – and Let’s Elope kept going at the top level in Australia. But by then, it was too late.

Many Real Desires have a physical type that needs time. I think this is coming from his scopey Life Sign influence in terms of conformation, and the need for time to add the physical and mental ability to support speed. They can be quite gawky and awkward in their gait initially, and some can be a bit nervy in temperament and not settle well in their races. But they can have real flair and real speed, especially when saved for one last run. At their best, they are very exciting horses.

Currently his 2yo registered-foals-to-qualifiers ratio for New Zealand-breds is around 17% and that will rise further before the season closes off at the end of this month. And his current number of 2yo winners (currently only Real Torque and Ultimate Desire) may well get a boost.

None of that means Real Desire is a sire of natural 2yos. But in my book it does indicate that he deserved more of a chance than he got at stud here. It wasn’t Alabar’s fault, it is just the crowded and fickle market and the pressure for sires to produce a complete package of a horse at an early age. It is highly unlikely he will come back to New Zealand now, but I will follow his “last hurrah” of NZ-breds closely to see how they develop over time.

And for breeders, there are some nicely bred mature Real Desire mares that may be a good option for crossing with some of the commercial sires we have who can perhaps add a bit of early robustness and strength to the foal. The USTA crosses of gold information indicates that Art Major, Well Said, Western Ideal, and Western Terror are some sires that appear to have crossed well with Read Desire mares. The Western Hanover and Western Ideal cross also seems to work well in the other direction (i.e. mares bred to Real Desire) – note that this reverse click is not always the case for many sires.

Workouts/trials 4 July at Alexandra Park:

Race 3 - Vega Star (Real Desire x Star Of Venus) - 1st, Real Lucky (Real Desire x Lucky Pocket) 2nd.

Race 3 – Vega Star (Real Desire x Star Of Venus) – 1st, Real Lucky (Real Desire x Lucky Pocket) 2nd.

Qualifier heat: Diamonds Forever (Real Desire x TA Sportsplex) 1st, Cerberus (Real Desire x Culley's Asset) 2nd, Bull Hayes (Real Desire x Dromsally) 3rd.

Qualifier heat: Race 5 – Diamonds Forever (Real Desire x TA Sportsplex) 1st, Cerberus (Real Desire x Culley’s Asset) 2nd, Bull Hayes down the outside (Real Desire x Dromsally) 3rd.

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Harnessbred.com website a new place to find lots of goodies

Posted in Harness racing, Pedigree matching, Standardbred breeding on June 29, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Dean Baring and his colleagues in Australia have pulled off a very good website that builds on their Facebook page/forum as a place to go for thoughtful, intelligent and independent views on the harness racing industry and breeding.

www.harnessbred.com

harnessbred website a new place to find good stuff about harness racing “downunder”

Congratulations! Well worth checking this out at www.harnessbred.com

Love the low key videos making chatty announcements that have a really nice positive flow to them, without being the “PR-speak” of any organisation. However I would like to see a bit more transparency about who the website team is and how they got here – for those who don’t know the story.

Two news articles that attracted my attention for starters:

And also a series of well produced video clips that show their approach to stallion profiling, which is a mix of pedigree and performance, nicely wrapped up, perhaps lacking in a bit a back up re the mare’s pedigree and other factors that would best suit a sire.  That is easy to fix – a link to the website that might provide some more detailed analysis of the breeding and other factors that your mare might add, but not canvas the whole spectrum of mares as many of the studs’ websites tend to do, just to make sure your mare is somehow on the list!!

Their first sire analysis is on Western Terror.

The best thing about Dean’s website and Facebook page is that it is determined to find a good future for harness racing. It’s committed, and some frustration with the current industry has not stopped his team coming up with a very active and independent news site.

It complements Harnesslink and from the USA Harness Racing Update newsheet as good places to go when you want independent, interesting, sometimes opinionated but always thoughtful, articles about our beloved industry. None of the nitpicking, point-scoring forums of old, or the paid-for-advertising promotions.

I’ve found myself lately needing a renewal of energy to keep coming up with a positive and fresh approach to the industry, having just had the “soft looking brick wall” reaction to my latest efforts in New Zealand by those who control these debates. So I am delighted to see Dean’s website adding to the mix of people pushing constructive ideas and views across the industry and across countries.

Stimulating. Interesting. Informative. We are unstoppable! (I’m tempted to invent a super hero called Harness Man, but I think that might attract websites we don’t want as sponsors lol.)

Subscribe to www.harnessbred.com

It has my warm recommendation.

Meanwhile don’t forget to tune into www.b4breeding.com now and then to get that quirky, in depth, and definitely independent view of harness racing breeding – and an encouragement personally for those who want to get into breeding.

You are welcome to contact me direct as many do, on bee.raglan@xtra.co.nz

 

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Zee Dana catching the eye in Australia – first race start tonight

Posted in Harness racing, Pedigree matching, Standardbred breeding, tagged on June 24, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Update: Won in very impressive form. Reports here and here, but you read it here first. lol

Zee Dana is a colt from Tintin In America’s first crop, so a 2yo now. He was bred by Dave Kennedy who made quite a comitment to the sire, and got some nice payback when Zee Dana was taken over to ready-to-run sales in Australia and performed/sold very well, and has recently appeared at Shepperton trials and will be racing tonight. His ownership has just been joined by NRL player Brett Stewart – read article here. He has his first up race start tonight Race 2 at Bendigo. All the best for that Dave! Another Tintin foal that is showing up well in Australia is Dame Puissant (also NZ bred), who has had just the two starts, both this month, for a second then a first. She is from a P-Forty Seven mare, and perhaps the most interesting thing in her pedigree is a 3×3 to In The Pocket through the maternal lines of her sire and dam. Of Tintin’s 15 Australian-bred 2yos, Just Wantano had three starts earlier this year for 2 wins, and has just come back after a spell for a 3rd on 12 June in a heat of the Vicbred 2yo Fillies series, quite a distance from the first two runners after being checked. Aussie Vista has been consistent with 8 starts for 1 win, 2 seconds and 2 fourths, but faded after setting a hot pace and being eyeballed in the final of the Group 2 Yearling Sales Series Final for 2yos at Redcliffe. And I believe another Tintin filly Velvet Kisses is having her debut this week as well.

If you have bred or bought a Tintin, let me know how it is developing.

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Meet my new mare

Posted in Harness racing, Pedigree matching, Standardbred breeding on June 14, 2015| 2 Comments »

Nostalgic means looking back with yearning affection to the past. But my new mare Nostalgic Franco is all about me looking to the future with interest.

I managed to tie my hands behind my back and not buy a weanling at the recent Weanling and All Aged sales in Auckland and Christchurch….but I couldn’t resist this mare.

Nostalgic Franco

Nostalgic Franco

She’s from a family that has been well regarded and has produced some classy horses. Her dam’s half sister Nevermore was a very good 2yo filly whose career went through to 4yo and ended up with $124,712. Other good ones from the close family are Franco Nester, Chancellor Cullen, and Natal Franco (who is the dam of the 3yo Art Major filly Princess Arts).

As Don Wright wrote in the Southland Times in 2012 in an article about Franco Nelson, who is from a branch of the wider family:

If bloodlines count for anything, the boom youngster has much to live up to, being out of Notafella Franco, a Falcon Seelster mare from the stout branch of the Trilby taproot that produced two New Zealand Cup winners in world harness racing’s first millionaire Cardigan Bay and Globe Bay.

Franco Nelson has gone on to win over half a million, including a second to Adore Me in last year’s New Zealand Cup.

The family has become quite sprawling in its branches, and as usual not all of them will fire consistently. Many seem to produce just one really good one, but there is enough in the deeper and wider family to catch my interest. Will this branch throw up some really top horses? That’s my challenge.

Nostalgic Franco is a 13yo mare by Rustler Hanover out of a Falcon Seelster mare. Rustler Hanover is a son of the great mare Rich N Elegant and with bloodlines to die for as a damsire. He has clicked well with Falcon Seelster mares in America (of the 16 foals on that cross, 25% of them have won $100,000+).

Nostalgic Franco had a win and a couple of placings from just 8 races and showed a bit of ability before she threw herself on the track one day and hurt her back. She was put aside to heal, and with the numbers of new ones coming along at Spreydon Lodge, she never was a priority to get back to the races and ended up being bred from. She’s had 7 foals, 5 of racing age, for 3 to race and 2 winners to date, including 7-win Franco Nadal (although he is an accumulator rather than a brilliant horse). Franco Nikau (Lis Mara) won his first three races for Steven Reid and Simon McMullan, but he struggled a bit since going up in the grades or maybe he has some niggles. There are some potentially nice ones in the pipeline like the Bettor’s Delight 4yo mare who qualified very well late last year, a couple of Changover fillies, and a Gotta Go Cullen weanling. So apart from the Bettor’s Delight, it is very much a Nevele R/Spreydon Lodge pedigree.

What really sold me on Nostalgic Franco is that she’s in foal to Tintin In America, and if you look at that match you can see why I might be interested. Normally I don’t go for simplistic double-ups, but these are very nice ones and beautifully structured. I have already bred a Rustler Hanover mare Sophie’s Choice to Tintin In America and we’ve got a strong, well conformed weanling colt (ownership shared with Lynda Mellsop and Ann Claridge).

So for just $1,150 I’ve got a well-bred mare in foal to a sire that I think will really suit. She’s based at Macca Lodge with my other mare Dreamy Romance, who is due to foal to Big Jim.

Where to with Nostalgic Franco this coming season? I’m taking a close look at the newcomer Sunshine Beach as a match – I’d be interested in what you think.

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