16 March 2021 | PETER WHARTON
HISTORY will show us that most of the champion sires in our harness racing Industry were horses possessed of exciting ability and extreme speed.
There has been the odd exception and in the past 40 years Vance Hanover has been the notable exception.
At the Bathurst Gold Crown Yearling sale this coming Sunday, March 21 there will be a total of 16 yearlings that are sired by three of the most exciting first season sires in recent years.
They are the North American stars Fear The Dragon and Huntsville and the former Mark Purdon excitement machine Vincent.
Fear The Dragon, by Dragon Again from a Western Ideal mare, won 17 of his 29 career starts as a two and three-year-old and banked $1.57 million.
His dam has produced three sub 1:50 pacers while his grand-dam Mattaroni was the USTA 2YO Pacing Filly of the Year in 1998. Mattaroni is also a half-sister to the dam of one of Australia’s leading sires of past years in Village Jasper.
In 2020 in USA, Fear The Dragon’s first crop of yearlings were consigned to yearling sales across four States of USA and three of that first crop were sold for $100,000 or more.
Just a few days ago Fear The Dragon was represented by two yearling colts at the Sydney APG Sale and they struck a chord with buyers averaging $56,000.
Huntsville, a son of the mighty Somebeachsomewhere from a Western Hanover mare, was the 2016 USA 2YO Pacing Colt of the Year, prior to winning the 2017 Meadowlands Pace and Cane Pace as a three-year-old. He retired with earnings of $1.7 million.
He is a tall and powerful individual and is siring colts and fillies in a similar mould. His first crop were consigned to USA sales last year and he sired 77 yearlings that averaged $45,880 including a filly from a half-sister to Always B Miki that fetched $250,000.
To date in Australia, Huntsville has had 20 of his progeny sell for an average of $30,000.
Vincent, a cracking good looking son of Art Major from a Safely Kept mare, won 16 of his 19 lifetime starts including four Group 1’s. He was regarded by his trainer Mark Purdon to be the heir apparent to his other champion pacer Lazarus.
His Safely Kept dam, Kept For Pleasure, also won four Group 1’s on her way to career earnings of $542,343.
Vincent’s big weapon was his blazing high speed and he was in fact the fastest ever three-year-old in Australasia when retired in 2018.
His first crop of yearlings have just been offered at sales across four States and buyers have taken a liking to them with 10 being sold at an average of almost $27,000.
So we recently spoke to some of the Bathurst vendors who are offering yearlings by these first season sires.
Ben Settree, representing Brooklyn Lodge, was full of praise for the yearlings by both Fear The Dragon and Huntsville that they will consign to the Gold Crown sale this Sunday.
“We liked Fear The Dragon because he was such a good racehorse in USA and Lot 20 (colt from Our Keepsake) in particular is a good type,” Settree said.
“We are most impressed with the yearlings we have bred by Huntsville. Most of them have been the best foals their dams have produced. He seems to be a stallion that can really step a mare’s pedigree up.”
Vincent, who was an outstanding yearling himself at the 2015 Sydney sale, is definitely stamping his progeny with similar physical traits – strong, not overly tall but with powerful hindquarters and chests and lovely heads.
Matt and Michael Leary from Wallacia (near Penrith) will offer the only Vincent colt in the Gold Crown sale – Lot 58 – which is from a Somebeachsomewhere mare who in turn is a daughter of the NSW Ladyship Mile winner in Lucky Elsie (1:55.2).
“The colt is a really well muscled boy with strong hindquarters – not too tall. Myself and my dad Michael are rapt in how he has grown out,” Matt said.
Rikki Cernovskis and her husband Dean have had considerable success as breeders from a small group of mares.
This Sunday they will present three yearlings, one of which is by the first season sire Huntsville. The filly will walk into the ring as Lot 61 – from a 13-time winning Mach Three mare called Harlequin Bromac.
“We really liked the credentials of Huntsville when he came to Australia and would have bred to him again if he had returned. This filly has always been the pick of our foals from that year. She is not overly big but more of a racy type. She has a lot of get-up and go about her,” Rikki said.
The sale will be livestreamed on Sunday on www.auctionsplus.com.au – click on Bathurst Gold Crown Yearling Sale. Online bidding will also be available through this site but prior registration is required.
For further details contact Graeme Board on 0408 636 273 or email gboard@bobberry.com.au
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