The Breeders Crown is harness racing’s grand final, where the best of the best battle it out to determine who is the king or queen of their division.
Every owner and trainer in Australasia dreams of having a Breeders Crown runner, and ultimately, a Breeders Crown champion, but how do you go about finding that horse that can help you achieve those dreams?
Judging by this year’s Breeders Crown fields, a trip to the APG yearling sales is a pretty good start. Read on to see how you can get involved in a partnership to purchase a share in a horse at the 2017 APG Sales.
Of the six pacing legs of the Breeders Crown to be contested on Sunday, APG sales graduates will provide 30 of the 72 starters (42 per cent) – not bad considering that APG sales graduates make up less than seven per cent of the overall Australasian horse population and only 10 per cent of the Australian horse population.
Importantly, the APG sales graduates in Sunday’s Breeders Crown finals aren’t just making up the numbers – many of them are among the favourites in their respective divisions.
Indeed, APG will be sending out the odds-on favourite in three of the six pacing divisions, and it could well have been five of the six divisions if The Storm Inside and Park Life were available to compete.
Both horses won their respective divisions of APG’s million-dollar two-year-old series earlier in the season before a burst ulcer on the lung ended The Storm Inside’s season, while leg soreness forced Park Life to the spelling paddock.
APG’s leading chances in each of the Sunday’s Breeders Crown finals include:
2yo Colts & Geldings: No. 7 – Our Little General ($7.50)
2yo Fillies: No. 4 – Miss Graceland ($3.50)
3yo Colts & Geldings: No. 2 – Our Waikiki Beach ($1.10)
3yo Fillies: No. 5 – My Mackenzie ($12.00)
4yo Entires & Geldings: No. 5 – Ideal For Real ($1.35)
4yo Mares: No. 12 – Delight Me ($1.60)
Throw in other APG sales graduates like Tee Cee Bee Macray, Menin Gate, Artistic Flite, Rock Of America, Iceenothink, Wrappers Delight and more, and there’ll be plenty of APG owners in the stands, all with legitimate hopes of finishing at the pointy end of the field.
APG’s General Manager, David Boydell, explained “I think that APG’s ability to consistently produce elite calibre horses is a function of a few different factors. Firstly, APG’s vendors and preparers are amongst the best at what they do – they know how to rear, educate and develop horses to ensure they reach their genetic potential.
“Beyond that, however, they understand that their success at the sales is dependent upon them supplying a product that the buyers want, and put simply, buyers want elite horses.
“With that in mind, APG’s breeders are constantly re-evaluating and upgrading their broodmares, and are breeding their mares to stallions with a proven ability to produce Group 1 winners”.
How to Get Involved
Instead of purchasing a horse outright, more and more people are getting involved in partnerships with other like-minded owners.
This has a number of advantages. Horses all cost the same to train, so there are definite advantages to owning a 20 per cent share in a fast horse (and only paying 20 per cent of the training bills), rather than owning 100 per cent of a slow horse (and paying 100 per cent of the training bills).
APG’s statistics show that while there are champions available at all price points, on average, the more you invest in a horse, the more prizemoney it is likely to win. Indeed, the average APG Group 1 winner from the last five years cost a touch over $30,000 at the sales, and has won in excess of $330,000 to date.
However, many people that may be interested in entering horse ownership may not be able to put together their own ownership group of 5-10 people, or may not be confident approaching a trainer, or knowing how to manage a horse with multiple owners.
This is where APG may be able to assist. APG is currently taking enquiries from people who are interested in purchasing shares in horses that will be going through APG’s Yearling Sales in February and March 2017.
Based on the enquiries that we receive, APG will talk to prospective owners to determine their preferences, regarding things like investment level, preferred partnership size, choice of trainer etc., and will look to group compatible people together into partnership groups before introducing those partnership groups to their preferred trainer.
This will allow potential owners to get comfortable with their prospective trainer well in advance of the sales and allows them to work with the trainer to determine an appropriate buying strategy for the 2017 APG Yearling Sales.
Anyone interested in getting involved in one of these partnership groups should register their interest by sending a short e-mail with the heading “Ownership Enquiry” and including their best contact details to davidb@apgold.com.au.
Alternatively, people interested in seeking further information should feel free to contact APG on (03) 5275 1999.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
