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Christmas shop window bargains for our mares

December 17, 2015 by b4breeding

It is late in the season now, and some of us (me included) are still waiting to see if/when some of our mares are positive.

Others still have a mare to breed (or not) and can’t decide.

So what do you do for that last minute fertile “go for it” low-cost service?

The Christmas shop window is full of enticing goods displayed. I’m talking here as a NZ breeder as the local low-cost scene in Australian states is completely different and wider but possible with less performed sires.

But when I look at options like Smiling Shard, Mr Feelgood, Highview Tommy, Tintin In America, Raging Bull, and Alta Christiano….just to name a few….my goodness, we are spoilt for choice (even if not spoilt for numbers of buyers later on!!)

The thing that attracts me with some of these cheaper options is that they are not a “discount” in terms of value.  Mr Feelgood and Smiling Shard are two quite different examples of that. You could not get better performers and good maternal lines to back them up. Forget about the Grinfromeartoear factor if you don’t hold that sire in high regard. These are matches that have clicked in a very fundamental way and given their chance will be good sires. Smiling Shard has foals on the ground and the ones I have seen look good. Mr Feelgood too, but foals are only in Australia where the reports sound very good in terms of  type. Big numbers over there for that sire last season, and NZ breeders can ride on the back of that as they show up as he will have only a few here in NZ.

Alta Christiano and Raging Bull are both by our best sire line downunder – In The Pocket and his son Christian Cullen, but importantly crossed with great mares or families. You’d add in Stunin Cullen to that list of course, and with his first yearlings going to the sales in 2016 you can do your homework locally and check out what the types are like.

Now I want to do a plug for the sire I bred, Tintin In America, because having put my money and breeding choices where my mouth is, I’ve got some really nice results to share. And it gives some of you, hopefully, more confidence about choosing him as a sire. If you mare is nicely bred, good size but needs speed – go for it. If your mare has speed but lacked stamina, remember he went on to win as a 4yo in the Messenger and was runner up to Monkey King in the Auckland Cup. Check back on my blog re things in pedigrees that I think click well with this family.

Bee’s Christmas Shop Window of a Tintin foal, a Tintin yearling and a Tintin 3yo filly:

  • Jack Tar (yearling) – Tintin In America x Sophie’s Choice currently spelling after breaking in with Brent and Sue Donnelly (great people to deal with, lovely with the young horses). They are really pleased with the way he broke in and his attitude.
  • Next is my latest Tintin – from the Rustler Hanover mare Nostalgic Franco. Look at this photo – doesn’t it remind you of the way Tintin just stood there, waiting, knowing, before his big races? He’s down south at Macca Lodge and Brent McIntyre describes him as a standout foal.
  • Finally we have 3yo filly Be A Legend, from a Safely Kept mare and a good family. She has that tough roman nose and the Tintin attitude – harness that and you have a winning racehorse. So far, so good and tip o’ the hat to Chris McDowell in Christchurch for the preps and getting her qualified. He has really understood how you can work with their keenness and energy rather than fighting it. “Harnessing” the qualities as well as the horse. Thanks Chris!

 

Jack Tar (yearling)

Jack Tar by Tintin In America

Jack Tar with Sue Donnelly – spunky, willing and lovely temperament

Tintin In America foal from Nostalgic Franco:

Tintin In America colt foal 2015

Tintin colt standing like Tintin In America used to before his races. This foal has a real presence about him.

The 3yo filly Be A Legend:

Be A Legend

Powerful back end and some real attitude – I like this filly!

Be A Legend by Tintin In America

Worth waiting for – she’s getting to be a strong, bold filly.

 

Posted in Horses, Pedigree matching, Standardbred breeding | Leave a Comment »

Where did Christian Cullen come from?

December 16, 2015 by b4breeding

Can knowing more about where Christian Cullen has come from, throw some light on where his sireline might be going?

Christian Cullen

Christian Cullen

He has been such a profoundly great racehorse and sire that just the mention of his name in a pedigree is enough to give owners and breeders confidence. With his half sister Kate’s First as a back up (winning the Auckland Cup amongst other things), it seems almost rude to probe into the pedigree of the family. But that is what I’ve been doing lately.

It’s been interesting. To be honest, from 10 registered foals of his grandam Pleasant Evening, and 12 from his dam Pleasant Franco, you might have expected even more than what we got. I have often said that consistency is gold, and a mare that can produce consistently good horses and some very good ones is the aim of most breeders.

The reality is for most families that is very hard to achieve – including this family of Christian Cullen.

What is often more likely is one or two or perhaps three exceptional horses spread over a few generations, and from quite a few branches.  And that is the case here. His dam Pleasant Franco has left two outstanding horses in Christian Cullen and Kate’s First, plus a few more good ones that many people would be happy to have (including Julius Caesar who never had a real chance to shine on the track before breaking down, and Tiger Woods, both of whom got a chance as lower tier sires), and in that sense Pleasant Franco stepped up the family to a higher level of consistency. But whether Julius Caesar would have made it a hat trick of great racehorses we can never be sure. So far Pleasant Franco’s fillies are tracking okay but not spectacular.

But before Pleasant Franco, the family was a bit of a tease.

Christian Cullen’s grandam Pleasant Evening (by Overtrick) won 3 races herself and 7 places, if minor, and left plenty of foals but what a mix they were. Pleasant Franco was her first, and definitely her best. Many of the others were raced in Australia (including a Gee Whiz II mare called Robo’s Whiz who never raced, was obviously hard to get into foal and left nothing of any interest to a range of trotting sires from Sundon to Aldebaran Yankee and a Life Sign thrown in). Another filly was by Klondike Kid and she has done nothing to date. But a Holmes Hanover filly called Prime Time Franco had better results – 10 wins, 17 places from 50 races and a total of $33k. But again, her progeny haven’t fired. Note: There is a pattern with Pleasant Evening of briefly trying and selling on the horses from between Franco Breeding and Australian owner David Shammall, a connection that exists through to today as Peter O’Rourke (ex Nevele R) and Shammall are co-founders of “Stallions Australia“.

The males bred from Pleasant Evening turned out to be average on paper at least – Franco’s Promise by Holmes Hanover was the best with $73k plus after 92 starts. Franco Paragon chipped away for 7 wins from 50 starts for just $12k. It is always hard to know at a glance whether some of them might have been sold on to North America and done ok. I know Falconbridge (Falcon Seelster x Pleasant Evening) won a few here and was exported to America, and did race well over there. But to be honest, nothing leapt out of the ground. Her last foal was Evening Dash, a trotter by Sundon who was raced by the Trotting NZ Syndicate and had been bought at the yearling sales in the late 1990s for just $12,000, but only won one race and later retired as a hack.

So we are pretty much left with Pleasant Franco to carry the line forward.

Just before looking at her record, I want to go back another generation or two, firstly to Lumber Dream mare Romanda, the dam of Pleasant Evening. Remarkably, her only other foal was a very, very good trotter in Australia called True Roman. He won over half a million dollars – 73 wins in 135 starts, finishing racing when he was  12yo. So an accumulator, but a good one. If you look at his pedigree, you will see a close double up with Knight Dream. and that theme occurs now and then in some of the family’s best results. It might also explain the selection of trotting sires as matches for some of the family (as mentioned above).

And yet another generation back is the U Scott mare Romarin – of her 6 foals, 5 were fillies but Romanda is the only one I can find that has added value to the line in an decent way. At this stage the family was firmly rooted in Australia. The best performer from Romarin’s foals was an Overtrick filly called Pleasant Roma (so Pleasant Franco, being by Overtrick, is closely related in blood to this mare) who raced in the 1970s and had 5 wins and 12 places, $24k, but again she appears to be lightly tried to less quality sires. I’m hoping some of my Australian blog readers might be able to fill in the gaps or mention some offspring from the family that have forged a thriving line over there, but I cannot spot anything myself.

That reminds me, the other thing I want to mention is how “Trans Tasman” this family is. Christian Cullen’s family is very much a “downunder” venture, with many of them performing in both countries or crossing The Ditch at some stage of their lives. I hadn’t really realised that before.

Pleasant Franco (Bo Scots Chip x Pleasant Evening)

The success of Kate’s First (by Holmes Hanover, breeder G E May) and then Christian Cullen (by In The Pocket, breeder Paul Bielby) opened up opportunities for several of her foals. Tiger Woods (by In The Pocket) broke down before he’d hardly started but stood as a lower tier sire in Australia for 25 winners from 190 foals. Here’s a link to the announcement of his 2013 stud shift to South Australia, which also notes a good point that Pleasant Franco is one of very few mares to ever have 3 sons at stud at the same time – being Christian Cullen, Julius Caesar and Tiger Woods. I see Tiger Woods is noted as deceased but I cannot recall when what happened and Google hasn’t helped me regarding the circumstances. The usual Aussie snake perhaps?

Julius Caesar (by In The Pocket, breeders C N Radford, W E Radford, Mrs D E Richardson), was the foal born in 2000, and is a full brother to Christian Cullen. He always struck me as a much lankier framed animal, although very good looking. He raced four times as a two-year-old, finishing runner-up in the Group 2 NZ Sapling Stakes and Cardigan Bay Stakes before being retired due to injury. He took a record of 1:57.5. Would he have raced on to be a champion? We will never know, but I think his type would have benefited with having time. He could have become more a tough stayer, as indeed many of his progeny have been. His record as a sire is not bad. I covered off his development as a sire in an article I wrote earlier this year for Harnessed magazine about the “new boys on the block”.

Another male foal was Oscar De La Hoya (by Jaguar Spur, breeders G H Beirne, P R Bielby) and he was a buy-back at the yearling sales for $200,000 but turned out to be just a solid but not spectacular performer from 3yo to 7yo, earning a total of $47k. He got his 6th win from 14 starts as a 5yo – I can’t recall, but there must have been soundness issues or injury breaks to be that lightly raced.

There is one last male foal from Pleasant Franco who is not at all well known here in NZ but might be recognised in Australia – his name is Great Place (Ina Great Place for his racing in Australia), and he is by Artsplace (breeders C N Radford,W E Radford,Mrs D E Richardson),  and although he is not a star in the same way that Christian Cullen is, he ground out a good racing career with 146 races, 16 wins, 21 seconds and 16 thirds, and a total of $105k stake earnings. I see he was racing right up to Sept/Oct this year, getting some good placings at Albion Park in the latter part of September 2015.

Pleasant Franco had 7 filly foals in total, so no lack of opportunity to carry on the maternal line: Kate’s First (Holmes Hanover, 1993), Dreamsaregold (In the Pocket, 1999), Cracker Kate (Holmes Hanover, 2001), Special Ball (Presidential Ball, 2002), Arty Alice (Artsplace, 2003), and two unraced fillies Lucky Pocket (In The Pocket, 2006), and Courage A Plenty (Courage Under Fire, 2007).

Kate’s First was exceptional (19 wins, $624k) but only one of the others could win a race (Arty Alice). Cracker Kate was the only other one tried as a race horse and had a record of 32 races for no wins, 8 places. The value of the remaining filly foals (and of these two racemares as well) was obviously a strong factor in whether they would be racing horses or diverted early on to breeding. The mana of their dam and Christian Cullen was strong enough to over-ride other considerations.

But what lines from this family will continue to flourish? And is it the basis for a siring line?

The next generation

Is the family kicking on after that burst of brilliance from Pleasant Franco as a broodmare?

And the answer seems to be mixed but in some cases promising.

Arty Alice is a success story so far – she’s left 6 foals to date, all from top sires, and 4 are winners so far, some yet to start racing. Her first two are Earth Angel by Mach Three (13 wins and $79k and still racing) and Beach Shack (Somebeachsomewhere, 9 wins and $94k and also still racing). The breeder is listed as BFJ BLOODSTOCK TRUST, VIC.  A younger filly by Rocknroll Hanover is called Rockstar Angel and she has already had a win and two places from just 6 starts. These are well-bred fillies that hint well for the future of the family.

Cracker Kate is chipping in with her NZ-bred foals including star gelding Heez Orl Black who has won over $300k. You’d be very happy with that. He shifted to Australia midway through 2013 after an excellent 2yo season here (including winning the Welcome Stakes) and a solid 3yo and part 4yo season. Her next foal was the lightly tried filly Cracker Three by Mach Three, who is just starting her own breeding career, as is Cracker Kate’s next foal an unraced Art Major filly. She is named Code Cracker, and that filly sold for a surprisingly light $34,000 at the 2012 Premier Yearling Sales in Christchurch. Out of interest, (Heez) Orl Black sold in the 2010 yearling sales for $57,000. Since then, Cracker Kate has proven difficult to breed – there is a Changeover colt who is now a 2yo but nothing else.)

Kate’s First filly foal by Artsplace (called Katesplace) sold for $95,000 in that same 2010 yearling sales. Kate’s First has been an asset in terms of producing valuable foals, but erratic at producing well performing foals. Daniel Anderson (by In The Pocket) was her first foal and in terms of race track performance it was nil, regardless of what ability he may or may not have had, and in the siring barn where he had only 48 live foals not one of them was a winner and only 4 qualified. What a handsome horse he was. But in the end, he could not add to the reputation of this family re producing sires and siring lines – that is a much, much harder row to hoe. From Kate’s First fillies we have the “on paper” best opportunities to see the quality of the line unfold. But it is never that simple, always tempting and yes, there is an exceptional one in the wings. But which one? Kate’s Rocket was the first filly from Kate’s First, and she got 2 wins from 6 starts – with that breeding, that’s enough! Since starting her broodmare career she has produced a Bettor’s Delight filly called Kate De Goldie (trained by Robbie Holmes and 3 wins from 13 starts but very lightly raced and now a 5yo), then a Santanna Blue Chip filly with 1 win from 6 starts, also racing out of the Holmes stable, and a 2yo Art Major filly called Major Rocket, not sighted yet. Kate’s First’s next filly was a Western Terror foal called First Western (born 2006), who was lightly raced but showed ability. And subsequently First Western had a McArdle filly called  Marion Keisker (I presume after the woman who was a huge influence in Elvis Presley’s early recording career), and she is still racing in Australia with 50 starts for almost $39k – don’t write off her potential progeny from that breeding with McArdle as he brings in some classy Knight Dream references amongst other things. First Western’s only other filly foal has since died. Kate’s First third filly foal Rocknroll Ruby has had no luck on the track or the breeding barn to date. Kate’s First’s fourth filly is  Katesplace who got a win in Australia and was then sent to broodmare duties, and has had one or two foals, but early days.  Kate’s First’s colt foal Hurricane Stride (by Holmes Hanover) has been disappointing in terms of results to date.  The next colt foal from Kate’s First is Maverick (by Bettor’s Delight, breeders K N Spicer,Mrs A M Spicer, P J Nicholson, Mrs R Nicholson) who sold at the 2013 yearling sales for $45,000 and has done a professional job to date for Nigel McGrath and is on the improve (right now 21 starts, 6 wins and 6 places).  The latest of Kate’s First foals to the race track is Kate Black, a full sister to Maverick, who is just starting out at workouts, trials etc in New Zealand. You would imagine her future as a broodmare and the overall success of this family might lead to some hopes for another top horse along the way.

Special Ball (Pleasant Franco’s Presidential Ball mare in Australia) has left a nice enough Grin colt (Smiling Cullen, 7 wins, $28k to date), and has a couple of younger Sportswriter foals and an Always A Virgin foal following. It’s a work in progress.

Dreamsaregold (Pleasant Franco’s unraced In the Pocket mare) has kicked on well to date with her progeny – Hurricane Anvil (racing in Australia, 8 wins and 18 places to date for $84k), Close To Cullen likewise in Australia for 47 starts, 7 wins and 7 places to date. Dreamsaregold’s very lightly tried NZ-based 2009 Falcon Seelster filly The Princess now has a Betterthencheddar foal, and Dreamsaregold also has a Bettor’s Delight filly called Chevron’s Champion currently going great guns over in Australia (14 starts, 6 wins and 3 places to date, and $46k plus so far).

AND...Just to bring us right up to date, there are a couple of youngsters from the family lining up at the Christchurch Premier Yearling Sales in February 2016 – a Mach Three filly from Courage A Plenty (Lot 170) and an Art Major colt from Lucky Pocket (Lot 284).  Check out those pedigrees.

Here is a family that has a very average background but some hints of exceptional ability. Then a burst of talent, absolutely TOP PERFORMERS, like a fireworks rocket with Catherine Wheel attached. Since then, some nice Showers and some loud Jumping Jacks. But you get the feeling there is more to come from a mass of fillies and several branches – often high level talent seems to skip a generation.

One of the most interesting things for me when investigating this family (not perfectly at all, just looking thank you) is that it shows how any family can sometimes have burning embers that flare and spark into life, and if we breathe on them the right way we can start a fire. Whether that fire continues to burn requires luck, thought, and some good lungs. lol

OKAY the question remains – does his family background support Christian Cullen to be not only a great racehorse and a great sire, but also a sire of good sires?

Comment on this blog or to me at bee.raglan@xtra.nz if you would like to share your thoughts with readers.

  • Are there any success elements in terms of the genetics or performance qualities that give us a clue? The two themes I flagged up in terms of pedigree matches are Knight Dream and maybe some element from  Tar Heel (Holmes Hanover and In The Pocket has been important crosses).
  • Is a sire dependent on his maternal line (in combination with sire line) to be a success at stud?
  • Is Christian Cullen’s maternal line strong enough to support an ongoing sire line?
  • And which of the sons of Christian Cullen available now that you see as the best chance for his siring line to continue (and why

Posted in Pedigree matching, Standardbred breeding | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Crosses with Bettor’s Delight mares – Dot continues the sharing on this subject

December 10, 2015 by b4breeding

Hi everyone, I am still working on a few blogs but the day job, spring jobs after work and a “mobile broadband” that behaves like dial-up are conspiring against timely delivery. So thankfully Dot Schmidt from Australia has come to my rescue with further observations on the interesting discussion we’ve had about Bettor’s Delight as a future damsire, which was originally kicked off by David Sinclair:

I think you’ll find and we will continue to find that Somebeachsomewhere (SBSW) will hold pride of place over Bettor’s Delight (BD) mares. Of course it’s easy enough to nominate a leading sire, but BDs pedigree, being a Cam Fella grandson, with a dam by an Abercrombie/Most Happy Fella horse (MHF), second dam by Albatross is well suited to SBSW. SBSWs sire Mach Three’s dam is Abercrombie over MHF over Bret Hanover, and SBSW second dam is by Cam Fella who is MHF over Bret Hanover.

Only a small sample (9) still in the U.S. so more needed to validate but 89% $50k, 1:55 winners, and 67% 100k winners.

Downunder I can only find 4 live foals older then current 2yos and one of those is (Our) Waikiki Beach $510k, 153:7. Of course it’s not all about being out of a Bettor’s Delight mare; his second dam is by Albert Albert, a cross with Bettor’s Delight that enjoys plenty of success and he is from a female family that has produced stars such as Chandon and Salinger in the past.

Although not in the class of SBSW and unproven as a sire as yet Sir Lincoln with his very similar pedigree and presumably good access in NZ wouldn’t surprise if he succeeded with BD mares which for many people would be a much more affordable option to breed or buy. (Bee’s comment: 5 yearlings to date on the Sir Lincoln x Bettor’s Delight cross, you can check this out on the HRNZ website, search on Sir Lincoln and filter his progeny on damsires).

Posted in Standardbred breeding | Tagged , | 4 Comments »

So who do you think are the inheritors of the Direct Scooter line?

December 4, 2015 by b4breeding

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

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?

Posted in Harness racing, Standardbred breeding | 8 Comments »

Who is this?

December 1, 2015 by b4breeding

Here’s a quick quiz, no prizes just something to test yourself and perhaps make a point.

Who is this horse? You have 20 seconds starting now…

Who is this horse?

Who is this horse?

Clue 1 – He’s a sire.

Clue 2 – His siblings include: Special Ball, Great Place, and Arty Alice.

Clue 2 – Australian readers may be more familiar with these and other siblings than NZ readers, because these siblings have all been exported to Australia.

Clue 3 – He was born on 6 November 1994.

Counting down the seconds, no googling….15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20…….Did you get it right?

This is a photo of him in his prime.

Christian Cullen

Christian Cullen

The photo at the top of this blog is one I took during my visit to Nevele R Stud a few weeks ago, and it was a privilege to see the now 21 year old Christian Cullen in his paddock.

He’s an older gentleman, handsome and with ears pricked, but content to stand under “his” willow tree and let the day come to him.

In my next blog (or so), I want to look at his wider immediate family and their fortunes, what makes a top sire, and what the future may hold for him as a sire of sires.

Posted in Standardbred breeding | 1 Comment »

Crosses with Bettor’s Delight continued

November 25, 2015 by b4breeding

This discussion started with David’s thoughts based on mainly Australian statistics, then others including some NZ statistics I copied in. Finally here’s the link to the USTA statistics (of course as Dot says they are not an “apples with apples” comparison, and there will be some double ups like Texican N for the In The Pocket cross, but interesting nevertheless). I see that BG’s Bunny doesn’t show up at all in the USTA stats for “crosses of gold” with Bettor’s Delight, which is intriguing.

Perhaps we can make “calls” about higher percentage crosses with BD as a sire now, because we have many years of high numbers to look back on, giving these statistics some validity.

What is harder is to predict what will cross well with Bettor’s Delight as a damsire because, as David Sinclair pointed out, that is really where he is most likely to leave a long term inheritance.

So in our statistics – be they Australian, NZ or North American, the eyes will be out for what patterns might be showing up in that area. Of course relatively small numbers of BD mares will have had foals of racing age, but I am still quite surprised at the few times he is showing up as a damsire in many of the sires we know. With Art Major and American Ideal there are some solid percentages but nothing jumping out of the box yet.

I’m also aware that location of a sire and his mares can make a big difference to what get to go with what in America, whereas in New Zealand it is like one big state, all in.

I’ve blogged before on this topic and kept an eye out for BD as a damsire with yearlings coming through the sales. But haven’t looked at the stats recently.

If anyone wants to dig deeper on the mare/family matches so far with BD as a damsire in all those countries, go for it and I am happy to post up your thoughts or leave a comment on this blog.

Posted in Standardbred breeding | Tagged | Leave a Comment »

Two good sports at the trials at Franklin

November 24, 2015 by b4breeding

Franklin trials was the venue for two 2yos by Sportswriter to get their racing ticket in New Zealand. View video here.

For my Aussie blog followers, this is a big yawn probably, as Sportswriter took off like a cracker as a sire over the ditch, and has more than 500 foals to his name and many already racing. (Although are they carrying on next season? I’m interested to get feedback on that).

Over here, it’s a different story and it follows the Art Major scenario, where Australian breeders tend to “give the new kid a go”, where we sit back and watch and wait or make our own sire out of some 2×4 and corrugated iron… (which can work well, trust me). Possibly the Kiwi/Aussie cultural difference is expressing itself through the means of chilled or frozen semen lol.

In New Zealand the sire Sportswriter had only 18 mares for each of his first years available here, but elevated that to 76 in the last season (2015). His fertility seems high. His foals are good looking. But of course they still need to carve out their name here, where we can only believe what we see on the racetrack.

So from small crops, these 2yo Sportswriter colts are both doing their sire a huge favour, just by finishing 1st and 2nd in a qualifying trial in a good time. Not to be sneezed at.

The 2yo Sportswriter in this case are: winner Mitch Maguire (Miley Maguire x Christian Cullen, from the Tabella Beth family) , and 2nd place-getter by a length The Lone Ranger (Cruzee Lass x Christian Cullen),  in a good time for the 1 mile qualifier on the Franklin track.

Giving credit to the dams: Cruzee Lass won 9 races from 39 starts, with 6 seconds for just a fraction off $100,000 stakes. The breeder of The Lone Ranger is Stonewall Stud, who really know their families and have a very accessible syndicate system to give people the chance to get into harness racing.

On the other hand, the dam of Mitch Maguire was Miley Maguire who never raced after some impressive workout and trial results, so she obviously had ability but something went amiss. I will follow up with breeder Ray and Diane Kennedy in due course.

The fact that both are from Christian Cullen mares may or may not turn out to be significant. But for now, it’s nice to see a new kid get success on the Kiwi block.

Note: Sportswriter is son of Artsplace with his damsire being the fantastic Jate Lobell and his grandamsire Big Towner, and she is from the very strong Wilellen family – check it out that link on Classic Families.

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Continuing our discussion on crosses with Bettor’s Delight

November 23, 2015 by b4breeding

Here is a follow up response from Dot – all contributing to the discussion and our pool of ideas and knowledge as breeders.

I agree with Dot about the statistics, and it is hard to compare apples with apples. Which is why the marketeers get away with things like “world record holder” for a sport that doesn’t have comparable world/region distances and worldwide races (though we might get there eventually). But I have to give big thumbs up to the HRNZ team for “Info Horse” database they have developed for racing and breeding statistics in New Zealand. It is a fantastic resource.

As Dot says (albeit with a very appropriate “dam” rather than “damn”) statistics can be used to back up any theory you want… but I still think they are also a good way of checking if your assumptions are on target or slightly off beam.

You know what they say, lies, dam lies and statistics. Unfortunately all the data bases have their varying limitations so it does makes it a bit of a task to go through each to find what you want to know. Classic families is my preferred one but of course it doesn’t give  the number of foals born bred on the same cross.

If your a fan of sibling crosses then the high %age (of successful crosses by Bettor’s Delight) with Albert Albert (AA) mares will come as no surprise as Albert Albert’s dam is Lismore, BGs Bunny’s full sister.  On your NZ stats Bee, Bettor’s Delight (BD) hasn’t done nearly as well with (albeit it’s a small sample) Life Sign mares. To all intents and purposes (except mitachondrial DNA ) Albert Albert and Life Sign are full brothers.

Over on classic families though BD has a healthy representation of classic winners from Albert Albert mares but a much greater one from Life Sign (LS) mares ( I don’t know how many of each he served but I’m guessing more Life Sign ) but what stands out to me is the much greater earnings of the Life Sign ones with two millionaires and another not very far away.

David I haven’t read Norman’s book but I know of his philosophy and as well as the sibling cross both AA and LS match BDs Abercrombie/Albatross dam lines. The two millionaires also descend from very prolific female families, Golden Miss U20, and Betty G U13, the other from a family a little further down the family numbers hierarchy. Kevin I don’t think the sire lines are unimportant but like you I do think that more attention should be paid to the female family.

Off course the Artsplace millionaires by BD are even wealthier still and they don’t have the sibling cross but they do match the dam lines and descend from good families. The later is pretty much a given, they’re by Artsplace, who is pretty easily arguably the best sire in the breed and covered many of the best mares and there can be little doubt BD has covered many Artsplace mares. But two of the richest are from the same Artsplace mare which suggests she has something special going for her that many other Artsplace mares didn’t when mated to BD.

As you wrote Bee 33% 50k plus winners ( and their way over that benchmark) from BGs Bunny mares for BD but from an exceptionally small sample when you consider its the same mare. That 33% doesn’t say anything really about BD over BGs Bunny mares at large but certainly suggests that he’s been a fabulous consort for one particular BGs Bunny mare as he has been for one particular Artsplace mare. And congratulations to all the people involved in producing these horses for it takes far more then pedigree to get the money in the bank.

The BD/Artsplace cross has been backed up with other good performers but the actual %ages might be an interesting read. Of course in the U.S. they don’t register every foal which pushes the %ages up.

Another successful son of Cams Card Shark at stud though nowhere near as prolific as BD is Four Starzzz Shark who has most of his top performers through Life Sign and here in Australia Albert Albert ( from the same female family, coincidence? Maybe maybe not) so the sibling cross again, though not from the most prolific female families or matching the dam lines. Which doesn’t necessarily suggest Kevin’s liking for strong female families isn’t relevant it may just be that FSS hasn’t covered LS or AA mares from stronger families.  Also the dam lines don’t match but that isn’t necessarily proof that that isn’t important, if they did match then maybe FSS would have even better success with the Abercrombie/Albatross line sires. Of course if FSS had Abercrombie/albatross dam lines he wouldn’t be FSS he’d be more like Bettors Delight!

One who obviously is very much like BD is his brother Roll With Joe, who with only his first crop at the races has just a small number of offspring in classic families to date. But in my opinion they make interesting and largely predictable reading and it will be interesting to watch as the numbers grow.

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Bettor’s Delight crosses with damsires (NZ stats)

November 21, 2015 by b4breeding

Following on again from the discussion initiated by David Sinclair about the influence of Tar Heel with Bettor’s Delight and He’s Watching.

In reply Dot Schmidt suggested that “To make the figures relevant a % of performers to foals is needed.” So I have tried to rectify that with some information below from the NZSBA/HRNZ databases.

Below is an extract from the very good list of crosses by sire (and separately by damsire) which is produced each year by the NZ Standardbred Breeders Assn. It is available on the association’s website, but in a members only section that requires a password. This section shows the crosses of Bettor’s Delight with mares from all other sires. The report shows the results in terms of % starters and winners, but also 2yo starters/winners, 3yo starters/winners, and several other categories relating to performance (times/stakes). It is a great resource for checking anecdotal wisdom against facts. Unfortunately I can’t reproduce it here.

This is for statistics up to the end of the 2014/2015 season, so end of July 2015.

It is interesting to see at a glance that the so-called “golden cross” of In The Pocket (ITP) mares with Bettor’s Delight doesn’t show up spectacularly on a purely winners percentage basis. But the number of foals produced on that cross (207 foals 2yo+ at 31 July 2015) is by far the largest for Bettor’s Delight as a sire.

When it comes to the statistics on percentage of foals that have made 50k plus, 11% of foals by BD from ITP mares reach that level or higher. It is still not as high a percentage as for some other damsires – looking at the results from BD x Albert Albert mares (a total of 16 foals), you can see below that 81% have been winners, and in the larger chart it shows that 3 of those 16 foals won over $50k (19%).

So can you really call the BD x ITP cross a “golden” one?

The cross with BG’s Bunny mares (including the great Adore Me) has also produced a high percentage strike rate for small numbers – from just 6 foals, two thirds have been winners and one third (2 foals) have won $5ok or more. However if you look at the detail you will find Adore Me’s dam Excuse Me makes up almost all of those foals! (More on that aspect at end of this blog)

Probably a fairer comparison with the Bettor’s Delight/In The Pocket cross are other crosses that have generated a larger number of foals.

Bettor's Delight at Woodlands Stud NZ

Bettor’s Delight at Woodlands Studof foals.

The cross with Holmes Hanover mares has resulted in 121 foals aged 2yo +.  As you can see, the percentage of starters and winners compares very well with ITP mares and that may add to David Sinclair’s reasoning about the influence of Tar Heel – the figures for NZ foals certainly support his theory. Of course both BG’s Bunny and Holmes Hanover are sons of Albatross, so is that an influence? The two other sons of Albatross (Soky’s Atom and Vance Hanover) in the list also show good ratios of winners, but less so in terms of real high class performers (respectively 7% and 0% winners of $50k+).

The other damsire to rate closer to In The Pocket in terms of mares going to Bettor’s Delight is Christian Cullen, with 122 foals of 2yo+ on this cross). You can see his figures below for starters and winners (54%, 40%) and in terms of $50k+ performers he rates at 10%, which is pretty much the same as his own sire In The Pocket.

The crosses with Bettor’s Delight that have really shown up in terms of percentage of $50k+ earners – regardless of the numbers of foals – are Albert Albert (19%), BG’s Bunny (33%), Camtastic (20%), Dream Away (16%), Road Machine (20%), Smooth Fella (18%) and What’s Next (20%). I took 15% as my cut-off point. I haven’t looked at the pedigrees of those damsires to see if there are any common elements.

Which leads me to the other element that we must keep in mind regarding these crosses – the mare’s full pedigree plays a role in the cross, not just her damsire.

When you look at some of the detail of these results you find that a mare might have gone back two or more times to Bettor’s Delight for good results, indicating it is an overall good match with the mare as a total package (pedigree, conformation etc). An example is the 100% foals/winners for the Bettor’s Delight cross with Son Of Afella and Walton Hanover mares. You can check those for yourself by using the wonderful Harness Racing NZ Info Horse database, searching for Bettor’s Delight, then filtering on Dam Sire drop down option. See here for the Walton Hanover example. The mares Tosca Hanover (dam of 2015 Cup winner Arden Rooney) has been to Bettor’s Delight twice, both winners. Likewise Touch of Grace. Putting On The Glitz has been three times for three winners.

So I guess it depends what criteria you use – simply foals/winners, or looking at the likelihood of getting something special. Often early success by one or two foals generates talk of a “golden cross” which then adds breeding numbers on that cross and perhaps a better chance of further success. That’s why these statistics are interesting, as they show some sires have had a very good strike rate with Bettor’s Delight from much more limited numbers than In The Pocket has had, and particularly with individual mares.

Breeders who know their mares and who “think b4 breeding” may be more likely to find their own “golden cross”.

 

 NZ registered foals
BETTOR’S DELIGHT No. of foals 2yo+ Starters    % Winners    %
All Sires: 1212 730 60 571 47
Albert Albert 16 13 81 13 81
Artiscape 12 6 50 5 41
Artsplace 19 8 42 5 26
Badlands Hanover 40 24 60 17 42
Beach Towel 16 8 50 5 31
B G’s Bunny 6 4 66 4 66
Bo Scots Blue Chip 7 3 42 2 28
Butler B G 15 12 80 9 60
Camtastic(USA) 5 3 60 2 40
Caprock 9 6 66 5 55
Christian Cullen 122 67 54 49 40
Courage Under Fire 9 4 44 3 33
Dream Away(USA) 31 23 74 18 58
Fake Left 15 9 60 8 53
Falcon Seelster 80 47 58 40 50
Frugal Gourmet 7 4 57 4 57
Holmes Hanover 121 80 66 58 47
Il Vicolo 8 7 87 3 37
In The Pocket 207 126 60 101 48
Life Sign 7 4 57 3 42
Live Or Die 31 19 61 15 48
Mach Three 14 8 57 5 35
McArdle 5 2 40 2 40
Miles McCool 7 4 57 4 57
Nero’s B B 8 4 50 4 50
New York Motoring 28 18 64 12 42
OK Bye 20 8 40 8 40
Pacific Rocket 5 1 20 0 0
Payson’s Brother 6 3 50 2 33
Presidential Ball 19 11 57 10 52
Red River Hanover 5 2 40 0 0
Road Machine 5 4 80 3 60
Safely Kept 5 3 60 3 60
Sands A Flyin 10 7 70 4 40
Smooth Fella 22 18 81 18 81
Soky’s Atom 72 41 56 36 50
Son Of Afella 7 7 0 7 100
Tuapeka Knight 5 4 80 2 40
Vance Hanover 25 17 68 15 60
Walton Hanover 7 7 0 7 100
Washington VC 6 2 33 1 16
Western Hanover(USA) 6 2 33 2 33
What’s Next 10 4 40 3 30

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Response from Dot to David’s research

November 20, 2015 by b4breeding

Dot Schmidt in Australia has sent in this thoughtful response to the discussion in the previous blog re the influence of Tar Heel with Bettor’s Delight and He’s Watching.

David has obviously put a lot of work into that but for mine there’s a couple of things to query. For his top 50 performers in Australia are these restricted to foaled in Australia, or are NZ imports included? To make the figures relevant a % of performers to foals is needed. 11 in the top 50 from ITP mares foaled in Australia I’d guess would be a very high % of performers but probably not if some of these are imports and thus cherry picked from a much larger foal crop. %age wise maybe the Artsplace, or particularly the Safely Kept crosses as I doubt that BD served many Safely Kept mares may actually be much better. Off course you need, and this goes particularly for some of the other sires listed a large enough number of offspring to be statistically relevant.

I noted Falcon Seelster wasn’t on David’s list of Broodmare sires in Australia which I thought was interesting as I recall something on your blog about the success of BD over Falcon Seelster mares in NA. I’m sure that this would be an anomaly rather then evidence  that BDs out of Falcon Seelster mares can’t run in Australia!

Is David’s fondness for Tar Heel based on the theory of “X factor” as found in Mariann Hanns books? If so the horse genome has been completely mapped and there is no single large heart gene found on the X chromosome. There are sires who do make a bigger contribution to a breed as broodmare sires then others and Tar Heel was certainly one. It may have something to do with the X chromosome but it will be multiple genes and probably as much to do with skeletal muscle as large hearts which obviously do exist just not as the result of a single gene.

With He’s Watching I’m not sure that the 8 (6 unique) strains of Tar Heels in the 6th generation is particularly relevant but perhaps the symmetry is what appeals. Meadow Skipper, not all in the 6th generation but there abouts has 13 strains through his sons and daughters and 7 unique so actually contributes a larger % of genes to He’s Watching. I think He’s Watchings high speed and success as a racehorse is largely due to the reinforcing of his highly successful U7 influences Leah Almahurst and Three Diamonds and luck in the genetic draw moreso then the influence of Tar Heel in the 6th generation. I do agree with David on the reinforcing of family U2 though.

I agree he could do well with BD mares but not in my opinion because of the Tar Heel lines in both but moreso because closer up BGs Bunny is genetically speaking very nearly a full sibling to Three Diamonds. Also the Abercrombie over Albatross found in both. Off course the other half of the mares pedigree counts too, some of Shy Ann’s descendants  as found in both Real Desire and Jenna’s Beach Boy wouldn’t go astray and as David pointed out The Old Maid/ Spinster U2 family.

I doubt it would ever happen but I’d imagine a He’s Warching out of Adore Me could a seriously fast horse! Two BGs Bunnys plus Farm timer who descends from Nora Adelle and has two lines of family U2

Of course the beauty of discussing breeding theories is just that, it’s theory and no one is necessarily more right then another and as they say opinions are like a***holes, everyone has one!

See also Kevin’s comment to this post. Click on the arrow alongside “One comment” below.

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