30 January 2024 | APGold
Albert Davis is not a man to blow his own trumpet. But the respected horseman has built an impressive resume after a lifetime working quietly behind the scenes at top stables and stud farms.
Davis, 55, and his wife Ellen run Teela Park, a 40-hectare standardbred nursery in Numurkah, where they breed, foal down and raise youngsters for clients and themselves. And few horsemen would be better qualified than Davis to bring on the next generation a harness horses.
Born and raised in Tasmania, he started work with leading trainer Wayne Rattray as a teenager.
“We lived around the road from Wayne and he contacted me to see if I wanted a job after a I left school. It all started from there,” Davis said. “I spent maybe 18 months with Wayne and then moved to Victoria to work for Don Dove.”
Davis later moved from racing into the breeding side of harness, working for top echelon operations like Notable Breeding Farms in WA and Karamea Farms.
“I spent four years with Mick Lombardo. We foaled down about 30 mares and took 25 yearlings to the sale each year,” Davis said. “Tailamade Lombo, Lombo Rapida, Mary Mazzini and Nietta Lombo came through while we were there. I did two stints at Karamea Farms – about 11 years all up. We had the stallions Troublemaker, Armbro Aussie and Camtastic, to name a few, and lot of mares came through to stud.”
The Davis’s are preparing 10 yearlings for the APG Melbourne Yearling Sale on February 4 – eight for clients and two of their own.
“I couldn’t do it without Ellen. We work as a team and she is behind me all the way,” Davis said “We have two yearlings for Harvey Deleminco, two for Peter and Sandra Bryant, two for Rob Viney and two for Balmain Lodge.
“Rob Viney’s Stay Hungry colt (Lot 120) is an absolute cracker. The Bryants’ filly out of Classic Malibu (Lot 117) is also a really nice type.
“And Balmain Lodge will offer a Captain Crunch colt (Lot 213) that is a half-brother to The Storm Inside. Also a great looking filly out of Stay Hungry (Lot 180)”
The Davis’s will present two outstanding youngsters – a filly (Lot 165) by Ride High and a trotting bred colt (Lot 190) by Elite Stride.
The filly is out of 100 per cent producer Lucilla Franco – dam of seven winners, including SA Kindergarten Stakes winner Bayview Harbour (1.57.2, $55K). She is from the family of top fillies Lewinsky Franco (1.51.4, $172K) and Lilac Stride (1.54.4, $276K).
The colt is from Pinevale Monnaie, a half sister to six winners including Duchess Ella (tr1.57.2, $126K). He is from the family of Aust and NZ 2YO trotter of the year Galleons Assassin (tr1.55.4, $495K).
“The Lucilla Franco filly is a nice type. She is similar to the others, a stocky type,” Davis said. “The colt is from the first crop of Elite Stride from a well-bred mare.”
For full details and catalogued yearlings in the 2024 Australian Pacing Gold Yearling Sales please visit our Online Sales Catalogue or Register as a Buyer now.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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