The WA Pacing Cup a tough race for breeders

16 January 2019 | Alan Parker

Apart from the breeders of the handful of multiple WA Pacing Cup winners only one breeder has managed to breed two winners of a WA Pacing Cup.

Western Australian breeder Norm Duncan had a stud farm in Mills Road, Gosnells and while he stood a stallion or two he was basically a hobby breeder and owner.

Duncan’s two Pacing Cup winners were Dark David in 1947 and David’s Reward in 1955 and were two of nine individual WA Cup starters that Norm Duncan bred. Those nine horses had a total of 18 starts in a WA Pacing Cup.

Some idea of the enormity of Duncan’s WA Pacing Cup record as a breeder can be gauged from the fact that only J P Stratton comes close with eight individual Cup starters as a breeder with those horses having a total of 15 starts in the race.

Stratton bred the winners of 1034 races in Western Australia of which just under half (503). were in the city. Norm Duncan bred the winners of 309 races in this State of which 205 (67%) were in the city.

Modern day breeding legend Mick Lombardo is third on the list of breeders of WA Pacing Cup starters with seven individual starters of 13 starts courtesy of his Lombo Standardbreds breeding operation. Mr Lombardo was involved with two other Pacing Cup starters through other breeding entities.

Norm Duncan was also prominent as an owner of WA Pacing Cup runners with 9 individual starters which had a total of 19 starts in the race between 1941 and 1960.

While Duncan was the sole owner of his 19 starters in the race, modern day owner Beth Richardson heads the list with a share in the ownership of 20 Pacing Cup starters through 11 individual horses.

The record for most individual starters in a WA Pacing Cup for an owner is held by Hall Of Fame trainer Cliff Clarke who owned 13 individual Pacing Cup runners which had a total of 17 starts in the race.

Hall of Fame nominee Jim Hand had 12 individual starters in WA’s premier harness race and those horses amassed 15 starts in the race.

Both of the WA Pacing Cup winners bred by Norm Duncan were sons of the stallion Storm Cloud which had been bred in Tasmania by Edgar Tatlow in 1930 and imported to WA in late 1934 by Jack Hallam.

Storm Cloud had been through several owners and trainers winning 10 races in Perth before being purchased by Norm Duncan in 1939 and entering the stables of Arthur Hough.

Storm Cloud was to mix racing and stud duties for a further five years winning a further 10 races including a heat of the 1941 WA Pacing Cup and the 1944 Stratton Cup at the age of 14 years.

Storm Cloud sired a total of 33 individual winners in WA of which 20 were bred by Norm Duncan and six of his 33 winners started in a WA Pacing Cup.

In addition to his two winners for Norm Duncan he also sired Huon Cloud which was runner-up in the 1943 WA Pacing Cup.

Eleven of the 12 starters in the 2019 WA Pacing Cup are New Zealand bred with only Vultan Tin representing Australian (and West Australian) breeders.

Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com

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