The Riverina region of interior New South Wales is steeped in legends of horses and horsemen both Thoroughbred and Standardbred,
Today,we will look at one of the iconic Standardbred breeding families ( human ) from a little area known as The Rock, located approximately 35kms south of Wagga Wagga, the base of the Johnson family, and endeavour to tell their story.
But first of all, a little background.
The Johnsons have never been a client of Premier Pedigrees, preferring to do their "own thing" when it comes to standardbred matings and what a good fist they have made of it too, something we deeply respect.
Time and time againwhen perusing through the weekly results of harness races across the breadth of Australia we have seen their name crop up as the breeders of regular winners, sometimes on multiple occasions.
It was therefore pure coincidence that at the New Zealand National Standardbred Weanling Sale held in late May 2023 that I was to get the opportunity to meet the members of this highly successful and rightfully proud and always humble breeding dynasty.
Primarily, I had attended this Sale to meet an existing client's parents, the highly successful and well known Western Australian standardbred participants Kevin and Annette Charles, parents of Kody Charles aka KTC Bloodstock.
It was whilst sitting beside the Charles' on pre-Sale inspection day that I heard a lot of jovial noise coming from three blokes of similar age on the seats adjacent to us carrying an unmistaken Australian banter. They were truly enjoying themselves with obvious fun and frivolity.
I asked Kevin and Annette if they knew them, something which soon became patently obvious.
They were the three Johnson brothers from "The Rock", Ian, Gary and Stephen.
Not wanting to interrupt them in the middle of weanling inspections I was to find the appropriate opportunity later in the day to introduce myself on a quiet corner between stable blocks.
It was like talking with both a current client but also a long lost client all wrapped in one. But they were neither.Probably the easiest most welcoming "cold call" I have ever made.
I got to meet three "brothers in arms", in age order Ian, Gary and Stephen, all sons of the highly respected family patriarch, Les ( Leslie ). Nicer blokes you could not meet and with a noticeably strong bond.
Funnily enough, going back to 2005 when I became a new fresh-faced Nominations Manager ( then referred to as a Booking Agent ) for the Supreme Stallions one of my first tasks was to sit in front of John Curtin ( Joe Muscara's New Zealand Agent ) and work through the dossier of Australasian breeding clients that I could contact for potential bookings.
I vividly recall there were two client's on that list that John said for me not to contact as he would handle them. One was New Zealand based and one Australian based.
The Australian based client was none other than Les Johnson whilst the New Zealand based client was John McKenzie who had recent success at the NZ Cup carnival as the owner/breeder of Group 1 2YO Dunstan Horsefeeds Sires' Series Final winner Our Shangri Lana. John was also the breeder of one of last year's NZ Cup pre-post favourites in Rock N Roll Doo.
To this day I remain intrigued if the prime reason for this was the introduction of notable first season sire Mach Three and the potential for multiple bookings to himor merely the fact that John acted as their Sales Agent in another capacity especially with selling "up and going" horses into the robust North American market.
This was the Johnson's first trip to New Zealand and one could not help getting the feeling it was like a first adventure.
Staying at the Double Tree by Hilton Karaka located in the grounds of the NZB Sales complex one could only smile at their yarns of experiencing $14 glasses of beer and at "going across the road" to the local Z Service Station to buy a pie each for dinner on their first night in such salubrious surroundings. One could easily have found them sleeping outside on the grass ( snake free ) on their first night such was their introduction to the "cost of living crisis" occuring in New Zealand.
But like all good champions, they soon adjusted.
We chatted for what seemed like an eternity going through the good horses the family had bred and their current band of broodmares all of which I did not have time to keep up in jotting down there and then but the upshot was we exchanged email addresses and there and then I stated that I would write an article about them for my website.
So her we are more than 6 months later and it has actually come to fruition.
The fact this has not happened earlier is purely because our meeting coincided with the beginning of my busy time of the year through to Labour Weekend and "paying work" simply has to take priority.
In the interim months two wonderful things did occur and I am grateful to the Johnson family for sharing these. Stephen sent me a full briefing via email of their family life and developments from early days to current times including their vast breeding enterprises as well as something very special and of great trust, a full copy of the recent Eulogy to their recently passed father Les.
Of the latter I am greatly indebted knowing how this can be a very private and also individually personal matter. Such is their great trust and integrity and I deeply respect this.
A rather long-winded background introduction nevertheless an entree that needed to be told before we get into their great family journey and involvement with breeding standardbred horses.
So here we go and I do trust it does not turn into a three part epic monster as with our thoroughbred story on leviathan West Australian breeder/owner Bob Peters.
The Johnson story commences with their father and family patriarch Leslie or Les as he was mostly called.
Les was born and raised in Leeton on his parents rice farm at Murrami. Times were tough back then and as a side hustle he would pluck the wool from dead sheep and take it to the local Leeton wool buyer. Demonstrating true Australian swagger, he once placed some rocks in the woolsack to promote the weight albeit somewhat unsuccessfully.
One of life's lessons learnt at a very early stage.
Les was to marry Rhonda ( nee Tuckett ) in March 1969 in Leeton and very early on the newly weds had the good fortune and associated luck entering and winning a ballot draw in 1970 for a parcel of land at Coleambally which had just been established with irrigation canals from the Murrumbidgee River.
But it did not come without great sacrifice.
Missing were the ready comforts previously enjoyed such as electricity, hot water, and most of all a house, the couple moving into an old shed without power. For Rhonda to cook or boil water it was a case of lighting the wood fuel stove each time. Sometimes it was a struggle to get the stove lit and Rhonda was often heard vowing to move back to Leeton.
The shed floor resembled a mouse carpet at times, especially during mouse plagues, Rhonda's hair being chewed by mice as she slept at night and baby Ian's cot having to stand in buckets of water to prevent mice from joining him while he slept at nights.
The blank canvas of their initial Coleambally farm was transformed by Les into an operating farm growing rice and producing sheep and cattle and laying the base for his own family.
It also paved the way for progression as they were able to move closer to Coleambally township to Farm 78 where they continued growing rice, running sheep and cattle and dabbling in the formative stage of breeding a few horses.
Just digressing for a moment here, early in 2023 I was watching a television programme entitled "Who Do You Think You Are?", a DNA series featuring Australian actor Simon Baker best known for his roles in The Mentalist and The Guardian. It traced his maternal descendancy through the Jenkins family and the legacy of his three times great grandfather and the courage and fortitude of his maternal ancestors from their prominent endeavours in Tasmania through to quieter times back on the mainland where I am pretty sure the Jenkins also landed upon an allotted farm at Coleambally where he died but not before siring 6 children, his wife remaining on the farm widowed and raising all children by herself.
After living in Coleambally for nearly 20 years during which time Gary and Stephen were also born, at the end of 1989 Les and Rhonda packed up the family and moved to Queensland to a 75 acre property about 10kms south of Ipswich where they were to reside for a handful of years before returning to New South Wales and "The Rock" in 1995.
It was during their time near Ipswich that Les was to make his first real mark in the Standardbred industry  and one which would leave an indelible imprint on his three sons in particular.
With just a couple of mares, from his mare Karina Poplar he bred Golden Reign.
Sold as a yearling for just $8000, Golden Reign would go on to change the lives of Noel Alexander, Jayne Davies and Chris Alford, winning the 1995 Inter-Dominion Final in Christchurch in epic fashion. Also a winner of the 1993 Victoria Derby, Golden Reign would go on to win 28 of his 62 starts and amass $1,186,022 in lifetime earnings.
Les had bred a million dollar pacer and his three sons were hooked and left challenged to one day emulate his great achievement.
Moving from Ipswich back to New South Wales in 1995 saw Les and Rhonda purchase a more substantial landholding at The Rock, south of the Riverina "town" of Wagga Wagga.
"Atworthy" as the property was already known eventually morphed into Atworthy Park as Les Johnson was to become a prolific standardbred horse breeder no doubt spurred on by the great feats of one horse, Golden Reign ( by What's Next ).
His passion for horse breeding became thirst quenching driving Rhonda to the point of near insanity.
Les religiously read the Black Stud Book at the end of the kitchen table and had the ability to remember what mare bred what. This he instilled into eldest son Ian and they would have many battles about what bred what and what was that out of.
With Atworthy being a substantial landholding of some 650 acres and the evolving interest of two younger sons in Gary and Stephen ( the latter not to be confused with leviathan Perth based standardbred breeder Steve Johnson who bred the 39 race winner David Hercules ) Les began creating a legacy that all three of his sons would view as a future challenge.
In the years since the family acquisition of Atworthy the standardbred broodmare band wavered in number from around 5 mares up to about 14 mares with multiple winners produced and although nothing of the calibre of Golden Reign, one particular filly bred was to provide huge thrills in more recent times.
Her name is Maajida ( by Somebeachsomewhere ) and she carries her own intriguing story.
Bred in 2016 from "the boys" favourite broodmare Arterial Way ( Art Major ) she was passed-in at the 2018 Melbourne Yearling Sales failing to reach her $25,000 reserve tag.
Returning home, Les wanted nothing to do with her and opted out, "the boys" stating that he was welcome to come back in if he was to change his mind.
"The boys" got her broken in and put into training.
At a subsequent Sydney Yearling Sale which Les attended he asked Clayton Tonkin "how that Somebeachsomewhere filly was shaping up?". "I love her" came Tonkin's reply.
Back on the farm a couple of days later "I'm back in on that filly" came Les's remark to his sons, the boys wondering what had caused him to change his mind. But most welcome he was.
The rest is history as they say.
Maajida was to win no fewer than 5 Group 1 races including the 2YO Breeders Crown Final and later to create her own little piece of Australian standardbred history by becoming the first filly/mare to win the Vicbred Super Series titles at two, three and four years of age, winning 24 of her 44 starts before being retired ahead of the 2022 breeding season.
Maajida retired as the richest daughter of her sire Somebeachsomewhere with earnings of $684,518 and a 1:50.3 mile credit to her name.
Her racetrack feats crowned 50 years of breeding for Les Johnson and her life-changing accomplishments came at a time when the family's patriarch had a sudden downturn in health ultimately succumbing in May 2021.
"The boys" were so proud their father changed his mind and opted to come back into Maajida so the whole family could share in her success as she was always a "family" horse.
As a close knit family despite each of the three boys living and working in Wagga Wagga at their individual vocations or "day jobs" as they call it and with their own families, focus turned to the matriarch of the family, Rhonda.
This saw a substantial slice of Atworthy, some 500 acres, leased to a neighbouring farmer through to 2027 as a future income for their precious mother whilst 150 acres has been retained for Ian, Gary and Stephen to continue their standardbred breeding pursuits, Maajida now the mothership of their proud broodmare band no doubt usurping her own mother Arterial Way for pride of place on the mantlepiece.
The broodmare band normally around 8-10 mares has suddenly expanded in recent times, "the boys" estimating that about a dozen Group 1 wins have so far been produced by the family.
One quickly gains the impression that number will soon escalate given a quick peek at the list of current broodmares, who they are in foal to in 2022 and their planned matings in 2023.
Out of interest, here is a summarised list.

Mare  ( and her sire )                                           In Foal To 2022       Planned Mating 2023

Arterial Way  ( Art Major )                                      Huntsville                Downbytheseaside
Bella Shine  ( Bettor's Delight )                              Sweet Lou               Captain Crunch
Deldecree  ( Mach Three )                                     Always B Miki          Art Major
Habanero  ( Rocknroll Hanover )                            McWicked               Stay Hungry
Jacquelyn Anne  ( Bettor's Delight )                       Captaintreacherous  Sweet Lou
Maajida  ( Somebeachsomewhere )                        Bettor's Delight       Bettor's Delight
Pippa Maguire  ( Bettor's Delight )                          Sweet Lou              Always B Miki
Rinaaz  ( Betting Line )                                          Sweet Lou              Always B Miki
Sweet Maddison  ( Sweet Lou )                             Captaintreacherous  Downbytheseaside
Two Times Bettor  ( Bettor's Delight )                     Downbytheseaside   Sweet Lou
Weewah  ( Bettor's Delight )                                  King Of Swing         Downbytheseaside
Classic Rock  ( Rocknroll Hanover )                       ( Missed )               Poster Boy
Banglez  ( Majestic Son )                                      Timoko                   King Of The North
Alanza  ( Well Said )                                                   -                      Stay Hungry
Larvotto Beach  ( Somebeachsomewhere )                  -                       Sweet Lou
Midnight Whisper  ( Art Major )                                    -                      Captain Crunch

Current racing stock include the likes of Fiamma 2018 ( Bettor's Delight - Twice As Hot ), Zahra Lou 2020 ( Sweet Lou - Bella Shine ), an un-named 2021 Captaintreacherous - Arterial Way and an un-named 2021 Poster Boy - Deldecree.
Being all fillies there is no doubt that they will join the broodmare band at Atworthy Park in the years ahead.
There are no secrets in the fact that Atworthy Park Group has evolved as their new banner set to become an even greater force in Australian standardbred breeding.
And there are also no secrets either in each of the brothers' desire to set upon a path  of breeding standardbreds commercially as a full-time occupation and as an escape from their current day jobs " working for somebody else"
Each of the three brothers currently work in Wagga Wagga.
Ian is a Parks & Gardens Supervisor at Charles Sturt University whilst Gary works as a Fitter & Turner at Dayco,
Steve, so often a spokesperson for the three brothers, is the youngest and works for the Wagga Wagga City Council ( a former employer also of Ian ) these days having formerly served for 16 years in the NSW Police Force.
Given the brothers focus of breeding from young mares who are commercial and being bred to commercial stallions one quickly gains the impression that the Johnson brothers have the right template to achieve their short term goals as well as a lifetime ambition continuing the legacy of the Johnson family as begun by patriarch Les some 50 years earlier.
A quote from Steve to me best sums up the reasons why they will go from strength to strength in their future standardbred breeding endeavours.
"Us boys don't look for recognition, but we strive to achieve success, no matter how big or little. Learning from Mum and Dad through hard physical work and challenging times has stood us in life to make the most out of everything whilst retaining our strong ( family ) bond."
Such a strong philosophy and sound basic ethics is also reflected in the adage " as you take out, so must you put back in" where the boys are immensely proud of becoming keys sponsors of their local Riverina Paceway.
All of the above qualities could quickly be gleaned in one brief half-hour meeting with them on foreign soil in May 2023. Even there and then you could see that Les and Rhonda had raised their three sons in the best possible manner and it is obvious they will be Industry role models as well as humble ambassadors for the Johnson family as raised by Rhonda and her late husband Les.

Footnote: More recently Steve got in touch to say his son Lachlan is coming into the Atworthy Park Group business to work with the horses so it is obvious that plans are beginning to be set in place for the next generation of the Johnson's as a Standardbred breeding dynasty. 
 

      

  

Southern Hemisphere standardbred breeders have experienced past waves of breed changing stallions but none with such dominance as that offered by Bettor's Delight.
He has truly been a megastar.
From colonial traditions we have witnessed the great speed Adios's sons injected into the local genepool especially in Australia whilst in New Zealand it was Meadow Skipper through his sons enacting a similar role through the likes of Albatross and Most Happy Fella and their sons led by Vance Hanover and Smooth Fella.
The introduction of new blood via the sons of Direct Scooter notably Stoneridge Scooter in Australia and In The Pocket in New Zealand brought additional qualities such as enhanced gait and associated new levels of sustained speed.
But none of those above have enjoyed an enduring dominance such as that offered by current siring revelation Bettor's Delight.
As you will see shortly there can be numerous reasons for this but firstly we must acknowledge that Bettor's Delight has utterly defied the theory professed by a man who is still referred to as the "Master Of Pedigree Design" ( albeit in the world of thoroughbred breeding ) in Italy's own Federico Tesio.
Tesio acknowledged that often a highly successful racehorse ( be it a stallion or mare ) does not automatically become a successful breeding horse simply because large reserves of "nervous energy" are required in competing at the highest level, a "nervous energy" that also plays an equally important role in the breeding barn to produce top class future offspring.
As a racehorse Bettor's Delight was top shelf, many will remember his great racetrack rivalry with arch enemy Real Desire.
The loss of "nervous energy" from these encounters was certainly not to diminish Bettor's Delight's breeding barn potency.
Although sometimes cursed for it, mostly Bettor's Delight enjoyed great fertility over a sustained period of time and being a shuttle stallion without a break, serving unprecedented numbers in both Hemispheres.
This is also a tribute to his temperament and longevity as much as it is to his sustained fertility given he will be 26 years of age in 2024.
Initially available to Southern Hemisphere breeders from 2002 to 2005, serving 21,9,36 and 9 in New Zealand alone in those years with matching numbers in Australia at a Fee of $6000+gst he was quick to put "points on the board" prompting 2006 to become his first year of shuttling to New Zealand. And breeders were instant in their response. 
His New Zealand broodmare numbers alone jumped to 343 mares in his first season of fresh chilled semen availability and Australian demand was also very strong, a pattern which has continued ever since only to be moderated by pricing to influence supply and demand variables.
What may be some of the factors driving his unparalleled prepotency never seen previously in a single stallion downunder?
These are numerous and we will not cover all but we will attempt to outline the key driving forces as we see them.
It has often been said that a good stallion must have a strong maternal line of descendancy and Bettor's Delight certainly has tracing directly to the highly influential matriarch Aidawho also happens to be the direct maternal descendant of Direct Scooter's best racetrack product in $3 million earner the super talented Matt's Scooter.
It has also been noted that Bettor's Delight carries solid levels of Volomite baseblood which is well-endowed in the downunder broodmare genepool hence providing an instant platform for superior genetic affinity.
Volomite was a hugely successful sire in his own right with the ability to leave both good trotters and pacers.
It has not gone undetected that Bettor's Delight has left a successful trotter or two during his downunder siring career with perhaps the most notable being Group 1 2016 Harness Jewels 3YO victor Donegal Bettorgretch in the hands of Dexter Dunn beating out the likes of Wilma's Mate, Conon Bridge and Temporale.
Timing can be everything and we have little doubt that Bettor's Delight offered a pedigree fabric to fully capitalise on the Adios-led broodmare genepool in Australia as well as the Meadow Skipper-led genepool that was already well-established in New Zealand.
Why is this?
For Australia, Bettor's Delight was himself bred on a 6x6 reverse-sex cross to Adios meaning this was at the very heart of his breeding core not to mention his own "engine room".
For the New Zealand broodmare genepool he carried an equally strong force.
This came via sex-balanced lines to Meadow Skipper's two best sons, the complementary influences Albatross ( speed and gait ) and Most Happy Fella ( stamina and toughness ).
These acted as an upgrading influence for most mares' carrying Meadow Skipper presences through their sex-balancing capabilities.
In terms of Bettor's Delight's own individual pedigree if we break it down by each quartile we find a well-rounded full complement of attributes.
His paternal sireline featuring Cam Fella ( who remains to this day North America's greatest ever racetrack stamina product ) is all about stamina and toughness whilst his own sire Cam's Card Shark is Cam Fella's best racehorse and sports a damline through Jef's Magic Trick that is well-recognised for it's early running prowess.
Damsire Armbro Emerson was also talented and very quick in his day whilst Bettor's Delight's own dam Classic Wish was noticeable for her high speed during her race career perhaps facilitated by her maternal roots tracing to Aida.
The introduction of the Direct Scooter line stallions into New Zealand and Australia in the late 90's and early 2000's was a move to introduce new blood so as not to narrow the Southern Hemisphere genepool.
And it worked, especially so for Bettor's Delight who became prime benefactor.
This was a huge gamble but it worked a treat as not only did it bring very welcome new blood but also different traits and attributes especially in terms of refined and enhanced gait paving the way for new levels of high speed which could be sustained over longer distance.
This was a great catalyst for the evolution of the downunder breedin terms of improving race times.
Direct Scooter-line stallions added a certain sharpness making for well-rounded horses, mostly well-gaited and with inherent stamina capability, a recipe not only for racetrack longevity but also one which saw the breed getting better with age.
Bettor's Delight therefore arrived out in 2006 as a shuttle stallion very much at a time when the first of the Direct Scooter-line mares were going to Stud and he was a natural outcross with complementary attributes.
He instantly found affinities with In The Pocket mares followed by Christian Cullen and Courage Under Fire mares to such an extent ( numbers permitting this ) that he soon established "golden crosses" with the first two aforementioned both in New Zealand and Australia.
There is little doubt that Bettor's Delight landed in New Zealand at a salient time in the downunder standardbred breeding evolution and he was "good enough" to transition from initial "run of the mill" mares to "creme de la creme" mares in a very truncated passage of time. 
And his roll has been unrelenting as he now enters his twilight breeding years.
As a final observation, whilst his progeny have not generally been noted as natural juvenile types those that have run as juveniles have done well.
They have also typically displayed an underlying intelligence or maturity in that they understand the difference between the training track and raceday.
They also tend to evolve, getting better with maturity whereas a lot of the breed today can go "missing" after their "Age Group" racing has come to an end.
It is going to be one heck of a challenge to find another Bettor's Delight in the years to come, or even for another stallion to come close to his accomplishments given the escalating costs of shuttling stallion's becoming more prohibitive and the breeding world transitions to "homebred" stallions, fully purchased non-shuttling North American stallions or towards a "frozen semen only" offer from non-shuttling North American domiciled stallion's.
The breeding landscape is certainly changing at an ever increasing pace for today's breeders and it is highly conceivable that we will never see the likes of another Bettor's Delight ever again.
One can only hope that that the changing landscape is a positive thing for the evolution of the standardbred as a breed for both Australia and New Zealand as we prepare to say goodbye to Bettor's Delight.
​He will never be forgotten for the role he has played in this part of the World.   

Precocity or natural early athleticism is a blessed attribute and one to which nearly all breeders and owners aspire especially in this day and age where Stakemoney ( purses ) are at their optimum for 2 and 3 year old Age Group racing.
It is a focal point for the Commercial breeder where prospective Sales buyers are seeking an early payback on their capital outlay.
In this article we take albeit relatively brief look at traditional ( or established ) sources of precocity, current sources of precocity and likely near future sources of precocity.
It is true that a precocious type can spring from anywhere including left field as there will always be a freak that appears from outside expected sources and defying logic.
Natural athleticism, great gait and high speed are all inherent key requirements.
Our observations over the last 6 or so decades has taught us that the most likely source of precocity is derived from both specific sirelines and/or specific maternal families.
Without any shadow of doubt Adios pioneered a leading influence in advancing the breed with his great speed attribute, not only advancing the North American standardbred as a breed but also having a profound affect on the traditional and colonial bloodlines that prevailed in both Australia and New Zealand at the time.
Sons of Adios not only performed early in North America but also in Australia perhaps far more so than in New Zealand. And no son flagged this better than Bret Hanover.
The Abercrombie sireline led by his best son Artsplace survives as Adios's greatest legacy of our current era.
But it was not just Adios, Meadow Skipper was emerging not only in North America but also in New Zealand in particular through his sons and grandsons.
Here his two leading racetrack sons in Albatross ( speed and gait ) and Most Happy Fella ( stamina and toughness ) led the charge through sond such as Vance Hanover and Smooth Fella.
Interestingly, it has been the Most Happy Fella stirp through Oil Burner, No Nukes and Western Hanover that has developed as a colossus for the production of naturally athletic, generally well-gaited pacers to such an extent that the North American breeding market steered towards a highly reliable Western Hanover over Artsplace sireline cross for more that the last two decades as the trustworthy recipe for the production of early going Age Group pacers ( 2 and 3 year olds ) that could perform successfully at the highest level.
Only now are the winds of change blowing as a new flag begins to flutter. More on that shortly.
Precocity has not only been about certain sires and sirelines.
Superior females have also had their part to play in establishing precocious families and/or dynasties.
Legendary matriarch Spinster introduced to New Zealand a sire of precocity the calibre of Bachelor Hanover whilst other sources of precocity were emanating from mares the likes of Golden Miss, Ann Vonian, Gidget Lobell, Debby Hanover, Bonnie Butler and of course K Nora to name just a handful.
All were of great influence in North America and in due course also in Australia and New Zealand and their influences remain highly effective in pedigrees today.
In Australia, Parisienne ( Family 10, Bessie B ) became a "go to" source of recognised precocity whilst in New Zealand the same could be said of Rosehaven ( Family 17, Regina ) ably supported by Witcha ( Family 40, Maud ) and Tabella Beth ( Family 50, Mona R ).
The introduction of sons of Direct Scooter in the 1990's as an outcross for Australia's dominant Adios influence as well as New Zealand's strong Meadow Skipper proliferation was to change the landscape on breeding in Australasia.
This occurred especially through Stoneridge Scooter in Australia and In The Pocket in New Zealand whilst North America were still coming to terms with an appreciation of Matt's Scooter.
So what did this mean especially for the Australian and New Zealand pacing breed?
The great legacy of Direct Scooter and his leading sons lay in their superior gait.
It was to quickly become revolutionary for the standardbred as a breed in our part of the world.
Refined gait led to greater conservation of energy leading in turn to greater pacing efficiency.
Higher levels of speed production resulted and importantly allowed the ability to sustain new found levels of speed over far greater distance,
All of this suited precocity to the hilt.
No surprises then that we have now reached a "changing of the guard" in how our horses are now bred.
In North America, the emergence of a dominant son of Matt's Scooter in Mach Three produced a truly great racehorse and subsequent siring sensation in Somebeachsomewhere to advance the Direct Scooter revolution. He too, introduced his own new level of speed not only individually but also through his siring sons and grandsons ( i.e.Captaintreacherous and his sons ).
With his plethora of daughters hitting the breeding barns of North America as well as Australasia and his advancing age it is only understandable that the wonderfully prepotent Bettor's Delight was to finally begin to slide from a mantle that he has dominated for an absurd period of time.
The USA 2YO Total Earnings Sires Premiership for 2022 is our best guide to this transition and also where things will continue to head in the forseeable future.
This paints a fairly conclusive crystal ball.

1. Captaintreacherous ( Somebeachsomewhere / Direct Scooter ) $3,862,711
2. Sweet Lou ( Artsplace / Adios ) $3,108,777
3. Downbytheseaside ( Somebeachsomewhere / Direct Scooter ) $2,588,459
4. Stay Hungry ( Somebeachsomewhere / Direct Scooter ) $2,528,568
5. Huntsville ( Somebeachsomewhere / Direct Scooter ) $1,994,362
6. American Ideal ( Western Ideal / Western Hanover ) $1,904,277
7. Always B Miki ( Western Ideal / Western Hanover ) $1,886,172
8. Lazarus ( Bettor's Delight / Cam Fella ) $1,609,478

Others of interest ( highlighted in finishing order );

11. Fear The Dragon ( Dragon Again / Meadow Skipper ) $1,152,366
12. Bettor's Delight ( Cam Fella / Meadow Skipper ) $1,111,849.

The new emerging picture is now becoming more graphically illustrated however direct comparisons with the North American scenario remain somewhat in transition until seasonal changes in Australasia become firmly aligned.
What we do know is that progeny by three stallions in particular are absolutely beginning to dominate the juvenile results in both Australia and New Zealand currently and look set to continue this trend for the foreseeable future.
They are the same three stallions that headed to USA table for the 2022 season in Captaintreacherous, Downbytheseaside and Sweet Lou with only Always B Miki a current threat to challenging these three ( based on foal numbers alone ).
This then begs the question, are there any other likely emerging "players" that can join this list?
It is our view there could be and we will single out four ( or five ) for the future to look out for which we believe all represent "good shopping" for the Australasian breeder.
Whilst they may not topple the quartet as above-mentioned, we can see them each capable of leaving a very competitive son or daughter at both juvenile and classic level.
In no set order our five to keep an eye on are Lazarus, Captain Crunch, Fear The Dragon, Stay Hungry and Huntsville.
As the final part of our article we will briefly comment on each as a potential source of precocity.

Lazarus:

We believe Lazarus is Bettor's Delight's best chance to leave a quality siring son, if not in North America then certainly in Australia and New Zealand.
It is the quality and speed of his maternal family ( featuring the high speed mare Tabella Beth ) that will stand to him in producing likely precocious types that should make highly successful Age Group horses.

Captain Crunch:

Unlike Lazarus, this son of Captaintreacherous has served massive books every season he has stood downunder. And the types he is leaving are certainly catching the eye of many.
We believe he is highly capable of leaving juvenile types as he descends from the same direct maternal family as Sweet Lou so he already carries a proven connection with juvenile precocity.

Fear The Dragon:

Like Lazarus, this stallion also sits in the top 12 on the USA 2YO Sires Premiership ( Total Earnings ) for 2022 and this does not surprise despite being represented by lower numbers.
The fact be is available downunder by frozen semen only is an impediment to him reaching full capability nevertheless there is no reason why his juvenile progeny cannot be highly competitive on the racetracks of Australasia.
Also supporting Fear The Dragon's chances is that he is a son of Dragon Again, a noted sire of juvenile performers in North America and a particularly revered sire of hard-hitting juvenile
fillies.

Stay Hungry:

Like Captain Crunch, another stallion from the Somebeachsomewhere / Direct Scooter sireline and already featuring in the top 4 juvenile sires in the USA in 2022 off the back of lower numbers.
There is a growing feeling about the prospects of this stallion with frozen semen availability only being the potential limiting factor for him in Australasia.
We like the fact he is out of a mare by Dragon Again and from the same maternal family that brought us Artiscape.
Inherent precocity both sides of his pedigree and an element of tough stamina through his direct maternal lineage.

Huntsville:

This stallion is yet another from the Somebeachsomewhere sireline and finished just one place below Stay Hungry in the 2022 USA 2YO Sires Rankings that we tabled above.
Another to be available ex frozen semen stocks only downunder he has had a "change of stable" from Empire Stallions to Cobbitty Farm in 2022 and it will be interesting to see if the latter can "bring him out in the flesh" in the near future as there would be little doubt that this action would greatly assist his future popularity.
We have no doubt that if this became the case then he would certainly become a serious threat to all those other stallions of precocity that we have mentioned in this article. 

It is with considerable regret that we learn of the recent passing ( early March ) of Tony Parker and our condolences certainly go out to his wife Anne and the wider Parker family.
He will be sorely missed in particular by the North Island harness racing family.
Tony spent nearly 60 years working as a Veterinarian, the vast bulk of those years as a specialist Equine Vet and a very good one at that.
He was good at all aspects of veterinary work but a real specialist in the area of soft tissue trauma.
His rapport with horses was special just as it was with fellow humans.
Tony was easy-going and a gentleman and both horses and humans responded to this.
I first met Tony when working on the forecourt at BP Bombay back in 1999.
At the time Tony and Anne were living in the Bombay Hills and so we were his local service station for filling either his wagon or fuel containers for another weekend's work at home or their lease block.
That lease block was from memory a 120 acres in Bluff Road at nearby Pokeno and housed Tony and Anne's great passion away from veterinary work.
This passion was breeding and raising Standardbred horses.
The Bluff Road location was rugged rolling to steep hill country and is best known today as the location for all the cellphone towers immediately South of the Pokeno township and can be viewed easily from the State Highway 1 motorway.
It was this Bluff Road property that illustrated a lot of the basic fundamentals of maintaining a boutique broodmare band and adhering to Tony's philosophies of how young horses should be bred and raised to succeed in the future as racehorses.
Feed them well on good ex dairy pasture which was contoured and ideal for bone and muscle development and raise them in small groups akin to their natural herding instincts and behaviours.
Horses of the calibre of Sharp And Telford, Hunka Hickling and Taihape Tickler were raised on such pastures.
Sharp And Telford ( Butler BG ) was one of the Parker's first big success stories bred from one of their foundation mares in Tardina ( Berry Hanover ) after whom Tony and Anne were to name their properties, Tardina Farm and Tardina Stud.
One of the things I personally really admired about Tony was that he started out with a very modest broodmare band and remained loyal to it despite the fact that it was a long way away from what today would be deemed a Commercial broodmare band with associated black type race performance.
Tony enjoyed the challenge of developing his own "black type".
It is here that Tony was also a realist but remained fiercely loyal to his band of what was then predominantly pacing broodmares.
Tony did his "due diligence" when seeking an appropriate stallion for each mare and was always looking for a "value" stallion so he was certainly highly aware not to "overbreed" any of his mares.
They would have to "put their hand up" of their own accord to earn the right to a better regarded stallion.
It was all about trusting his processes and due reward would come.
As an example here, I have a good friend who I first met in the very early 90's in our days living in Ramarama but now a Pukekohe based owner/trainer in David Shorter.
Dave has just finished racing his well-performed mare Rowan Countess and was on the lookout for a replacement young horse. He had a previous association with Tony and may have leased the odd one from Tony and Anne previously.
Dave rang me one Saturday asking me "Do you want to come for a ride?". I agreed not knowing where we were headed or what it was all about.
We ended up at Tony's leasehold property in Bluff Road where Dave was headed to look at Tony's young horses to either buy or lease one.
I must say that I was very impressed with the condition of each of them, of which there were a number, but one in particular really stood out. Dave and I were in total agreement.
She was a filly out of La Reine.
When it came time to "talk turkey" and Dave said that he liked the Miles McCool filly and could he lease her as quick as a flash Tony's wife Anne replied in a nice manner "Oh no, we have promised that one to Barry ( Purdon )".
Dave never did go home with a "done deal" that day but did do some business with the Parker's at a subsequent time.
That filly went on to become Reine Elizabeth winning several races for Barry before being exported to the United States to continue her racing career.
In 2005 I became Nomination Salesperson for the Supreme Stallions operation owned by New York based Joe Muscara and administered here by his NZ Agent in John Curtin ( now of Harnesslink fame ).
The stallions were shuttled from North America to Double E Stables near Christchurch under the umbrella of Michael House as Studmaster.
Spearheading the stallion lineup was the Meadowlands Pace winner Mach Three, a son of Matt's Scooter,
Mach Three was also later to be voted as one of the Top 10 best-gaited pacers of all time in North America.
Tony had enjoyed increasing success in his breeding operation through previously "stepping up" a few of his mares ( only if they had earned it ) to National Bloodstock's top sire Soky's Atom and now it was time for Tony and Anne to take another leap of faith.
Mach Three was introduced to breeders' at NZ$7500+gst so this was going to test " another leap of faith".
But Tony loved Mach Three from the "get go" and was one of the very first breeders to sign up on an introductory offer of two services to Mach Three for $12,000+gst. He signed the Contract at the Alexandra Park races one Friday evening where the Special Offer was debuted.
This was to be a life-changing decision for both Tony and Anne not that they were to know it at the time.
Had this decision not been made at the time then there may never have been an Auckland Reactor bred, a horse the Parker's were to subsequently sell for $4 million, the price only dreams were made of.
And he was from Mach Three's very first Southern Hemisphere crop!
It is also in this area that I found Tony unparalleled as a breeder, perhaps only the Grice brothers coming close.
Tony was a mastermind at successfully blending old traditional/colonial bloodlines found in many of his mares with the modern/contemporary bloodlines of the stallions coming out of North America. This is one area where he excelled and met with great results and great success.
Commencing their breeding exploits in the 1970's, today the Parker's have been responsible for breeding the winners of 400 races from some 130 horses.
Another of their foundation mares, the 7-win mare Tudoress ( Tudor Hanover ) left Atomic Lass as her last foal.
It was Atomic Lass ( Soky's Atom ) that was to become the dam of Auckland Reactor, he incredibly being her 11th foal.
Tony was also to dabble briefly in stallions, standing the homebred Tay Bridge ( from the famed Rosehaven family of the Yarndley's ).
Whilst still in my role as Nominations Salesperson for Supreme Stallions I was  to receive a phone call one day from Tony.
He asked if I could "call in to see him at the farm on Saturday" as he had something he wanted to discuss with me.
This really "put the wind up my sails" as it left me questioning myself for a couple of days as to "What possibly could I have done wrong?".
By now Tony and Anne had moved on from their Bluff Road leasehold property to a new property a fraction further South in Mercer Ferry Road, Mercer.
True to formula, it also was an ex-dairy farm.
Rather sheepishly I turned up on the Saturday at the stipulated early afternoon time to find Tony in his Vet overalls attending to about 4 mares he had tethered in the cross-ties and crush.
It was late in the breeding season ( early December from memory ) and Tony was preparing a mare for insemination which he was doing himself.
His first words to a jittery me were "How many mares has Mach Three served so far this season Australia and New Zealand combined?"
I replied "187".
As quick as a flash Tony replied "Make that 188!", said one of the pioneers of AI ( Artificial Insemination in New Zealand.
I deeply admired the wit in his reply, another one of his great attributes, that really summed up who Tony Parker really was.
I am still unsure to this day if the mare he was inseminating that day was Atomic Lass but if it was  then that insemination could well have been the one that was to result in the creation of the great Auckland Reactor and a life changing moment for the Parker's.
We never did really get down to "talking turkey" that day about the real reason Tony requested my presence that day and I can only surmise that it was a little more that just to talk about stallion services to Mach Three but I did have my suspicions.
The Parker's had acquired a larger property ( yes, another ex dairy farm or at least part of one ) in Koheroa Road, Mangatawhiri that they were living at and in the throws of developing into an Equine showpiece and needed a "Farm Manager" at the Mercer Ferry Road property ( which came with a house ). I am of the firm belief to this day that Tony requested I see him to "sound me out".
To cut a long story short I did not take the position on offer ( perhaps to Tony's disappointment ) but current North Island freeze-brander/micro-chipper Gary Hooper did although he did not want to live in the onsite house on offer preferring his own accommodation in nearby Harrisville.
I also believe that only a couple of years later the Parker's were to sell the Mercer Ferry Road property to fully concentrate on their Mangatawhiri property now known as the home of Tardina Farm otherwise also known as Tardina Stud.
In more recent years at the Mangatawhiri property Tony and Anne established growing success in breeding mares from the trotting gait many of which were from their foundation trotting mare Working Girl ( Nevele Pride ) and her daughter Miss Whiplash ( Gee Whiz II ) ably complementing their great achievements with pacing broodmares.
It is gratifying to know that Tony and Anne's daughter Faine Mende has joined the Parker's Mangatawhiri breeding operation in recent years and has vowed to continue on the legacy of Tardina Farm that Tony and Anne have jointly created with their huge dedication and commitment over six decades.
We know Tony will have imparted his great knowledge to daughter Faine and that he will be looking down and still offering advice!
​So long Tony, rest peacefully, it was a pleasure and great honour to have crossed paths with you in life.        

Let Us Put You On The Front Foot.

Sydney 5 March.............Gold Coast 12 March..............Melbourne 2 April

Premier Pedigrees have already analysed the Pacers Only section of the full Catalogue's for each of the three Sales as above and selected our top 12 ( plus a value rookie selection ) for both Colts and Fillies at each Sale.
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​December 2022.



  

Falcon Seelster could arguably be the most important stallion to have stood at Stud in New Zealand, certainly up until the current enduring tenure of Bettor's Delight with his absolute prepotency.
Whilst Bettor's Delight has unquestionably advanced the breed to yet another whole new level, the role of Falcon Seelster was different to that of Bettor's Delight and perhaps not looked at in terms of "advancing the breed" but more about "what was needed at the time", something he achieved with aplomb and beyond. This made him a "special" stallion.
To place him in context we firstly need a wider history lesson on the evolution of the breed especially as it relates to our "downunder" situation.
The Standardbred as a stand alone breed has today evolved over 170 years.
Acclaimed founding father Hambletonian 10 ( 1849 ) had five producing sons of significance to the breed; these being George Wilkes ( 1856 ), Dictator ( 1863 ), Happy Medium ( 1863 ), Strathmore ( 1866 ) and Electioneer ( 1868 ).
George Wilkes founded an exclusively trotting stirp today better recognised as the "Axworthy" clanspearheaded by Guy Axworthy's sons Guy McKinney and Truax.
Happy Medium's stirps are split 50/50 between trotting and pacing after initially he commenced as a trotting scion.
His grandson Peter The Great had two important sons; Peter Scott ( 1909 ) and Peter Volo ( 1911 ).
Whilst Peter Scott founded the stirp tracing through Scotland ( probably the most dominant trotting stirp today ), Peter Volo's famous son Volomite ( 1926 ) founded two of his own trotting stirps via Worthy Boy ( 1940 ) and Victory Song ( 1943 ).
But Volomite had an extra trick up his sleeve in that he could leave dual gaited horses, some that trotted only and some that paced only and some that could do both.
Worthy Boy sired predominantly trotters but was the sire of Harold Jay ( 1959 ), King's Counsel sired trotters and pacers being the grandsire of Overtrick ( 1960 ) whilst two other sons of Volomite significant to our genepool were Poplar Byrd ( 1944 ), sire of Bye Bye Byrd, and Sampson Hanover ( 1947 ) the last-mentioned giving rise to Direct Scooter ( 1976 )and ultimately the In The Pocket / Christian Cullen dominance to be followed by the rise of the Matt's Scooter / Mach Three / Somebeachsomewhere / Captaintreacherous infiltration we see today.
Strathmore could also mix trotting and pacing gaits but the blood which brought us through Globe Derby ( 1910 ) the likes of Harold Logan, Logan Derby, Johnny Globe and Lordship is sadly today as a sireline defunct to the best of our knowledge as is the Dictator line which brought us the likes of Billy Direct ( the first pacer to break 1:55 for a mile ) and his famed son Tar Heel ( 1948 ).
Electioneer through his son The Abbe ( 1903 ) produced two significant stirps; those of Abbedale ( 1917 ) and Bert Abbe ( 1922 ).
Rather sadly, the latter who founded the speed horse Gene Abbe ( 1944 ) and his important son Big Towner ( 1974 ) along with the latter's sons led by Walton Hanover ( sire of Totally Ruthless ) and Towner's Big Guy ( sire of Man Around Town ) are now also a seemingly distant memory as a sireline which brings us back to Abbedale and his famed son Hal Dale ( 1926 ).
Hal Dale was to sire two significant sons which were to change the landscape for the pacing breed in both Australia and New Zealand within a short period of time.
Up until the mid to late 1950's, the Standardbred as a breed was largely "homebreds" or otherwise described as being "colonial bred".
But Hal Dale was to change all this through his sons Adios ( 1940 ) and Dale Frost ( 1951 ), the latter predominantly through the achievements of his son Meadow Skipper ( 1960 ).
Adios became a breed changer injecting new levels of speed into the Southern Hemisphere breed and his sons and grandsons were proving a smash hit particularly in Australia led by the likes of Deep Adios ( who was to leave a new racetrack marvel in Paleface Adios ). Thor Hanover ( sire of Gammalite ), Toledo Hanover ( sire of Pure Steel ) and Golden Adios ( who sired Sovereign Adios, sire of Popular Alm ).
The Adios speed injection into Australia was not only revolutionising the breed but it was soring to new heights and creating crowd-pleasing new champions and idols.
New Zealand also got a taste for the influence of Adios in the late 1950's when Captain Adios showed us he could leave an open class horse of the talent of Great Adios who could compete with the best of the local heroes quickly followed by Roydon Lodge importing a son of Adios in Thurber Frost.
Not only did Thurber Frost inject speed but also added considerable precocity producing high class juveniles the likes of Bonnie Frost and Garcon Roux.
Another son of Adios in Ike Frost was also lending to the cause having left the super talented Governor Frost.
Jerry Adios was less ensconced but left the top class filly Ripper's Delight.
Rather ironically, all of these sons of Adios were not even his best racetrack performed sons.
Numero uno belonged to the great Bret Hanover but these were well and truly pre-shuttle times and he was never going to make Southern Hemisphere shores such was his austere.
At best, Australia finally managed to land one or two of his sons, the likes of Bretland and Bret's Knight and a few others but certainly no horse to set the world on fire.
Indeed, it was New Zealand and the work of two wily wizzards from Nevele R Stud in Wayne Francis and Bob McArdle who were to steal a march here but not with a son of Bret Hanover but rather a grandson of Bret Hanover.
Whilst Australia dabbled with sons of Storm Damage and Strike Out, Nevele R Stud were to strike gold with a son of Warm Breeze named Falcon Seelster.
And what a jackpot he was to become!
With a sire ( Warm Breeze ) and a damsire ( Overtrick ) tracing to each stirp of the famed Thomrson Sisters ( Tillie Thompson and Eva Thompson ), the former ancestress of the highly influential mare Spinster, and a dam ( Fashion Trick ) that traced tail female to another highly influential mare in Jessie Pepper ( Family U4 aka 187 in Australia and 558 in New Zealand ) and also a mare by the large heart thoroughbred progenitor Diomed, Falcon Seelster was always well-equipped genetically to prove a roaring success over the New Zealand broodmare genepool in particular.
An interesting aside or observation here is that Falcon Seelster's grandsire Adios also formed a famed "golden cross" over Tar Heel mares.
It just so happens that Tar Heel is also tail female to the Jessie Pepper family just like Falcon Seelster.
Tar Heel has always been considered as a large heart progenitor passing the "X-Factor" large heart gene through his daughters. Could Diomed have had something to do with the initiation of this?
We are not saying this is the case but it is an observation worth pondering.
Current stallions that are tail female to Jessie Pepper include Rock N Roll Heaven and Mel Mara in the pacing ranks and Father Patrick, Pastor Stephen and Lucky Chucky in the trotting ranks.
Falcon Seelster was foaled in 1982 at Seelster Farms in Lucan, Ontario.
Not a natural precocious two year old , he had just the two juvenile starts for a win and a runner-up placing in of all places, Nova Scotia, a province not notable in Canada for it's standardbred racing.
As a three year old, things were to change dramatically, winning 24 of his 31 starts and being named Canadian 3YO Pacer of the Year in the same year ( 1985 ) that Nihilator took the corresponding USA 3YO Pacer of the Year title.
During Falcon Seelster's three year old season, he set the first of his two World Record's at the Delaware County Fairgrounds winning an Invitational Pace in 1:51.0 on a half-mile track. It would take another 17 years for this record to be eclipsed.
By comparison, Nihilator won the Little Brown Jug Final at the same venue on the same day in 1:52.2 ( Falcon Seelster not being staked for this race as a young horse by his inaugural owners ).
As a four year old  and in his final season on the racetrack Falcon Seelster would face the starter 18 times for 11 wins and 6 runner-up spots during which he was to establish the second of his World Records in clocking 1:51.3 on a 5/8ths of a mile track.
By the end of his race career in 1986 Falcon Seelster had amassed US$1,121,045 in lifetime earnings, registering 36 wins from his 51 starts.
From the late 1950's a groundswell of the speed blood of Adioshad begun to infiltrate the Australian breeding scene and was to continue seemingly unabated with little serious threat from other sirelines but the early Adios flourish in New Zealand was about to come to an abrupt halt.
The "Meadow Skipper invasion" was about to occur lead by his two best sons the complementary influences Albatross ( speed and gait ) and Most Happy Fella ( stamina and toughness ).
Undoubtedly, Albatross was to leave the biggest imprint as a plethora of his sons invaded the land, amongst them three shining stars.
Vance Hanover ( 1975 ) became the next breed changer in New Zealand with his ability to upgrade even the lowest of mares, something he scored plenty of off the back of a meagre Stud Fee of just $500+gst ( and sometimes less than this in a crusade to get numbers on the ground ), his first foal cop arriving in 1980.
Vance Hanover's resounding success laid the platform for Soky's Atom ( 1979 ) and Holmes Hanover ( 1981 ) to follow with their own wonderful contributions to the advance of the New Zealand breed, their first foal crops landing "on the ground" in 1985 and 1987 respectively.
Their influence even spread into Australia with champions such as Our Sir Vancelot ( Vance Hanover ) and Sokyola ( Soky's Atom ).
Unlike sons of Albatross, sons of Most Happy Fella had a more difficult path to gain a foothold in New Zealand, perhaps a legacy of the fact that Most Happy Fella, like his father Meadow Skipper, was a little indifferent in his gait, an attribute not missed by New Zealand breeders, something which could be passed down through his sons e.g.New York Motoring whose best son Master Musician also carried a "hitch" in his gait although it was generally agreed at the time that it was more his fillies that carried this trait known as the "New York Motoring hitch".
But how things can change with the effluxion of time where we now see the Albatross influence as a sireline almost fading into a distant memory whilst the Most Happy Fella stirp is the founder of two of the four contemporary sirelines of the modern era, namely that of Cam Fella and that of Western Hanover.
But for now, let us not get too far ahead of ourselves.
Falcon Seelster was displaying siring potential in North America with outstanding daughter Shady Daisy ( 1988 ) leading the charge on her way to lifetime earnings of US$1,807,755.
As a pioneer shuttle stallion into New Zealand, Falcon Seelster was well-placed genetically as an Adios-line horse to thrive over the proliferation of Meadow Skipper blood that had accumulated in the broodmare genepool ( almost to the point of saturation ).
Not surprisingly, New Zealand breeders flocked to him with their mares.
Beginning service in New Zealand in 1996 with 272 mares served that season quickly rising to a peak of 371 mares in 1998, Falcon Seelster was never going to suffer from a lack of numbers on the racetrack curtailing his support but a worldwide EIV ( Equine Influenza Virus ) scare 2000-2003 saw him remain at Peretti Farms without shuttling to New Zealand for four seasons.
Returning to New Zealand for the 2004 breeding season, Falcon Seelster was to resume popularity with breeders serving 200 mares with his son Elsu ( 1999 ) in full cry in New Zealand as was The Falcon Strike ( 1997 ) in Australia.
And growing stars in North America such as Shady Character and his best performed racetrack son McArdle ( US$2,455,609 ) kept his flag flying on the world stage.
But it was obvious that competition had to arrive. The biggest question from a breeding perspective was in what shape or form?
Matt's Scooter ( 1985 ) had been doing wonderful things on the racetracks of North America and was easily Direct Scooter's best performed racetrack son. And by the early 2000's his son Mach Three ( 1999 ) was terrorising the opposition on the racetracks just like his father.
There had been growing interest in the Direct Scooter sireline in the 1990's as a likely outcross for both the Adios line and the Meadow Skipper line with the odd stallion trickling into both Australia and New Zealand.
Whilst Stoneridge Scooter ( 1988 ) went into Australia, other sons of Direct Scooter came into New Zealand, the likes of OK Bye ( 1986 ) and his full-brother WRH ( 1987 ), In The Pocket ( 1987 ), Deal Direct ( 1988 )and Direct Flight ( 1989 ) to name a few from memory.
And fair to say it was In The Pocket who was to prove a smash hit over Meadow Skipper-line mares tidying up gait issues in revolutionary fashion and introducing new levels of speed to the downunder breed. Another breed changer had evolved.
Not since Vance Hanover had any single stallion had such an impact on the broodmare genepool, at least in New Zealand.
But against all odds Falcon Seelster was a fighter even beyond his death on 16 September 2011.
The wonders of frozen semen allowed him to continue serving mares well after his demise where he was to serve his last four mares in the 2019 breeding season, wonderful testimony to a stallion that finally succumbed at the ripe old age of 29 years and producing progeny with over $80 million earned in North America and another $30 million jointly earned in Australia and New Zealand.
Siring sons have aspired to continue his legacy through the likes of Million To One and Trump Casino plus others in Australia and Elsu, Attorney General ( now Australia ), Franco Ledger ( now deceased ) and McArdle in New Zealand with the latter his brightest hope of continuing the legacy through sons Tintin In America ( sire of World Champion mare Shartin ) and McWicked.
But the Adios branch of the Hal Dale sireline is far from done and dusted.
Whilst the Bret Hanover stirp may be battling for mere survival, another sirp through Henry T Adios is currently flourishing via son Silent Majority and grandson Abercrombie.
Abercrombie's son Life Sign ( 1980 ) was looking promising but has now aligned with a similar fate to that of Bret Hanover but such is not the case for another of Abercrombie's sons in Artsplace ( 1988 ) who now lays claim as the foundation of one of today's four great contemporary sirelines.
And why not with a son like Art Major currently at the helm and a plethora of his sons also now at Stud. Things appear to be looking healthy here for the time being at least!
There can be no denying that Falcon Seelster "flew the flag" for the Adios sireline in New Zealand at a time when he was needed and also at a time when other threats were lurking.
Whilst he may have McArdle and his sons to sustain his legacy for a few more seasons to come, one can be excused for thinking that finally perhaps the reins have been passed over to Artsplace and his sons and grandsons to keep the Adios flag flying for a few more decades to come.

​Footnote: The years shown in brackets beside horses referred to above denote their birth year only.     

 

,he recent 2021 Australasian Breeders Crown series proved a clean sweep in the pacing division and a "coming of age" for the Direct Scooter sireline in the Southern Hemisphere.
There can be little doubt that it also signals a "changing of the guard" from the previous dominance held by the all conquering Bettor's Delight ( Cam Fella sireline ).
Whilst this may come as a sudden surprise to many breeders, it is a phenomena that has arrived with a building groundswell that has now translated into a sudden tsunami with no likely stopping in the foreseeable future.
The introduction of In The Pocket into New Zealand in the 90's followed by his mighty sons such as Christian Cullen and Courage Under Fire transitioned a dominance away from the Meadow Skipper and Adios stirps of the Hal Dale sireline but it was always going to be a case that Direct Scooter's greatest racetrack creation Matt's Scooter was going to be the one to take things on to an even greater plane.
With a plethora of young mares hitting the breeding barns in the last decade by a select cluster of Commercial stallions the likes of Bettor's Delight ( Cam Fella sireline ), American Ideal ( Western Hanover sireline ) and Art Major ( Artsplace sireline ) it should come as no surprise that stallions from the Direct Scooter sireline were always going to be favourably placed to capitalise on this unfolding situation.
No crystal balls were required here which is a welcome change in the world of standardbred horse breeding.
The introduction of Matt's Scooter's best son Mach Three ( he remains included in North America's Top 10 Best Gaited Pacers of all time ) to New Zealand in 2005 and later to stand in Australia, spearheaded the momentum for Direct Scooter after In The Pocket had done the initial "hard yards" of breaking the ice of Meadow Skipper and Adios dominance.
Whilst some sons of Mach Three are already at Stud the likes of Auckland Reactor and Fly Like An Eagle and others have just gone to Stud such as Be Happy Mach, it is Mach Three's best North American racetrack son Somebeachsomewhere that is now reigning supreme, a remarkable achievement considering he never shuttled to either Australia or New Zealand, only ever being available here by frozen semen stocks.
But this has not deterred what now looks to be a penetrating dominance.
Home grown sons are now popping up the likes of Goodtime Sammy and Poster Boy with other sons of Somebeachsomewhere shuttling such as current promising boom stallion Downbytheseaside and yet others such as Stay Hungry being available via frozen semen.
Clearly though, Somebeachsomewhere's best racetrack son has been Captaintreacherous, a stallion David James ( Empire Stallions principal ) forecast some time ago as being the logical successor to Bettor's Delight.
And like his illustrious but ill-fated father, Captaintreacherous has also been considered too valuable to risk shuttling hence only being accessible to Southern Hemisphere breeders via frozen semen.
With controlled numbers ( on both sides of the Tasman Sea ) it is unlikely that Captaintreacherous will aspire to the same lofty heights as Bettor's Delight in the Southern Hemisphere.
Unlike Bettor's Delight, what we are now witnessing is the implosion of the sons of Captaintreacherous who are being shuttled to New Zealand and Australia the likes of Captain Crunch, Capt Midnight and Captain Ahab with more no doubt waiting in the wings in North America to be shuttled out in future seasons the likes of Captain Trevor, Captain Victorious and Catch The Fire as the thirst for the blood of Captaintreacherous grows at an insatiable frenzy.
Whilst Captaintreacherous is top end Commercial and available via frozen semen only, it is his sons inevitable competition with their illustrious father in the quest for his bloodlines that may rather ironically impinge on his chances of reaching the levels of success previously enjoyed by Bettor's Delight.
It is our firm belief that the results of the 2021 Australasian Breeders Crown finals for pacers may have unlocked another would-be superstar to join this illustrious group as identified above.
As a breeder, if you are "big" on a stallion possessing the three P's ( Pedigree, Performance and Potency ) then the winner of the 3YO Colts and Geldings Pacing Final, Act Now, now a dual Group 1 winner following on from his Victorian Derby victory, certainly meets the first two criteria and most likely the third but for the time being we will substitute the word "Promise" for "Potency".
Act Now is not a son of Captaintreacherous but rather a son of Somebeachsomewhere thus a home grown colt bred in Victoria by Bruce and Vicki Edward.
It is always favourable if a potential stallion prospect traces to a recognised source of stallion production and Act Now fulfils this criteria through being from the family of Minehaha ( as is current Somebeachsomewhere stallion Poster Boy ). And better than this, Act Now actually descends through Tillie Thompson ( one half of the famed Thompson sisters, the other half being Eva Thompson through whom Poster Boy descends )with the highly influential mare Spinster featuring as his 10th dam via her daughter Lady Scotland ( Act Now's 9th dam ).
Act Now also possesses a very well balanced pedigree.
His is a pedigree that features all four of the contemporary modern sirelines that prevail today bringing with them their complementary traits and attributes.
He carries the speed and gait qualities of Direct Scooter ( Quartiles 1 and 3 ), the unrelenting stamina and winning desire of Artsplace/Abercrombie ( Quartiles 1, 3 and 4 ), the precocity and natural athleticism of Western Hanover ( Quartile 3 ) and the stamina and outright toughness of Cam Fella ( Quartiles 2 and 4 ).
Breeding buffs should also appreciate that Act Now holds sex-balanced linebreeding to Matt's Scooter at 3x4, Cam Fella at 4x5, Abercrombie at 4x5x6x5 with under-pinning to the complementary Meadow Skipper influences Most Happy Fella ( stamina and toughness ) at 5x5x7x6x7 and Albatross ( speed and gait ) at 6x5x7x6x6 all of which are desirably cross-duplicated ( contributed by both parents ) with only the exception of Albatross.
Going forward, it may be hard to find another stallion with the potency promise of the damsire line that is carried by Act Now and especially with relevance to the sireline genepool that will be carried by the large bulk of the breeding mare population both now and into the future.
This will be one of the great genetic strengths that Act Now offers giving him a distinct edge over many of his competitors including many from his own sireline.
And it will allow breeders the ability to breed many successful horses via reverse-sexing techniques just as we witnessed back in the 90's when a vast array of Meadow Skipper line mares were bred to In The Pocket resulting in horses like Christian Cullen, Courage Under Fire, Tupelo Rose and Under Cover Lover all being bred on reverse-sex crosses to Meadow Skipper thus allowing them to not only carry a breeding core ( which fused the pedigree match ) but also presented them with a likely "engine room". And what an engine room they possessed!
Act Now's illustrious damsire line up commences with American Ideal and then passes through Bettor's Delight, Artsplace, Big Towner, Meadow Skipper, Airliner and Tar Heel.
It would be difficult to name another stallion currently in the Southern Hemisphere breeding scene that can offer a damsire line as impressive as that of Act Now.
Firstly, Act Now is out of a mare by American Ideal. This presents breeders of American Ideal mares the opportunity to reverse female cross to American Ideal at 3x2. Admittedly, this is the outside edge of inbreeding ( Factor 5 ) but it can work. One only has to look back to 2004 North American Horse Of The Year Rainbow Blue ( then a 3YO filly ) bred on a 3x2 reverse female cross to On The Road Again as a successful example of this type of breeding and at the back of our mind we must always remember that inbreeding can be a very effective practice in enhancing speed in the resultant offspring. The key here being that you breed to a targeted ancestor ( male or female ) in this case American Ideal factoring in that he possesses no major negative traits or attributes.
To provide those breeders possessing American Ideal mares with further confidence, it is interesting to note that fellow Somebeachsomewhere stallion Captaintreacherous currently carries mares by Western Ideal ( sire of American Ideal ) as his leading "Crosses of Gold" in North America spearheaded by $2 million dollar earner Lyons Sentinel.
A little further down the track mares by sons of American Ideal, the likes of He's Watching, Heston Blue Chip, Bling It On, My Hard Copy and Soho Tribeca, will provide reverse-sexed linebreeding opportunities to American Ideal at 3x3.
Act Now's granddam sire is Bettor's Delight.
What an opportunity is presented here for breeders with Bettor's Delight mares to breed foals that are by a son of Somebeachsomewhere and carry 4x2 ( Factor 6, the first stage of linebreeding ) reverse female cross to Bettor's Delight hence breeding a foal with Bettor's Delight at the heart of it's very breeding core.
The Somebeachsomewhere / Bettor's Delight connection also provides a strong element of genetic connection as Somebeachsomewhere's grandsire Matt's Scooter and Bettor's Delight share the same tail female line of maternal descent tracing directly to the highly influential matriarch Aida.
Former top shelf New Zealand stallion Holmes Hanover was bred on a 4x2 reverse female cross, in his case to the large heart progenitor Tar Heel.
It is interesting to note that there are now a number of sons of Bettor's Delight hitting the breeding barns in Australia and New Zealand, the likes of Highview Tommy, Gold Ace, Betterthancheddar, Tiger Tara, Caesar Augustus, Caribbean Blaster, Ohoka Punter, Lazarus, Betting Line, Ultimate Machete, Ultimate Sniper, Bettor's Wish and Tall Dark Stranger to name just a few of what is likely to be a growing list.
Daughters of any of these where bred to Act Now will provide a 4x3 reverse-sexing opportunity for their foals to the prepotent Bettor's Delight whilst daughters of a grandson of Bettor's Delight the likes of Lather Up will feature the great stallion in the highly potent 4x4 reverse-sexed position in the foal's pedigree.
Act Now's third damsire is Artsplace.
There are still a number of Artsplace mares actively breeding thanks to this stallion's frozen semen stocks lasting so long.
Artsplace mares bred to Act Now will see the resultant foal carrying a 5x2 reverse female cross to Artsplace but there are a number of Artsplace sons that have been at Stud for a considerable period of time the likes of Dream Away, Artiscape, Partywiththebigdog, Grinfromeartoear, Modern Art, Stonebridge Regal, Sportswriter and of course not forgetting perhaps his most influential son of all in the Southern Hemisphere in Art Major.
Mares by any of these stallions will realise a foal bred on a 5x3 reverse-sex cross to Artsplace making mares by Art Major in particular a highly desirable breeding cross for Act Now.
Also entering calculations are mares by grandsons of Artsplace who will see Act Now foals bred on a 5x4 reverse-sex cross to Artsplace.
Examples here are mares by Artiscape's son Artesian, Yankee Cruiser's son Sweet Lou, Grinfromeartoear's sons Mister Big, Smiling Shard and Mr Feelgood, Real Artist's son Dali, and the growing list of sons by Art Major including the likes of Santanna Blue Chip, Major In Art, Art Official, Sky Major, Vincent, Follow The Stars, For A Reason, Renaissance Man and Ride High.
There are bound to be some others too that we have not listed above.
Act Now's fourth damsire is Big Towner, a quality influence in any pedigree and renowned for his own bold front running tactics. He could also pace naturally free-legged.
Whilst there may still be a rather long-toothed daughter of his sons Stature or Towner's Big Guy running around in the back paddocks of Australia that could produce foals bred on a reverse-sex cross to Big Towner these opportunities would now be rather remote and certainly so for for daughters of other sons of Big Towner, the likes of Ludell Hanover, Sandman Hanover, Explorador, Apache Circle and Walton Hanover so at best any mares carrying these male presences of Big Towner are more likely to provide sex-balanced linebreeding opportunities with Act Now.
And much the same would apply for Act Now's fifth, sixth and seventh damsires namely Meadow Skipper, Airliner and Tar Heel where mares carrying male lines of these ancestors would provide at the very least sex-balancing opportunities to them where bred to Act Now.
Act Now may just be the home grown stallion that can mix it with the North American stallion invasion amid growing calls to promote our own "downunder" production on a Commercial basis.In Act Now a real opportunity has been presented to do this.
It will be an interesting watch to see which Stud exploits this opportunity and we are predicting breeders will not have to wait long to find out which roster he will join in due course.     

When piecing together a pedigree match for your mare's next mating have you ever stopped to think, where do I start?
A good place to start is by looking at the four pedigree quartiles found at the 2nd generational level that will comprise her offspring's overall pedigree.
We are talking here about the paternal pedigree of the proposed stallion ( Quartile 1 ) as well as the maternal pedigree of the stallion ( Quartile 2 ) and how this looks when placed on top of your mare's pedigree i.e. her paternal pedigree ( Quartile 3 ) as well as her maternal pedigree ( Quartile 4 ).
Where you land with this "quartilian mix" can often be governed by opportunity and where the opportunity arises then full advantage can be taken in the endeavour to breed a superior racehorse.
Whatever the outcome, there is immense satisfaction to be gained from this approach simply because there is some semblance of scientific method applied which provides an answer or reason as to why you may have bred a superior or elite performer.
This is in stark contrast to the breeding methodology of "Breeding the best to the best and hoping for the best". Where is the skill in that, one may ask?
Whilst you may get away with this approach if you are fortunate enough to have a superior broodmare that will produce top offspring literally regardless of the stallion they are put to, there is hardly any scientific application applied to this approach and often a good deal less satisfaction as a breeder.
Often you will see this approach with highly Commercial mares ( mostly from top producing families ) or with elite racemares and especially if the resultant progeny are destined for the Yearling Sales.
Here it is often about instant financial gain in the hope that the yearling will make the grade as a racehorse and "establish the mare" but in other circumstances this approach is also open to genetic failure and potentially damaging the young mare as a future soughtafter breeding proposition.
It is very much a "risk and reward" exercise with this approach to breeding.
As a pedigree consultant dealing especially with new Australian or New Zealand clients, when they answer the question as to what breeding methods they have previously followed invariably we receive the reply that they keep a close eye on the North American breeding scene and in particular "Crosses of Gold" in the Stallion Showcase. So much so that to us many become over-reliant on it.
Crosses of Gold pit individual stallion's over other broodmare sires hence only telling "half the story" as it ignores both the stallion's maternal pedigree ( Quartile 2 ) and the mare's maternal pedigree ( Quartile 4 ).
It therefore exclusively deals with just Quartile 1 and Quartile 3. There is often no genetic reason for this, often it may be a geographical factor at work e.g. the daughters of one stallion at a Stud being put to an associate stallion standing at the same Stud and where strength in numbers on that particular breeding cross outweigh any genetic factors at work.
In our breeding endeavours, yes, occasionally we may apply the use of Quartile 3 in association with Quartile 1 but only if there is good genetic reason to do so. As an example here, if we take a Bettor's Delight mare, we do like these with sons or grandsons of Somebeachsomewhere. Why? Because here we can link the blood of Bettor's Delight with that of Matt's Scooter, grandsire of Somebeachsomewhere. And for what genetic reason? Both Bettor's Delight and Matt's Scooter were superior racehorses but much more than this, genetically they both share the same maternal bloodline tracing directly to the highly influential matriarch Aida.
This provides a far more genetic validation of why to cross these two bloodlines than that featured in the North American crosses of gold.
But standardbred breeders are not alone in this approach with Quartile 1 and Quartile 3 as the "Match Your Mare" programmes such as G1 Goldmine and Werks E-Nicks that feature on most Thoroughbred Stud's websites also place a heavy emphasis primarily on sireline crosses.
This approach is defended, rightly or wrongly, by it's creators and breeder supporters as claiming that the statistical data is based on actual race performance and results.
While we cannot deny this, it is hardly a scientific genetic approach to breeding but rather one  based on statistical data outcome.
So what approach may involve a more scientific or genetic approach to breeding Standardbred horses?
One very reliable method is to "Return the best blood of your mare to the best blood of the stallion".
To apply this method we first of all have to define what this encompasses.
In general terms when analysing a pedigree match, the best blood of a mare is seen as being in her paternal bloodlines ( Quartile 3 ) and the best blood of a stallion as being in his maternal bloodlines ( Quartile 2 ). Hence you are applying Quartile 3 to Quartile 2.
One of the distinct advantages of doing this is that it provides the basis for breeding a horse on a reverse-sex formula to either a key male or female ancestor where you may be chasing their particular traits or attributes especially if deficient in your own mare or breed.
And just occasionally you may end up with a foal bred on what is known as a double reverse-sex cross, not just to one common ancestor but to two.
By achieving a resultant reverse-sex cross in a foal you are not only developing a purposeful breeding core but also creating a potential or likely "engine room" based on the ancestor/s being duplicated.
Reverse-sex crossing is a favoured breeding technique as sex-balancing allows the genes of the duplicated ancestor/s to be potentially maximised in your resultant foal.
As an example here, the stallion Art Major is bred on a 3x4 reverse-sex cross to Albatross, the latter's history proven best cross. The new stallion Captain Crunch is another example being bred on a 3x3 reverse-sex cross to Artsplace.
Another popular breeding practice especially in more recent times and a more common now in North America is breeding horses utilising what is known as the delta pattern.
Certainly Southern Hemisphere breeders are seeing more North American stallions accessible to them being bred carrying a delta pattern to a specific male ancestor.
Fear The Dragon is bred on a 4x4 delta pattern to Most Happy Fella whilst Follow The Stars is bred on a 3x3 delta pattern to Abercrombie.
Delta pattern breeding focuses on applying Quartile 4 to Quartile 1.
This means duplicating a male ancestor that is present in your mare's damsireline in Quartile 4 with the same ancestor that presides in the stallion's paternal sireline as found in Quartile 1.
Delta patterns in a stallion can also be very useful as a launch board from which to capitalise on reverse-sexing opportunities for your mare's foal if that specific ancestor is in her sireline e.g. an Abercrombie line mare if bred to Follow The Stars would produce a foal carrying a reverse-sex cross to Abercrombie.
Yet another breeding technique that can be highly rewarding although a little harder to find is that known as "Breeding Back Into The Herd" ( aka BBITH ).
This involves applying Quartile 4 to Quartile 2 so the polar opposite of "Crosses of Gold" where focus is primarily on Quartile 1 and Quartile 3.
Breeding Back Into The Herd focuses on the bottom line ( duplicating a common female ancestor ) of both Quartile 4 ( of your mare ) and Quartile 2 ( the proposed stallion ) and was hugely favoured by legendary former Australian standardbred pedigree guru Mr Gordon Campbell as that which most closely resembled that which prevailed naturally in the wild and not unlike that which also occurred out on the racetrack especially in terms of the traits and attributes that were required to either survive or triumph. Campbell quantified his stauch advocacy for this form of breeding with statistical evidence from his own huge privately owned database.
Whilst there have been numerous examples of successful standardbreds bred on a "Breeding Back Into The Herd" formula we are going to use now 10 times Group 1 winner, including the 2021 Melbourne Cup, Verry Elleegant as a top class ( albeit thoroughbred mare ) to illustrate our point here.
Verry Elleegant is 4x4 "Bred Back Into The Herd" to the mare Cotehele House through her daughters the half-sisters Theme Song ( granddam of sire Zed ) and Chalet Girl ( granddam of dam Opulence ).
If this form of breeding can succeed big time for thoroughbreds then so too can it work big time with standardbreds.
Whilst the aforementioned form some of the leading methods of breeding quality standardbreds by applying the quartiles they are far from an exhaustive list. There are many other techniques that can be applied. In brief, a few of the leading ones are;
Returning The Blood - this involves returning the same blood from your mare ( through a common female ancestor ) to the same ancestor presiding in the stallion's direct maternal line ( or bottom line ). This sees either Quartile 3 or 4 ( sometimes both ) feeding back to Quartile 2.
Rasmussen Factors ( breeding back to superior females through different individuals within the first 5 generations ), duplicating elite females beyond 5 generations and the deployment of Colt Factors or Filly Factors ( more popular in thoroughbred breeding practice ) are otherhigly effective techniques that can be applied throughout a pedigree match and not necessarily dependent on any specific quartile application other than to say that cross-duplication ( contributed by both the stallion and the mare ) is most likely to yield best results.
More traditional breeding methods ( as opposed to pedigree matching utilising specific breeding techniques ) include "Outcrossing" for hybrid vigour or "Linebreeding" to hopefully concentrate the genes of  a specific ancestor/s are other more traditional breeding methods as is "Inbreeding" where seeking speed enhancement or rejuvenation.           

The world's five longest rivers ( Nile, Amazon, Yangtze, Yellow and Parana ) may have endured little in the way of change over the last 170 years but this such is not the case for the deltas of the five male scions of the great founding father of the Standardbred breed Hambletonian 10 ( 1849 ).
Hambletonian 10 sired five sons acting as the source of the significant waterways to shape and establish the Standardbred as a recognised breed.
George Wilkes ( 1856 ) led the way founding a mainly trotting stirp and his river remains in existence today albeit the flow not as strong as it once was.
Happy Medium ( 1863 ) continues to flow strongly today enjoying somewhat of a resurgence, like the Amazon, and has two powerful arms, one a trotting arm and the other a pacing arm.
Sadly, both the Dictator ( 1863 ) and Strathmore ( 1866 ) stirps, primarily best known for their pacing influence with some trotting influences also embroiled, whilst off to a flourishing start, have all but dried up and are no longer a significant force today.
The Dictator flow was was primarily led by Billy Direct ( 1934 ), the first pacer to reach 1:55 for the mile, and Tar Heel ( 1948 ), the latter a formidable broodmare sire ( especially in association with Adios ) whose daughters are considered to carry the large heart gene ( x-factor theory ).
The Strathmore line featured mighty carriers such as Globe Derby ( 1910 ), Logan Derby ( 1930 ), Johnny Globe ( 1947 ) and the little black dynamo Lordship ( 1958 ) but has since diminished in traction.
For Electioneer ( 1868 ), it is a totally different fate, one of swift flow just like the Nile. Such flow is seemingly all one way, at a rapid pace with emphasis totally focussed on the development and evolution of the pacer.
For the breeders of the pure trotter emanating from the George Wilkes or Happy Medium stirps, there is saviour as modern day globalisation with accompanying frills such as longhaul flights and permitted use of frozen semen has facilitated a European bloodline infusion which in turn has introduced outcrossing and with it hybrid vigour.
But Europe cannot be the same saviour for the breeder of the pacer primarily because the great majority of European countries only foster the trotting breed.
Breeders of the straight out pacer have for a number of decades now focussed on trends in North America ( both the United States and Canada ) keeping specific tabs on trends, and especially "Crosses of Gold" for those stallions that are relevant to the Southern Hemisphere ( either as shuttle stallions or available via frozen semen ).
But, are the current winds of change beginning to affect our great rivers by introducing a cascade effect?
Whereas once we lingered some 10-15 years behind North America, today this is not the case as the Southern Hemisphere product is equally as competitive on the racetrack, no better example that the recent Lazarus / McWicked rivalries in North America.
Admittedly, improved track design in the Southern Hemisphere had also allowed the gap to be bridged dramatically especially with race times. Not any longer are we the the poor cousin.
The pacing breed nowadays has sorted itself into four predominant sirelines which tend to complement each other in their respective traits and attributes.
The Western Hanover sireline has introduced natural athleticism, generally fluent gait and often precocity whilst the Cam Fella sireline is generally regarded as imparting stamina and toughness although the Cam's Card Shark scion can also bring with it a speed component.
The Artsplace sireline also presents unrelenting stamina with an accompanying winning desire whilst the Direct Scooter sireline has been breed shaping introducing a refined fluent gait which in turn has facilitated greater levels of energy conservation through enhanced pacing efficiency. The flow on effect has seen higher levels of speed and the ability to sustain such speed over greater distance.
As we highlighted a little earlier, we are now down to largely two rivers in the pacing breeding world, these coming through Electioneer and Happy Medium.
And whilst Electioneer acts as the mighty Nile embracing the Cam Fella, Western Hanover and Artsplace sirelines, it is Happy Medium who has acted as the all important Amazon in introducing the breed shaping Direct Scooter stirp to the Standardbred as a breed.
Let us now take a paddle back up river to the headwaters.
Electioneer's son Chimes ( 1880 ) sired The Abbe ( 1903 ) who in turn sired two influential sons in Abbedale ( 1917 ) and Bert Abbe ( 1922 ).
Bert Abbe, via son Gene Abbe ( 1944 ) has brought us the revered male influence Big Towner and his valued sons Walton Hanover and Towner's Big Guy but this tributary is down to a mere trickle these days as the Abbedale arm via son Hal Dale ( 1926 ) has assumed full flow through the latter's two mighty sons Dale Frost ( 1951 ) and Adios ( 1940 ).
Adios became a breed changer in the Southern Hemisphere with his flotilla of sons injecting enhanced speed into the colonial homegrown bloodlines that prevailed especially in Australia and to a lesser degree in New Zealand.
Two of Adios's sons in particular have made a big splash and kept the waterways flowing today, namely Bret Hanover ( 1962 ) especially through his Falcon Seelster ( 1981 ) stirp and Henry T Adios ( 1958 ), the latter the forerunner to the Abercrombie ( 1975 ) cascade through Life Sign but even more poignantly Artsplace ( 1988 ), founder of one of today's four great dominant sirelines.
But anything Adios could contribute, Dale Frost could do better, or at least his great son Meadow Skipper ( 1960 ) and especially through his two most notable sons the complementary influences Most Happy Fella ( 1967 ) and Albatross ( 1968 ).
Each acted like a waterfall. Most Happy Fella bringing stamina and toughness and Albatross speed and gait.
Mix the two together and you got a whirlpool.
Sadly, in more recent times the Albatross stirp is displaying signs of drying up after enjoying good times in the 80's and 90's in particular through sons of the calibre of Vance Hanover, Soky's Atom and Holmes Hanover with little in the way of heirs to continue the flow.
Albatross had found himself caught up in a dam.
But such fate was not to be the case for Most Happy Fella who has found himself as the modern day equine powerhouse through in particular his sons Cam Fella ( 1979 ) and Oil Burner ( 1973 ).
Cam Fella is at the headwater of his own sireline, recognised as one of the four great remaining pacing sirelines of today with the stirp through his best son Cam's Card Shark ( 1991 ) having led on to giving rise to the Bettor's Delight ( 1998 ) dynasty.
Oil Burner via his immensely talented son No Nukes ( 1979 ) has given rise to the prolific Western Hanover ( 1989 ) sireline, another of the four great sirelines of today, with the greatest current being provided through Western Hanover's potent son Western Ideal ( 1995 ).
It does however take a diversion to the Happy Medium headwater to find down river our fourth and final modern day sireline, that of Direct Scooter. Tracing through Volomite ( 1926 ), who was recognised as a great contributor of horses that could both trot and pace, of his four most most notable sons, King's Counsel, Worthy Boy, Poplar Byrd and Sampson Hanover, it was Sampson Hanover ( 1947 ) who was to create the greatest pacing current through his son Sampson Direct ( 1957 ) and grandson Direct Scooter ( 1976 ).
At this time the Southern Hemisphere was becoming a largely Hal Dale empire through sons Adios especially in Australia and Dale Frost via son Meadow Skipper in New Zealand.
But change was in the wind as a new river as mighty as the Amazon was about to sweep in and shake things up.
With Stud farms recognising the potential to narrow the genepool the search was on to introduce an outcross bloodline for the profound Adios and Meadow Skipper proliferation.
A few sons of Direct Scooter were introduced into Australia and New Zealand acting as tributary feeders the likes of Deal Direct, Direct Flight, Stoneridge Scooter, Yankee Sensation, OK Bye and WRH but nothing of any great notice until the mighty gush that was In The Pocket ( 1987 ).
Another pacing breed changer had arrived amongst much local speculation that he would not work especially in New Zealand with it's plethora of Meadow Skipper-line broodmares.
But just like any formidable outcross, clean the rivers he did.
In The Pocket almost single-handedly opened the floodgates for the Direct Scooter sireline and in turn his own great son Christian Cullen continued a strong flow.
In The Pocket was in more recent times ably assisted by sons of Matt's Scooter ( 1985 ) most notably Mach Three.
For breeders of high-end Commercial broodmares in the Southern Hemisphere the last twenty or so years has been a decision between Christian Cullen, Art Major, Mach Three, Bettor's Delight, Rocknroll Hanover or American Ideal with little further options apart from maybe Somebeachsomewhere.
In North America the last two decades or so have seen the Western Hanover / Artsplace sireline cross ( and vice versa ) feature as the "go to" reliable and proven cross for producing hard-hitting early running two and three year olds ( where the big purses feature on the racetrack ) but there is mounting evidence that change is in the wind as the vast majority of stallions shuttling ( or being made available via frozen semen ) to Southern Hemisphere shores are from either the Cam Fella-line ( sons or grandsons of Bettor's Delight in particular ) or the Direct Scooter-line ( sons of Somebeachsomewhere or Captaintreacherous ).
As we approach the delta of these great rivers there is upheaval as to which route to take for breeders.
The Artsplace sireline has pinned it's faith in Art Major for continuity. His progeny are testing the waters but so far from the likes of Santanna Blue Chip, Major In Art, Art Official, For A Reason, Renaissance Man, Restrepo, Follow The Stars, Vincent, Sky Major or Ride High we have yet to see a successor of his equal but to be totally fair for a number it is very early days and time is still on their side. It may yet happen. Still, one gains the initial impression that it is rather vulnerable. Maybe Sweet Lou can put his hand up for the Artsplace sireline.
The Western Hanover sireline bubbles away through the two leading sons of Western Ideal in Rocknroll Hanover and American Ideal, Rocknroll Hanover hanging his hat on the deeds of Rock N Roll Heaven, A Rocknroll Dance, Pet Rock, Yankee Rockstar, Foreclosure, Johny Rock, The Storm Inside and Rocknroll World whilst American Ideal is now represented by his sons He's Watching, Heston Blue Chip, Bling It On, My Hard Copy and Soho Tribeca.
Another son of Western Ideal in Always A Virgin also adds lifeblood to the waters Western Hanover navigates through his notable son Always B Miki.
For the Cam Fella sireline nearly all future continuity appears to channel through Bettor's Delight and his sons or maybe even his grandsons as the cascading effects of three generations come together to stir up the waters as they fight for dominance. Among some of Bettor's Delight's sons there appears real hope.
In no set order, Highview Tommy, Gold Ace, Betterthancheddar, Tiger Tara, Lazarus, Betting Line, Ultimate Machete, Ultimate Sniper,  Bettor's Wish, Tall Dark Stranger, Bettor's Creek, Caesar Augustus, Caribbean Blaster and Ohoka Punter are some amongst his lineup set to compete to keep this great line active whilst we also see the cascade effect once gain in play with Im Gorgeous's son Lather Up ( a grandson of Bettor's Delight ) also joining the fray almost acting as an island anchor at the delta.
But the current shining star reflecting over the river is provided by the Direct Scooter sireline led by Mach Three's illustrious son Somebeachsomewhere and his sons, once again in random order, the likes of Net Ten EOM, Sunshine Beach, Huntsville, Downbytheseaside, Papi Rob Hanover, Stay Hungry, Soho Lanikai, Poster Boy, Goodtime Sammy and Captaintreacherous.
The last-mentioned, widely touted as a likely successor to Bettor's Delight, has barely had time to get established downunder than he is already facing stern opposition from his own sons the likes of Captain Crunch, Capt Midnight and Captain Ahab.
All the signs are in place for a healthy river here.
Somebeachsomewhere may yet have another cannon to fire in the future too, and one to rival the Captaintreacherous stirp as a two year old has emerged in North America of considerable talent. Named Beach Glass ( 2019 ), and raced by similar connections to those involved with Somebeachsomewhere, this young colt is bred bred in somewhat similar fashion to Downbytheseaside ( a 4x4 reverse-sex cross featuring as the breeding core ) but has an intriguing feature in his maternal line of descent where his 14th dam Nina Neave was bred to her own sire Cassius M Clay Jnr in the late 1800's resulting in her daughter Nina Strader ( 13th dam of Beach Glass ) being 1x2 incestuously bred to Cassius M Clay Jnr. But we digress.
Whilst the rivers might be healthy in some areas there are signs of confusion at the deltas.
With the growing North American practice of retiring their best colts at the conclusion of their three year old season ( they are worth more money in the breeding shed thereafter ) the cascade effect has never been so pronounced.
We have Bettor's Delight still in active service, whilst in competition with his sons, both the the North American shuttlers as well as those available by frozen semen and joining them are home grown sons of Bettor's Delight ( both in Australia and New Zealand ) as the genetic gap closes between the Southern Hemisphere and North America and on top of this grandsons of Bettor's Delight ( e.g.Lather Up ) are also being added to breeders choices.
The same scenario is now also in evidence with Somebeachsomewhere where limited amounts of frozen semen supply remain well after his death yet his potent son Captaintreacherous is barely entrenched in the Southern Hemisphere ( perhaps more to do with his level of Service Fee and frozen semen restrictions than rivalry from a shuttling Bettor's Delight rivalry ) before he faces company from three of his young sons all shuttling downunder.
Consistent with the latest developments in North America, the tides of change are clearly pointing in the direction of the two greatest rivers, the Nile ( these days fronted by the Bettor's Delight scion ) and the Amazon ( these days fronted by the Somebeachsomewhere scion currently being led by Captaintreacherous ).
Perhaps one should have listened more closely just a few years ago when Empire Stallions principal David James boldly claimed that "The Captain" would become the natural successor to "Bettor's".
Whilst this could well prove the case in North America, where mounting evidence supports this, it will be a more difficult challenge in the Southern Hemisphere where it is clearly a numbers game.
This has seen shuttling stallions and the cost benefits of fresh chilled semen access provide Bettor's Delight and his sons and now grandsons with a competitive edge over the non-shuttling Captaintreacherous.
Is there capacity for change?
Of course there is.
The moment Bettor's Delight ceases shuttling there is room for immense change and very quickly too as we must remember that there exists a tsunami of Bettor's Delight broodmares waiting in the wings.
In the current era where swift flow ( speed ) is the desirable destination one cannot help but feel that Captaintreacherous and his new cascade of sons are extremely well-placed genetically to absorb the many Bettor's Delight and for that matter Art Major mares going to Stud where they will offer great genetic connections to highly influential female bluehens ( a time proven formula in the speed stakes ).
For mares by Bettor's Delight this includes a tail female connection to the highly influential matriarch Aida which is also shared by Captaintreacherous's great grandsire Matt's Scooter ( the best racehorse produced by Direct Scooter ) whilst mares by Art Major and his sons are set to reap the genetic rewards of resultant Rasmussen Factors ( in their foals ) to the revered bluehen Rodine Hanover.
Exciting, if not challenging times, lying ahead. May the rivers of change be kind to you in your in your future breeding endeavour.    

Premier Pedigrees has been tracking the seemingly "X-factor" mare Blue Horizon in recent years in the belief that she creates "something special" when duplicated in pedigree compilation wherever the opportunity arises.
That "something special" is extreme high speed ( one of the hardest attributes to breed into any horse ).
As readers / breeders will have noticed in our previous article, Blue Horizon is a grand-daughter of the famed mare Golden Miss aka the "Queen Of Gait", something seen as an absolutely fundamental pre-requisite in the evolution to extreme high speed.
The Direct Scooter invasion in the mid-nineties and beyond gave us our first glimpse of how refined and superior gait attributes could enhance speed in a largely Meadow Skipper genepool but with Blue Horizon came no Direct Scooter influences.
She was seemingly "doing it on her own".
Even more noticeably, she was producing it when duplicated relatively close-up in a pedigree, particularly via the use of what is known as a Rasmussen Factor ( Breeding Back To Superior Females Through Different Individuals Within The First Five Generations ) breeding technique.
Blue Horizon first came to our attention having been highly impressed by the racing attributes of 2005 New South Wales Derby victor Make Me Smile ( Grinfromeartoear - Panoramic Lady ). His sizzling gate speed to cross fields in the blink of an eye from wide draws was eye-catching not to mention his electric bursts of speed on many other occasions.
As with any exceptional performer or one which displays specific outstanding attributes it would be remiss of any pedigree consultant not exercising due diligence on the subject horse's pedigree to ascertain the likely contributer/s to these standout traits.
Make Me Smile's pedigree revealed an immediate and highly likely cause which suggested that close "inbreeding" to the mare Blue Horizon was a highly likely source of developing high speed.
Technically, in Standardbred breeding circles a 3x3 reverse-sexed Rasmussen Factor at that position in a pedigree is not inbreeding but rather the first stage of linebreeding at Factor 6 ( Factor 5 being the true outside edge of inbreeding ).
As Blue Horizon featured in the direct maternal bloodline of the stallion via her daughter Smile Upon ( dam of Grinfromeartoear ) this also allowed the opportunity to return the same blood from the mare Panoramic Lady ( a daughter of Panorama ) to the stallion's "bottom line" also recognised as a speed enhancement breeding practice ( and widely utilised by both Thoroughbred and Standardbred breeders ).
With Panorama being a son of Blue Horizon the reverse-sexing opportunity not only provided Make Me Smile with a desirable breeding core but also a likely "engine room", an engine room based on high speed.
But one example does not provide absolute proof of any contention. We needed to find another example to solidify our belief.
Back in 2003 I was fortunate enough to accompany then Linden Park Studmaster Graham Bell ( he was standing stallion's such as Sands A Flyin and Road Machine at the time ) as his pedigree authority on a week long South Island road trip visiting other Studs as well as numerous breeders throughout Canterbury and Southland.
At about that time Sly Flyin was going great guns flying the flag high for Sands A Flyin.
We had dual hosts in Southland in Mark Shirley ( a son of Ascot Stud's Gil Shirley ) and Debbie Scarlett ( later to become Debbie Smith of Shard Farm fame ). Both proved wonderful hosts introducing us to nearly every horse-interested person in the province.
So it was not surprising that a couple of years later an email came through to Premier Pedigrees from Debbie seeking opinion on who she should breed her Panorama mare to. The particular mare in question was Sly Shard ( a half-sister to Sly Flyin ).
Here was the opportunity to test our theory on Blue Horizon using essentially the same template that was used to produce Make Me Smile.
But it was hard work convincing Debbie especially as it involved an element of seemingly "inbreeding". I recall having a file about half an inch thick on email correspondence back and forth trying to convince Debbie on the merits of this breeding without the knowledge that Dave Phillips and an unidentified  Australian breeding consultant were on the same wavelength as ourselves.
But we stuck to our guns on every query Debbie threw at us on the mating as we were desperately wanting another example to support our beliefs about Blue Horizon.
Fortunately the mating went ahead and in 2006 Sly Shard foaled a small yet neat compact colt by Grinfromeartoear.
That colt was named Smiling Shard and he went to the PGG Yearling Sales in Christchurch as Shard Farm was primarily a "seller".
Only a week or two later I was in Geoff Small's barn one day when Cran Dalgety walked in looking for Geoff. I recall making a comment at the time to Cran that he "got the best pedigreed horse in the Yearling Sales" having been the successful buyer of the colt.
Cran's reply still rings in my ears today, "Oh I don't know about that, the little squib" and "I paid too much for him" in reference to his $42,000 price tag when, Catalogue in hand, he showed me that he had $30,000 written down as his maximum limit ( self valuation ) on him.
It did not take long to have our observations and beliefs about Blue Horizon confirmed as Smiling Shard proved precocious and went on to win both the Australasian Breeders Crown Final 2YO Colts and Geldings and the Australasian Breeders Crown Final 3YO Colts and Geldings displaying both natural precocity and great dash on his way to becoming a millionaire pacer.
So where to from here with further opportunities to double-up on the prize blood of Blue Horizon?
To answer this question we first need to identify those stallions or broodmare sires that hold the presence of Blue Horizon in our part of the world. Forgive us if we have missed any.
They include Panorama ( 1st generation ), Grinfromeartoear ( 2nd generation ), Smiling Shard ( twice at the 3rd generation ), Mr Feelgood ( 3rd generation ), Shoobees Place ( 3rd generation ) and The Storm Inside ( 3rd generation ) whilst Soho Tribeca holds the presence of Panorama at his 5th generational level meaning Blue Horizon appears at his 6th generational level.
We can see from this that all except for Soho Tribeca offer distinct opportunities to create Rasmussen Factors to Blue Horizon where their bloodlines are brought together in a planned mating.
Moving forward though we are particularly excited by the opportunities provided to the young  Alabar based stallion The Storm Inside ( Rocknroll Hanover - Spirited Storm, by Artsplace ) with mares from those other stallions as identified above. Why is that?
The answer lies in the way The Storm Inside has been bred.
And this is the way former Australian pedigree guru Mr Gordon Campbell ( ex Computabred Ltd ) favoured best "Breeding Back Into The Herd" ( aka BBITH ) and hopefully also incorporating a Rasmussen Factor ( breeding back to superior females through different individuals within the first 5 generations ).
The Storm Inside is the product of being "bred back into the herd" utilising a 4x5 Rasmussen Factor to Shifting Sands ( the famed daughter of the "Queen Of Gait" Golden Miss ) through her own powerful daughters Proven Perfect ( granddam of Rocknroll Hanover ) and Shifting Scene ( 3rd dam of Spirited Storm via Blue Horizon ).
So let us do a brief summation of the outcomes of breeding mares by those other stallions we have afore-mentioned to The Storm Inside.

Panorama mare - produces a 4x3 reverse-sexed Rasmussen Factor to Blue Horizon via daughter Stormy Pursuit and son Panorama. This is a similar template to that used to produce both Make Me Smile and Smiling Shard.

Grinfromeartoear mare - produces a 4x4 Rasmussen Factor to Blue Horizon via her daughters the full-sisters Stormy Pursuit and Smile Upon ( both by Storm Damage ).

Mr Feelgood mare - produces a 4x5 Rasmussen Factor to Blue Horizon via her daughters the full-sisters Stormy Pursuit and Smile Upon.

Shoobees Place mare - produces a 4x5 Rasmussen Factor to Blue Horizon via her daughters the half-sisters Stormy Pursuit and Shoobeedoaday.

Smiling Shard mare - produces a 4x5x5 Rasmussen Factor desirably sex-balanced  via the full-sisters Stormy Pursuit and Smile Upon and their half-brother Panorama.

Soho Tribeca mare - perhaps one for the future but produces a 4x7 sex-balanced linebreeding opportunity to Blue Horizon via daughter Stormy Pursuit and son Panorama.

Trainer Emma Stewart's comments on The Storm Inside's traits and attributes on the racetrack are perhaps very salient in terms of what we have identified as being typical of this Family, "He has everything you'd look for with his blistering high speed, beautifully gaited and a real athlete".
As we see it, the only word's missing are "family inheritance" which allowed him to display these great qualities on the racetrack right from an undefeated precocious juvenile through to his 5 year old season where he ran his career best time of 1:50.7 for the mile and winning 16 or his 19 career starts.
We also see The Storm Inside as enjoying considerable success in the future with mares from both the Artsplace and Meadow Skipper sirelines and we will be following his Stud career with a little more than a keen interest.  

      

William Shehan of Ann Arbor, Michigan, was only 5 years old when the mare Miss Pluto Scott was born in 1934.
This was at a time when the trotting gait had an apparent stranglehold on the Standardbred as a breed in North America give or take the odd stallion or superior mare that was beginning to throw dual-gaited horses i.e. could both trot and pace at speed. Others preferred just a single gait, be that just trotting or pacing.
The progeny of the stallion Volomite were beginning to show these dual tendencies whilst broodmare bluehen Spinster was leaving progeny that also displayed these dual attributes.
Shehan became a graduate of his native University of Michigan and for almost 20 years operated a New York Corporate Law Office specialising in International Finance.
His involvement with Standardbreds occurred during his College years where he did some work for the immortal Sanders Russell and gained immense equine knowledge.
In particular, he developed ideas on the kind of gait required to maximise speed and he endeavoured to develop such gait utilising his own quickly growing band of broodmares.
He specifically bred for the traits of good gait and physical type, breeding away from any perceived faults. He was particularly successful in bringing to life several branches of maternal families who have produced top performers for multiple successive generations.
Whilst these have included the likes of Adora, K Nora and Lover's Walk amongst others it is another of his foundation mares' in Golden Miss that we want to specifically focus on for the purposes of this article.
When it came time to mate a near 20 year old mare in Miss Pluto Scott, Shehan didn't have a lot to go on as her only other foal had been the 1951 filly Winifred ( by the Volomite horse King's Counsel ) who can be found in today's pedigrees most commonly as the 4th dam of the stallion Four Starzzz Shark.
But this may have been enough to start Shehan thinking as Volomite was leaving a number of dual-gaited horses as had been his sire Peter Volo, the latter a son of Peter The Great ( who's blood also significantly under-pinned Direct Scooter but that is digressing for now although worth considerable food for thought ).
So when it came time to breed Miss Pluto Scott, a mare 3x3 paternally linebred to Peter The Great ( via his sons Peter Scott and Peter Pluto ) a stallion carrying sex-balanced lines of Peter The Great ( via Peter Volo and Miss Pierette ) appealed greatly as the perfect mate for Miss Pluto Scott. That stallion was Ensign Hanover, a son of Billy Direct, the latter the first pacing horse in history to run 1:55 for the mile.
Shehan knew the appeal of this but at the same time his mare drew huge compatibility from the maternal bloodlines of Ensign Hanover who's dam Helen Hanover was 3x3 delta pattern bred to Peter The Great through son Peter Volo ( who was displaying a tendency to leave a number of pacing-gaited progeny ) and daughter Miss Pierette, the 3rd dam of Ensign Hanover and a member of Spinster's wider family ( Miss Pierette coming through the opposite branch of the famous "Thompson Sisters" in Madam Thompson as opposed to Spinster coming through Madam Thompson's full-sister Tilly Thompson, both grand-daughters of taproot matriarch Minnehaha ).
The above features saw the 1954 filly foal ( to be named Golden Miss ) not only 5x5x4x4 sex-balance linebred to Peter The Great but also 5x4 reverse-sex bred to him as well thus offering both a breeding core and a likely "engine room".
Miss Pluto Scott also held the presence of the mare Kinglyne ( May King - Young Miss ) deep in her maternal bloodlines which also presented compatibility with the bloodlines of Ensign Hanover's fast pacing sire Billy Direct who carried the presence of Bingen ( May King - Young Miss ), a full-brother to Kinglyne, in his own maternal pedigree.
A well-constructed pedigree match by Shehan which was to go on and see Golden Miss earn the accolade of the "Queen of Gait" out on the racetrack.
In 1977 Bill Shehan founded Clermont Farm, a 560 acre Standardbred nursery in Versailles, Kentucky and continued his challenge in bringing to life several branches of maternal families to produce top performers generation upon generation ably assisted by other breeding farms that had purchased fillies from Shehan developed families at various Yearling Sales.
Shehan died in 1991 with his Clermont Farm largely being the home today of what now makes up George Segal's Brittany Farms.
But for now, let us return to the legacy of Shehan's great creation, Golden Miss.
Golden Miss's 8th dam Foot was by the Thoroughbred stallion Glencoe ( a note large heart source ) and out of the mare Fishing Filly ( by Bertrand 1821 ). Maternal recordson the foundations of this family do not extend back any further than Fishing Filly but we do know that Bertrand was by Sir Archy ( 1802 ) and from a mare known as Eliza. The interesting thing to also note here was that Sir Archy was also by a widely acclaimed pioneer of large hearts in the Thoroughbred breed in Diomed ( 1777 ).
Retirement from the racetrack saw the "Queen Of Gait" Golden Miss embark on a broodmare career which saw her produce just the five foals, three colts the most distinguished being Strike Out ( a handsome beautifully gaited high speed individual who was later to make a valued sire ) whilst also producing two fillies in Shifting Sands ( her first foal and foaled in 1965 ) and Malaysia ( her last foal and foaled in 1978 ).
Malaysia had eight foals over a period from 1982 to 1995 but none came close to the greatness of her 1990 colt by Jate Lobell named Riyadh.
Although Riyadh was also to make it eventually to Stud he was never the same star in the breeding barn and Southern Hemisphere breeders have only managed to sight his name albeit fleetingly as the granddam sire of Racing Hill ( by Roll With Joe ) who stood a season or so at Alabar Australia before permanently returning to North America.
Shifting Sands on the other hand had seven foals over a period from 1970 to 1984 with a remarkable six of these being fillies.
Whilst Miss Meadowlark met with modest success, it was three of Shifting Sands other daughters in Shifting Scene, Whispering Sands and Proven Perfect which were to become household names in the pedigrees of today's stallions so familiar to Southern Hemisphere breeders, all under-pinned by the name Golden Miss.
Proven Perfect is listed as having just the one foal in 1990 to Direct Scooter. A filly, she was named Rich N Elegant. She in turn went on to have eight foals over a period from 1995 to 2007, six colts and two fillies. Her claim to fame being not only that she was to produce a siring dynasty but also that she was to become the first broodmare in history to produce three individual millionaire pacers and narrowly missing out on a fourth.    
Rocknroll Hanover, Royalflush Hanover and Red River Hanover all acclaimed such status with Rustler Hanover narrowly missing out joining this trio.
Of Rich N Elegant's two fillies, BJ's Canouan ( a full-sister to Rocknroll Hanover) has yet to make an appearance in any stallion pedigrees in our part of the world whilst Rye Hanover ( a full-sister to Red River Hanover and Rustler Hanover ) in recent times has resided at Benstud in Australia and is listed as the dam of thirteen live foals with her 2009 colt by Christian Cullen named Blazin N Cullen being easily her best racetrack performer to date with lifetime earnings of $576,352 but she does have four daughters in Treat Me Good, Rockahula Baby, Dancing With Daisy and Smooth Rye to continue the Proven Perfect tentacle of Shifting Sands branch.
Another of Shifting Sands produce was Whispering Sands who produced five foals from 1975 to 1990 with all five being fillies though only two have made their way to our part of the world as names we have become familiar with in the pedigrees of stallions. These two are her first foal Windward Passage ( 1975 ) and Mystical Mood ( 1985 ).
Mystical Mood had four foals from 1989 to 2002, two colts and two fillies. Mystical Prince went on to become a stallion with moderate success in Australia whilst Deadly Desire amongst her two progeny to Life Sign left Real Desire ( the great racetrack foe of Bettor's Delight ).
Windward Passage amongst her four filly foals over the period 1981 to 1983 left Secret Passage who went on to become the dam of Safely Kept, a revered sire in Australia who could leave equally good pacers and trotters.
But of all the grand-daughters of Golden Miss to descend through Shifting Sands it is perhaps Shifting Scene who has been the most under-rated especially in terms of the deeds of her daughters as opposed to the likes of Proven Perfect who has made her impression largely through the deeds of her sons.
Shifting Scene is recorded as having twelve offspring over a period from 1976 until 1991. During this time she produced eleven fillies and a single colt, a 1989 production by the name of Present Danger.
Of her eleven fillies, three have presented themselves in stallion pedigrees in our part of the world in more recent times.
They are her first two foals Blue Horizon ( 1976 ), Blue Gingham ( 1977 ) and Sonspree ( 1984 ).
Amongst Sonspree's five recorded foals ( three fillies and two colts ) only her last foal Treasure For Trish ( 1992 ) has kept her name abreast of downunder breeders as the dam of the filly Lifesliltreasure. The latter is best known as the dam of the stallion Control The Moment, the best racetrack son to date for the stallion Well Said.
Control The Moment had been available to Australian breeders until the 2021 season via frozen semen ex KTC Bloodstock in Western Australia.
Blue Gingham is recorded as having only the three foals from 1982 to 1989, two fillies and a colt named Armbro Khaki.
One of her two fillies was named Enroute ( again a first foal ) who features as the third dam of the recent Alabar shuttle stallion Sunshine Beach making Blue Gingham the fourth dam of Sunshine Beach.
Blue Horizon was the first foal of Shifting Scene and a full-sister to Blue Gingham, both being daughters of Meadow Skipper.
Of the three daughters of Shifting Scene most familiar to downunder breeders, Blue Horizon is also most probably the most familiar and certainly the largest producer with eight recorded foals from 1981 to 1995, four of which Australian breeders in particular can identify with. In total she had two colts and six fillies.
Her first three foals are all familiar names especially to Australian breeders.
Her first foal, a colt by Abercrombie, was named Panorama who made an indelible mark in Australian standardbred breeding circles whilst her next two foals the full-sisters Stormy Pursuit and Smile Upon ( both by Storm Damage ) were about to leave their imprint as also a later daughter in Shoobeedoaday ( 1995 ).
Stormy Pursuit can be found in the pedigree of the promising young stallion The Storm Inside ( available to both Australian and New Zealand breeders ) as his granddam whilst Smile Upon is the dam of the highly admired Grinfromeartoear and can also be found in the pedigrees of his sons Mr Feelgood and Smiling Shard. 
Shoobeedoaday can be found as the granddam of the Artsplace stallion Shoobees Place who these days stands in Western Australia alongside Bonavista Bay.
The sole purpose of this article was to capture the essence of the Golden Miss influence , not in it's entirety, but more with respect to it's relevance to and influence in Australasia.
In our next article, we are going to stay on this theme but single out just one of it's "player's" who we have touched on in this article, and explore their potential impact on future breedings.
​So stay tuned. 

 The death of the champion thoroughbred Secretariat in October 1989 and his subsequent autopsy findings revealing an enormous 22lbs heart size was the inspiration behind writer Marianna Haun and her 1997 work the X-Factor Theory claiming that the large heart gene is located on the X-chromosome hence meaning that a colt foal can only inherit an over-sized heart from his dam and as a stallion this can only be passed on through his daughters.
Such a brave theory is only that and in more recent times with modern day mapping of the equine genome there is no scientific confirmation that heart size is passed on via the X chromosome.
But what we do know from in the thoroughbred world is that certain female lines can throw horses that carry larger hearts than normal and this size can vary dependent on the taproot source.
Marianna Haun in her famous workings of the late 1990's contended that 28%of the thoroughbred population carried the large heart gene in some shape or form.
Large hearts of up to three times normal size ( estimated at 6 lbs back then ) were initially attributed to the male forebear Eclipse ( 1764 ) who possessed a 14 lbs heart ( the same size as that of Phar Lap's ).
A decade or so later along came Diomed ( 1777 ), the best racehorse in Great Britain since Eclipse, whose daughters it was claimed could pass on 18 lbs hearts.
A widely speculated belief was that the mare Pocahontas ( 1837 ) was the source of all present day large hearts, something widely dispelled by large heart authority Harold Matthews who claimed that Pocahontas possessed a 15 lbs heart and because of this she was only capable of passing on a 15 lbs heart, in other words the heart size does not go up or down but rather remains constant from generation to generation.
Matthew's identified four what he termed " base root " large heart mares originating from in the mid-1600's.
These included Darcy's Royal Mare ( 1690's ), the source of an 18 lbs heart, Royal Mare ( circa 1665 ) and Montagu Mare ( circa 1650 ), both the source of 16 lbs hearts, and the Vinter Mare who writer James Hardiman in his work "Confused Pedigrees and Mistaken Identities" believes was the same mare as the Montagu Mare by another name.
It has been claimed that early large heart progenitors were in existence before the thoroughbred was established, many of unclaimed parentage originating at Darcy's Stud, being left over "Hobby-Running" horses of King Charles reign ( aka Royal Mares ) of which there was an estimated population of just over 100 mares.
These mares did not carry any Barb, Arabian or Turk appendages of the "Oriental" breeds, the first of these entering the thoroughbred breeding genepool being the Old Moroccan Barb ( aka Fairfax Moroccan Barb ) in 1637 as seen in the pedigree of the Spanker Mare.
So can we relate any of this development of the large heart gene inheritance in the thoroughbred across to the standardbred, a breed which is far younger in establishment but which derived much of it's origins from the thoroughbred breed in association with other breeds of defined gait such as the Clay and Morgan breed?
In an attempt to answer this question we would like to focus back on the thoroughbred stallion Diomed.
Eclipse has long been considered as a prime mover in the development of the large heart gene in modern day thoroughbred pedigrees through his daughters but it is perhaps his near contemporary Diomed that has had a far more profound effect on the modern day standardbred.
Diomed was intensely linebred to the Spanker Mare ( no fewer than 9 close-up presences including this mare being his own 7th dam ) but more importantly he carries the large heart gene of Darcy's Royal Mare ( a source of 18 lbs hearts ) being out of a mare named Sister To Juno, by Spectator, out of Partner Mare, out of Bonny Lass, by Bay Bolton, out of Makeless Mare, out of Brimmer Mare, by Brimmer, out of Darcy's Royal Mare.
Whilst other large heart sources are attributable in the standardbred world as coming through the little known origins of the stallion Pilot Jnr ( and passed on through his daughters ) other acclaimed female sources are the likes of Midnight ( 1865 ) a daughter of Pilot Jnr with two lines of Diomed and a line of Glencoe ( another thoroughbred large heart source ), Esther ( 1860's ) from the Diomed sireline and possessing five lines of Diomed along with her dam being bred on a 3x3 reverse-sex cross to Glencoe, and Miss Russell, the last-mentioned being a daughter of Pilot Jnr out of Sally Russell, the latter also from the Diomed sireline.
In contemporary standardbred breeding circles any mention of the large heart gene and first thoughts move towards Tar Heel or more specifically towards the daughters of Tar Heel.
This is little surprising as Tar Heel's tenth dam is the thoroughbred Robert Wickliffe Mare, a daughter of Diomed.
This means that Robert Wickliffe Mare was a carrier of Diomed's large heart gene directly attributable to Darcy's Royal Mare ( a source of 18 lbs hearts ).
Of particular interest here is that Robert Wickliffe Mare is also the granddam of Family 558 matriarch Jessie Pepper which sees the maternal line through Princess Royal, Roya McKinney, Rose Scott, Rosette and Leta Long all equipped with the large heart gene.
From yesteryear we have the stallions Kentucky and No Nukes as well as present day stallions such as Rock N Roll Heaven descending from the Jessie Pepper family.
Daughters of these male influences are potential large heart gene carriers.
But for now, let us return to Tar Heel and more specifically his own pedigree composition.
Tar Heel is by Billy Direct out of Leta Long, by Volomite out of Rosette.
Whilst his sire Billy Direct does carry the presence of Midnight deep in his maternal bloodlines it is through his dam Leta Long that Tar Heel's large heart gene is derived.
But from which side of her pedigree is the key question?
Leta Long's sire Volomite is out of the mare Cita Frisco who is by San Francisco out of Mendocita.
Mendocita is a daughter of Esther ( see comments earlier as above ).
San Francisco's dam is Oniska who is linebred  4x5 to Miss Russell ( also see earlier comments above ), a daughter of Pilot Jnr.
Miss Russell is herself heavily inbred to strains of Diomed inheriting one strain through the dam of her sire Pilot Jnr with her own dam Sally Russell being more intensely bred to Diomed than any other female Stud Book product.
Plenty of genetic connections to large heart influences here but it is through Leta Long's dam Rosette that the large heart gene has been passed to Tar Heel according to "the experts" on this subject.
It is not our intention to be contentious here but rather just informative.
Rosette is claimed to have derived the large heart gene from her sire Mr McElwyn ( even though her damline traces directly back to Diomed ) who in turn derived his from his dam Widow Maggie who got hers from Peter The Great who got his from the brilliantly fast mare Santos.
Santos got her gene in turn from her sire Grand Sentinel who got his from dam Maid Of Lexington who got hers from Mambrino Pilot who inherited his from Juliet, another daughter of Pilot Jnr.
And from Tar Heel down the line the large heart gene passes with Bret Hanover inheriting the large heart gene from his dam Brenda Hanover, a daughter of Tar Heel, meaning Bret Hanover had the ability to pass on the gene through his daughters as well.
Before we leave our segment on Tar Heel we would like to share a couple of interesting facts on this stallion.
Tar Heel derived his name from the state of North Carolina where the practice of stripping pine trees to produce turpentine earned these workers the nickname of "Tar Heelers".
Tar Heel, a Little Brown Jug winner himself, was known as the "King Of Queens" in the breeding barn because the genes he passed onto his daughters were considered "very special".
Even today, we still laud the deeds of a Tar Heel daughter such as Romola Hanover when we peruse the pedigrees of current top stallions such as Art Major and Captaintreacherous.
Back in the 60's, 70's and early 80's it was claimed that Tar Heel's daughters propped up most stallions and both launched and saved many as they invariably produced a stallion's best runner.
Tar Heel ( 1948-82 ) lived to the tender age of 34 years at a time when the average lifespan of standardbred horses was 24 to 27 years. A son of Tar Heel in Waco Hanover recently became the longest lived standardbred on record reaching 41 years and 281 days.
One can only ponder at the thought that some of these achievements were heart related.
The interest in large inherent hearts and heart scores will always remain when one can find or develop a superior "V8 versus a 4-Cylinder" product.
A larger heart can pump more oxygen giving the horse optimum speed, greater endurance and capacity for exercise.
Australian researcher Dr James Steel created the Heart Score as a genetic marker for X-Factor through the use of an Electrocardiogram ( ECG ) to measure heart size, a scale that correlates heart weight, stroke volume, cardiac output  and aerobic power.
Heart scores of average horses were typically in the range of 104-116 but Steel determined a break point of 117 for female and 120 for male horses to pinpoint potential larger heart animals.
As a point of interest here Secretariat was asserted to possess a heart score of 180.
Another study of standardbred ( trotters ) by Nielsen and Vibe-Petersen of the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University of Copenhagen found that 41 stallions with a heart score of 115 or greater amassed double the earnings of 81 stallions with heart scores below 115.
In conclusion, on this non-exact science of the large heart gene, we do hope though that your funds investment scheme does include a few shares in a medical instruments manufacturer as the demand for stethoscopes begins to reach insatiable heights in the quest for that larger hearted horse with the competitive edge.  
       

Astute standardbred breeders ( of both pacers and trotters ) will be well aware of the many good horses produced that carry a double ( via two individual ancestors ) of the revered female bluehen Extasy ( 1896 ).
We can quote as examples the likes of Beach Towel $2,570,357 ( the best offspring of French Chef ), Western Hanover $2,541,647 ( the best offspring of No Nukes ), Cam Fella $2,041,367 ( the best offspring of Most Happy Fella ) and Jenna's Beach Boy $1,972,172 ( the best offspring of Beach Towel ) as all carrying doubles of Extasy.
La Coocaracha, General Jujon, Safe And Sound and Rowleyalla were all top Australian racehorses that carried a double of Extasy.
And so too did one of Australia's best sires of all time in the Cam Fella horse Fake Left.
An additional line of Extasy through a different individual to those already present in Fake Left produced some of this stallion's finest racetrack products the likes of Drop Dead Gorgeous, General Jujon, Bronski Warrior, Aquagold, Cherry Cheer and Five Star Comfort.
It also produced his best runner, the incredible Blacks A Fake.
And it is Blacks A Fake who we will briefly use as an example of illustration here.
His sire Fake Left carries Extasy through two individuals; Good Time ( as present in grandsire Most Happy Fella ) who holds Extasy as his 5th dam via her daughter Pleasant Thoughts, and Dale Frost whose damsire Raider carries as his own granddamsire Prince McKinney, a son of Extasy.
So we have Extasy coming through son Prince McKinney and daughter Pleasant Thoughts in Fake Left.
To add the third individual line we need to analyse the pedigree of Blacks A Fake's dam Colada Hanover ( a daughter of Vanston Hanover ) noting with special interest in Vanston Hanover's direct maternal ( or "bottom line" ) that his 4th dam Vesta's Pride is a daughter of Spencer.
Spencer's dam is Petrex, a daughter of Extasy, meaning Blacks A Fake carries in his pedigree three individual lines of Extasy desirably sex-balanced for maximum influence through Extasy's son Prince McKinney and daughters Pleasant Thoughts and Petrex.
The interesting thing to note here specifically with reference to Blacks A Fake's pedigree is that these lines of Extasy come through both pacing and trotting forebears yet they appear to fuse with relative comfort.
To further understand this we are best guided by both the origins of Extasy as well as her own racetrack and breeding exploits.
Extasy's pedigree and family origins are the oldest of any Standardbred tracing back through foundation mare Kathleen ( Family 123 ) who was by Pilot Jnr, the only trotting sire that Kathleen's dam Little Miss ( a full-blooded thoroughbred mare by Sovereign ) was put to.
Little Miss traces back to an English thoroughbred mare ( Cub Mare ) foaled around 1700.
Little Miss's own pedigree was heavily immersed with crosses of the Spanker Mare and her dam Old Peg with the latter tracing closely to great English thoroughbred sires such as Flying Childers, Bartlett's Childers, Jigg, Fox and Basto, many of whom were heavily inbred. Retain a mental note of this for later in this article.
It was Kathleen's mating with Harold that produced Ethelwyn in 1882.
Pilot Jnr, sire of Kathleen, earned a reputation as one of the greatest broodmare sires of all time, his daughters striking accord with a wide range of sires.
Sires of more recent times benefitting from multiple infusions of Pilot Jnr include the likes of Adios, Albatross, Artsplace, Western Hanover, Speedy Crown, Super Bowl and Valley Victory.
Ethelwyn was bred on a template, Harold over a Pilot Jnr mare ( Kathleen ), the same cross that produced the elite racemare of that time Maud S.
Harold was inbred 2x2 paternally to Abdallah I, with his sire Hambletonian 10 and dam Enchantress both being out of maresby Bellfounder.
Ethelwyn's mating with Dictator was to produce Grendel, an unraced mare who went on to become the 5th dam of the trotting stallion Bill Gallon, best known as the sire of Galophone ( winner of 51 of his 112 starts ).
Another daughter of Ethelwyn's in Impetuous equalled the World Record for a 2YO trotter and went on to become the ancestress of Southwind Tempo ( $2.4 million, 1:48.2, a multiple Group winning pacing mare ).
But it was Ethelwyn's mating to Baron Wilkes that was to produce Extasy in 1896.
Extasy was 3x3 paternally linebred to Hambletonian 10.
Her sire Baron Wilkes was by George Wilkes, a son of Hambletonian 10 and flagbearer for a sireline branch of Hambletonian 10 for many decades but near extinction today.
Baron Wilkes dam Belle Patchen was by Mambrino Patchen, a great broodmare sire who carried multiple strains of a significant English thoroughbred influence, Diomed.
Diomed had 4 crosses of Flying Childers, 1 of Bartlett's Childers, 2 of Jiggs, 1 of Fox and 2 of Basto.
Any of this sound familiar? Just take a look back at our previous comments on Little Miss to spot the remarkable resemblance.
Could the blood of Mambrino Patchen ( standardbred ) and that of Little Miss ( thoroughbred ) have fused in the one pedigree i.e.that of Extasy to produce a legacy mare?
Diomed was the first winner of the Epsom Derby in 1780 and has long been referenced as a possible large heart source.
Just to digress here for a moment. Tar Heel ( through his daughters ) has always been recognised in standardbred breeding circles as a large heart progenitor and it may be no coincidence that Tar Heel's 10th dam Robert Wickliffe Mare is also a daughter of Diomed.
Diomed is intensely inbred to the Spanker Mare with no fewer than nine lines, one of which features in his direct maternal bloodlines where we see the Spanker Mare featuring as his 7th dam.
Trotting breeding enthusiasts in particular may be interested in a comment in William Preston Russell's book "Kingdom For The Horse" where he noted that the heaviest concentration of Diomed can be found in the descendants of Miss Russell, Midnight, Mambrino Patchen and American Star.
Switching focus back onto Extasy, as a racehorse, her most notable feature was that she was dual-gaited and immensely talented in both gaits.
In 1898 she won the 2YO Pacing Division of the Kentucky Futurity, setting a World Record for her age and gait which stood for 29 years until broken in 1927.
In 1899, as a 3YO trotter, Extasy won a heat in the Senior Division of America's oldest Futurity, another significant accomplishment.
As a broodmare Extasy produced two sons and four daughters.
Her sons both became sires, Prince McKinney ( by McKinney ) and Lord Dewey ( by Admiral Dewey ) with each siring about a dozen mares that would their bloodlines. The closest these two can be found in the pedigrees of Australasian mares today are through the presences of Sandydale ( his dam is by Lord Dewey ) and Raider ( his granddam is by Prince McKinney ) with the latter being far more common as the damsire of Dale Frost.
It is however through the daughters of Extasy that she can also be found reasonably comfortably in modern day pedigrees.
Extasy had four daughters; Petrex, Ethel Volo, Pleasant Thoughts and Pleasant Memories.
Whilst Pleasant Memories has made little impact in extending Extasy's presence in the breeding world there is little doubt that the other three have produced dynasties across America, Europe and Australasia and it is from these three that descend past and current influences ( male and female ) carrying lines that trace directly back to Extasy.
By looking at these three in a little more depth we hope we will unlock some modern day influences ( "the couriers" ) that you can look at for additional lines of Extasy just as the breeders of Blacks A Fake may have done with their mare Colada Hanover.
Petrex ( by Peter The Great ) left a predominantly trotting influence and was influential in Australasia through her son Spencer ( still present in numerous present day trotting pedigrees ) and daughter Esprit ( imported downunder ).
From Esprit descended Inter-Dominion champions of both gaits in Castleton's Pride and Sir Castleton ( trotting ) and Golden Reign (pacing ) whilst Spencer has a major role to play in Extasy being found in the pedigrees of the trotting influences Hoot Mon, Florican, Rodney, Spencer Scott and Emily Scott ( female ) to name but a few so all these presences can be looked for in the bloodlines of the new sires of today.
Pleasant Thoughts ( by Prodigal ) commenced her breeding career in much the same way as Petrex looking like she was going to establish a strong trotting bias.
She was the dam of World Champion trotting mare Nedda who trotted a mile in 1:581/4 in 1922, a time that was to stand for another 19 years.
It was however Nedda's daughters Meda ( 5th dam of World Champion racemare Handle With Care and 9th dam of the ultra fast Hurrikane Kingcole ) and Nedda Guy who went on to swing this branch of Extasy's family into full pacing mode with Nedda Guy in particular having a large influence through the impact of her two daughters in On Time and Olympia.
On Time had six offspring, one son Good Time ( found in many modern pedigrees of today ) and his 3/4 sister Adioo Time ( dam of Able Bye Bye ) whilst Good Time's four other full-sisters ( My Time, Next Time, Our Time and Your Time ) are much harder to find in modern day pedigrees.
John Bradley in his wonderful 1999 masterpiece "Modern Pacing Sire Lines" in his section on Good Time stated "Good Time's maternal family is known as Kathleen ( or Ethelwyn ) and is one which has shown extreme speed for decades".
No wonder breeders look for additional individual lines of Extasy to breed good horses like Blacks A Fake!
Good Time can be found in numerous pedigrees. Just to name a few relevant to our part of the world that may be found back a few generations in the broodmares of today are Best Of All, Boyden Hanover, Colombia George, Race Time, Butler BG, Chairmanoftheboard, Dragon's Lair and Miles McCool whilst it must not be forgotten that he can be found tucked behind influential broodmares as well the likes of Helen Hanover etc.
Olympia stakes her claim to fame as being the 4th dam of the bold front running free-legged pacer and wonderful outcross influence Big Towner ( who can be found in numerous pedigrees today including through a female double in a stallion as recent as Always B Miki ). Big Towner has a presence in older stallions the likes of Stature but is also present in a host of more contemporary stallions the likes of Art Major (and his sire sons ), Fear The Dragon, Stay
Hungry and others.
The third and final big producing daughter of Extasy is Ethel Volo ( by Binvolo ).
Ethel Volo only had three daughters.
Whilst one was largely of no consequence, Ethelinda was a Kentucky Futurity winner who left Hambletonian winner McLin Hanover ( later exported to Italy where he became a champion sire )but far greater things were to aspire from another of Ethel Volo's daughters in Mimzy.
Mimzy left two full-sisters in Pick Up and Follow Me, both by the relatively unheralded but well bred Follow Up.
Follow Up was 3x3 delta pattern bred to Peter The Great and descended maternally from the family of Minnehaha coming through the Madam Thompson branch of the famous "Thompson Sisters". As downunder breeders you will probably be more familiar with legendary broodmare Spinster coming from this family although Spinster does come through the other branch of the Thompson Sisters via Tillie Thompson.
It should therefore come as no surprise that Pick Up's progeny were pure pacers and Follow Me's progeny were pure trotters as we have seen this divergence with even Spinster's
progeny just as much as we have seen it with the family of Extasy.
Follow Me's daughter Stenographer was superior to the trotting colts of her time and became the first 3YO trotting filly to claim the North American Horse Of The Year title.
Stenographer left Keystone Selena ( by Hickory Pride ) who was to become USA 2YO Trotting Filly Of The Year ( claiming an amazing 21 juvenile wins ) and subsequently the granddam of the successful Australian trotting stallion Keystone Salute.
But it was Follow Me's full-sister Pick Up who was to provide a far wider impact in the pacing ranks through her Adios daughter Dottie's Pick.
Dottie's Pick was to have six foals; two sons in Armbro Hurricane and Eagle Armbro who were full-brothers by Tar Heel and both finding their way to New Zealand as sires. She also had four daughters in Armbro Fancy and Armbro Kerry ( full-sisters also by Tar Heel ) as well as Armbro Impel ( by Capetown ) and Armbro Lenore ( by Bye Bye Byrd ).
Of her four daughters, two in particular, Armbro Fancy and Armbro Impel should be familiar to Australian and New Zealand breeders as they feature in the pedigrees of two of the most dominant stallions of the last decade ( both North America and Australia and New Zealand ) and will continue to do so for decades to come through the exploits of their sons and grandsons as well as their broodmare daughters. We refer here to Bettor's Delight and Somebeachsomewhere.
Armbro Fancy is the granddam of Armbro Emerson, damsire of Bettor's Delight, who has been acclaimed as the most likely source of speed in Bettor's Delight's progeny but we will also acknowledge here that Bettor's Delight's dam Classic Wish was also a source of high speed. Did she acquire her speed from her sire Armbro Emerson?
Armbro Impel features as the dam of Armbro Nesbit who presides in the maternal bloodlines of Somebeachsomewhere behind the latter's damsire Beach Towel. In fact, Armbro Nesbit is Beach Towel's damsire.
What is of interest here is that when we look at the full 7-generational pedigrees of both Bettor's Delight and Somebeachsomewhere we find that Bettor's Delight possesses three individual strains of Extasy via son Prince McKinney ( Raider ) and daughters Pleasant Thoughts ( Good Time ) and Ethel Volo ( Armbro Emerson ) whilst Somebeachsomewhere goes one better with four individual lines of Extasy.
These come via son Prince McKinney ( via Raider as present in Dale Frost ) and daughters Pleasant Thoughts ( via Good Time in Most Happy Fella ), Ethel Volo ( via Armbro Nesbit in Beach Towel ), and the one Bettor's Delight hasn't got in Petrex ( via Spencer who can be found as the sire of Averill, damsire of Steady Star ).
Moving forward, these Extasy presences will mean it is going to be a good deal more difficult to find a new individual line of Extasy in a mare for the sons and grandsons of Somebeachsomewhere than it is for the sons and grandsons of Bettor's Delight where there is marginally more wriggle room.
With these useful guidelines time for you to to build your own Blacks A Fake.
        

The economic environment of the 1980's was best described by author Stephen Stratford in his book The Dirty Decade as "New Zealand's adolescence, full of cringe-making behaviour, styles and attitudes, but a necessary part of our development as a nation".
In particular, the period 1982 through to 1987 was a time of excess and indulgence. The sharemarket soared and the champagne flowed.
Even I can vouch for this personally as it corresponded with my own time working in Wellington for a multi-national oil giant where going out to lunch more than once a week frequently morphed into staying for dinner as well to be followed by an unwanted scramble to Wellington Railway Station to catch the last train to Upper Hutt at 11.00pm.
They were times when lavish restaurants also became extended business workplaces.
If you were in the corporate world then borrowing money went seemingly unabated, paper worth was colossal amongst the many corporate high flyers and fashion events like the Yearling Sales became magnets as prices rocketed through the roof with a flurry of new entrants as new Stud Farms sprung up and ownership syndications flourished.
One man who was to first hand experience this new found frenzied environment, described by Stratford as being a backlash to the policies of the Muldoon government ( "Muldoon supressed us for so long that when freedom came we, or at least lots of us, exploded in craziness and bad behaviour" ), was David W Phillips.
A brother to accountant Steve Phillips, a co-founder of the Amateur Drivers movement along with his wife Anne ( who also devoted her time to the Northern Branch of the Cadet training scheme and a direct descendant of the famous Grice family of Seaview near Ashburton ), it is fair to say Dave Phillips had an introduction into the world of Standardbreds that also included a bit of pedigree already in the Industry.
Once acclaimed as New Zealand's "most eligible bachelor" amongst the leaders of the corporate high flyers when he was at the helm of both Pacer Pacific Corporation and Pacer Kerridge Corporation, he also found time to establish firstly Redvale Standardbreds ( mainly a Syndication vehicle ) and then National Bloodstock Corporation and it is through these two businesses that he first came to prominence as a significant participant in the Standardbred Industry.
National Bloodstock became an importer of North American stallions and quickly became a serious competitor to the highly established Nevele R Stud ( owned and operated by equally fierce competitors in Wayne Francis and Bob McArdle ) so much so that when Dave attended a Nevele R broodmare sale Wayne had Dave arrested and removed from the property. No love lost here right from the outset and it continued at a later date at the NZ Breeders Broodmare Of The Year Awards in Auckland where Patric O'Brien ( a former Studmaster at Nevele R and then working for Dave at National Bloodstock ) tried to arrange for Bob McArdle to have a drink with Dave. Whilst Dave agreed to this, Bob McArdle point blank refused.
So just like in the corporate world there was no love lost in the face of stiff competition.
From the outset of the establishment of National Bloodstock, Dave Phillips was destined to do things his way and on his terms, something that was to lead to division amongst breeders either loving him or loathing him and a determinant that would ultimately restrict breeding numbers to a great number of his stallion's including the highly effective Soky's Atom.
Just like in the corporate boardroom, Dave Phillips was establishing a reputation in the Standardbred breeding industry as a hard dealer or at the very least a difficult dealer.
When importing stallions from North America you do take a huge gamble as invariably the best are retained locally and we can often end up with the offcasts, good on blood but often poor on performance. And then there is the further worry over "will they work" across our existing broodmare genepool?
Amongst the many stallions that National Bloodstock imported into New Zealand were the failures, for one reason or another, such as Jiffy Boy, Jive Talk II, Apollo's Way and Rashad but equally where there are failures there are also successes with the likes of Soky's Atom, New York Motoring, Butler BG, Chiola Hanover and perhaps even the under-rated and moderately successful Devil's Adversary.
The likes of Soky's Atom and Chiola Hanover could be argued as having a defining impact on the advance of the New Zealand standardbred as a breed.
Through this period Dave was so immersed in Standardbred genetics and pedigrees that all 32 of his National Bloodstock broodmare band fitted into either his "A" grade team of mares, "B" grade team or his "G" grade team of mares.
When Studmaster Patric O'Brien asked Dave where the C,D,E and F grades were located he was replied to "G is for Genetics".
From a pool of 32 mares "with no breeding at all" and "certainly zero commercially" Patric mentioned that Dave worked on his theories and crosses with them to produce " a lot of good horses". Breeding for type and genetic characteristics was always important to Dave and was a major part of his success. Tight Connection, Desperate Comment and Spirit Of Zeus were three that he was extremely proud of when they were only a few days old.
I can also personally endorse these comments and sentiments of Patric O'Brien as from memory in April 2009 I think it was, I had the privilege of having a meeting with Dave at his Heartland Farm property in Pokeno and one of the things he did was take me around every one of his mares ( most with foals at foot and back in foal ) telling me what each foal was by and why he had bred the mare to the stallion and pointing out the pleasing outcomes he had achieved with each foal vindicating his initial decisions. This was Dave the perfectionist at work.
But it was not wholly about North America with his stallion choices.
The brilliant juvenile Tuapeka Knight was acquired by National Bloodstock for NZ$1 Million as a future stallion prospect but ongoing fertility issues thwarted what promised to be a stellar stallion career whilst a subsequent wave of North American stallions included Sands A Flyin and Road Machine.
National Bloodstock also imported quality mares the likes of Becalm Lobell ( granddam of I Can Doosit ), Tabella Bindy ( dam of Desperate Comment ) and perhaps the best and most influential of all on the New Zealand breed in Tabella Beth ( ancestress of Lazarus ).
The latter is now well-established as New Zealand's premier pacing Commercial maternal family.
When Dave bred Tabella Beth in 1979 she was to become one of his first horses syndicated for racing from one of the first Redvale Standardbred Syndicates that he had established prior to the founding of National Bloodstock a short time later.
And it was during her three year old season that she was to realise her trademark high sustained speed under the training care of John Butcher winning four of her last seven starts three year old starts and subsequently being sold to a USA buyer for NZ$100,000.
But Dave;s affinity with this mare was such that he was always destined to buy her back for breeding once her North American racedays were complete and so it eventuated.
With the Stock market having been on an unchecked bull run for five years from 1982 through to the latter part of 1987 and the digital world rapidly advancing and providing fingertip financial transparency, change was about to implode the economy world wide and on Black Monday 19 October 1987 all hell was to break loose, the American Stock Exchange falling over 20% in a single day.
Companies, many high flying household names, collapsed right left and centre and many businesses were to become casualties seemingly over night including National Bloodstock.
I recall some years later Geoff Small who worked at National Bloodstock at the time ( along with Aria, his wife to be, and also Peter Davis, Geoff's boss at the time ) telling me how under the cover of darkness he had to quickly move the nine horses he was training and had based at the premises, out to the sanctuary of Charlie Hadley's Pukeoware farm including horses such as Motoring Magic.
Not only did this market crash spell the end of National Bloodstock, it was to bring the curtain down on widespread syndications and also spelt the end for David Phillips as a corporate high flyer just as it did for a great deal of other "household names" in the corporate world, many of whom subsequently found themselves having to face court proceedings like David.
Life was to change for Dave as he regrouped to Heartland Farm with a smaller band of mares which he had retained and the stallions redeployed in other directions.
And some of this change I was to experience albeit from a distance.
Through my time working at Linden Park Stud in 2002 and 2003 for Graham Bell who had purchased the stallion's Sands A Flyin and Road Machine from Dave and played host to Dave's mares during breeding season ( part of the Sale conditions for these stallion's was that Dave had ongoing breeding entitlements to them ) I was able to see the tougher business side of Dave when it came to routine monthly financial settlement of his account, one meeting at the Stud resulting in Graham rejoining us for the day's work with tears rolling down his eyes and it took a lot for my old Tuakau Terrabulls Golden Oldies rugby buddy to show that level of emotion.
Resolution was not obviously attained at that meeting.
Through the period when I worked as part of the ground staff team at Geoff Small Racing Stables in his halcyon years of 2005-2008 I got to observe another side of Dave which exemplified his passion for his animals and the healing and medicinal applications of various plants and herbs. This was Dave the scientist and botanist. Often he would rock up to the stables with great bunches of willow tree leaves and other medicinal plants which he would toss into the boxes of his two racehorses Geoff was training for him, High Flyin and Mr Chin.
In April 2009 as part of my NZ  Agency arrangement with one of the stallion farms I then worked for, I was to have a much closer personal encounter with Dave.
This involved a scheduled two hour mid-afternoon meeting with him at his Heartland Farm property. The two hour meeting extended to a four and a half hour visit and saw me departing in unplanned darkness.
As I drove up his long driveway I could not help but being "taken" with the little white signs prevailing saying that "Every living insect/animal deserves a life." Dave obviously also had a spiritual and philosophical side, that was in evidence.
As I sat upstairs at the balcony table outside the Attic entrance which he inhabited, he offered me a schooner of his home grown water fresh from the natural spring at Heartland along with one for himself adding the reassuring comment to our discussions that "I've been drinking this water for 20 years and it hasn't killed me yet" in glowing testimony to how good and pure it was including going into it's chemical test results.
Perhaps I treated some of his scientific discussions a little lightly as I was in deep concentration mentally telling myself not to slap and kill the mosquito that was free-feasting on the blood in my forearm.
Today, as you drive past Heartland Farm on Highway 2 there is a sign advertising that this water can be purchased. Marketing always wins out in the end.
This was a side of Dave which I was over the years becoming more familiar with, peaking one day when I picked up a copy of The New Zealand Herald and on the front page a half-page photo of a teepee village set up by alternative lifestylers in one of the paddocks at Heartland Farm.
By this time the entrepreneurial skills of David Phillips had led him to pursuing a Commercial life in St Petersburg in Russia, a port city on the Baltic Sea. Founded in 1703, appropriately by Peter The Great, St Petersburg was the Imperial capital of Russia for two centuries before becoming Petrograd in 1914 and Leningrad in 1924-91 but with the collapse of Communism Leningrad's name was returned to St Petersburg with the assistance of the Russian Orthodox Church. It is also Russia's cultural centre with a population in excess of 5 million.
Rather fittingly, the statue of "The Bronze Horseman" ( aka Peter The Great ) stands proudly even today in the Senate Square in St Petersburg.
Each year Dave endeavours to return to New Zealand to take in a few months of our peak New Zealand summer ( in reality escaping the harsh Russian winter where -20 degrees is often the norm as the outside temperature in St Petersburg ) coinciding with the annual February Yearling Sales.
It was during one of these annual pilgrimages in more recent times ( when I was NZ Agent for the stallions of the NSW based Pepper Tree Farm such as Rock N Roll Heaven, Roll With Joe, Sportswriter,Always A Virgin and Aces N Sevens ) that Dave presented me with a beautiful and very professional ring binder dossier detailing each of his mares and the stallion's that he identified as being most compatible for each mare including some "outside" stallion's as well.
Each selection came with his personal justifications identifying the strength of each mating.
The aim was to put a package deal together for maximum cost benefit not only in terms of Stud Fees but also some ancillary costs. While a deal was not concluded, I was so impressed with the depths of Dave's work that I have retained this dossier to the present day.
One could write a book about David Phillips impact on the Standardbred breeding world in New Zealand and with experience he was not short of an opinion on something.
Just like stallion selection, sometimes you get it right and sometimes you can get it wrong.
One memorable one that was widely quoted at the time was when the first of the Direct Scooter invasion of stallions occurred in the 90's through the likes of In The Pocket, OK Bye, Deal Direct, Direct Flight, WRH and company in New Zealand and Stoneridge Scooter, Yankee Sensation and company in Australia.
Dave was on record as saying that Direct Scooter blood would not work with the saturation of Meadow Skipper-line mares that presided in New Zealand at that time.
But work with it, it did, and with resounding results, so much so that just about every horse bred carrying a 4x4 or 4x5 reverse-sex cross to Meadow Skipper ( as a result of a mating with In The Pocket ) was like a licence to print money.
One can only admire the courage of Dave Phillips here in coming clean and admitting publicly that he did get that one wrong proving that none of us are infallible in life's forecasts and predictions including other former great and memorable names that the name David W Phillips sits firmly alongside in shaping New Zealand's  Standardbred past, present and future.
We salute you, Dave..     

This post has been prompted by a recent request from one of Premier Pedigrees loyal Victorian based clients requesting information on stallions that have a good connection with Spinster both past and present.
On the surface of it all we would have thought this would have been a very easy question to respond to but having googled for information on this highly influential mare we were surprised at just how little information was at our fingertips to readily reply.
So we have had to gather it through our own hard graft and the valued assistance of our Tesiopower programme.
We thought our resultant findings were worth sharing with fellow breeders as well as our other followers.
The easiest way to have gathered this information was by going into www.classicfamilies.net .
This was available on a compact disk ( some of you may still have one ) and was the brainchild of John Peck ( long time Editor of the Harness Racing International magazine ) along with another chap from WA who's name currently eludes me for now.
A website was developed for Classic Families but somewhere along the line it changed hands and now one cannot get access to it ( comes up with an Error 304 message ) like it's been abandoned.
One can only imagine the constant need to update it became uneconomic and it appears to have disappeared into thin air in much the same way as Gordon Campbell's huge privately owned Computabred database disappeared into oblivion when he and his wife retired to the northern Central Coast.
Spinster is without doubt the most influential mare in the Standardbred Stud Book.
She is the Standardbred equivalent of Selene in the Thoroughbred Stud Book.
The following is not an in-depth look at the influence of Spinster on the Standardbred as a breed but rather one that summarises the various branches of her Family with specific mention of her sons and daughters and her daughters descendants as they have impacted the breed downunder ( both Australia and New Zealand ) with familiar names ( male and female ) both past and present.
Spinster derives her maternal descent from the matriarch Minnehaha ( Family 1111 in the Australian Ian Daff's famous Black Book ) or Family U2 under it's equivalent North American classification.
Minnehaha's daughter Eva gave rise to two famous branches of the family through her daughters who are better known as the "Thompson sisters", Tillie Thompson and Madam Thompson. They were full-sisters, both being by Guy Wilkes.
Of these two, Spinster is a great granddaughter of Tillie Thompson via The Miss Stokes and Minnetonka.
Spinster had four siblings; Emily Stokes ( Spencer ), Minnie Scott ( Scotland ), Pronto ( Protector ) and Tilly Tonka ( Spencer ), all females with Emily Stokes and Tilly Tonka being full-sisters to Spinster.

Spinster had the following live foals.

1936  ( filly )   Mystery Child
1937  ( male ) Light Brigade
1941  ( filly )   Rose Day
1942  ( filly )   Lady Scotland
1945  ( filly )   The Old Maid
1950  ( filly )   Vixen
1951  ( male ) Thunder On

Of the above, there were two in particular that extended the Spinster dynasty, those being The Old Maid and Lady Scotland with Vixen having a far less effect.

By going through the progeny of these three daughters of Spinster we may be able to identify the lines of influence they have created and some of the more recognised past males and females that belong to the Spinster dynasty.

               1950    Vixen:

1958  filly Sunorama
1961  filly Time Wave
1965  filly Perfect Shadow

Of these, only Time Wave was a significant producer leaving Tudor Hanover ( a sire ), Tyros Hanover, Tarpeia Hanover, Timona Hanover ( Armbro Nashville ), Tissa Hanover and Tika Hanover ( dam of Tika Belle, dam of Shady Daisy and Shady Katie ( dam of Shady Character )).

                1943   Lady Scotland:

1953  filly Breath O Spring - dam of Charming Time, Race Time, Storm Damage and Touch Of Spring ( dam of Spring Romp, Warm Breeze and Toria Hanover ( dam of Telemon Hanover )).
1956  male Hodgen's Surprise
1957  filly  Hodge Podge - dam of Prelude Lobell ( the dam of Pammy Lobell who left It's Levity, Paulsboro, Present Laughter and Easy To Love who's daughter One More Kiss is the dam of Pacific Fella).
1959  male  Harold J
1960  male  Calcaneus
1962  filly    Tar Lady - dam of Ballerina, Tamara Almahurst, Tricia Almahurst, Tullamore and Tanya Almahurst ( dam of Rashad ).
1966  male  Prince Butler
1967  male  Wonder Colt

                 1945   The Old Maid:

1950  filly   Terka Hanover - dam of Gamecock, Tempest Hanover, Tarbel Hanover ( dam of Tiger Lily Lobell ( dam of Clever Innocence ) and also found in the direct maternal line of Tyler's Best )
1951  filly   Spinster Hanover - dam of Pompanette who had La Pomme Souffle ( dam of French Chef, Plat Du Jour, Peach Melba ( dam of Kentucky Spur ) and French Dressing ( who had Sami Cam ( dam of Sutter Hanover ) ).
1953  male  Bachelor Hanover
1955  male  Thorpe Hanover
1957  male  Dancer Hanover
1958  filly    Truly Rainbow - dam of Truala Rainbow ( dam of Rectory ) and Tual Rainbow ( dam of Man Around Town )
1959  filly    Timely Rainbow - dam of Rosie Sampson ( dam of Mister Hillas ) and Byrdlesk ( dam of Frugal Gourmet ) as well as Sonny Silver.
1960  filly     Tootsie Rainbow - dam of Toliver Hanover and Tona Hanover ( granddam of Lifes Not Fair and Major In Art ).
1961  male    Torpedo Hanover
1963  filly      Truly Hanover
1965  filly      Theo Hanover - dam of Banksia who's family is now extinct in New Zealand and Eucalyptus who's family live on in Australia still today.

Looking at the stallion's available today, both Major In Art and Sutter Hanover are tail female to Tillie Thompson ( Spinster's branch ) whilst the newer stallions Poster Boy and Yankee Rockstar are tail female to Madam Thompson ( the full-sister to Tillie Thompson ).
Whilst all four of these stallion's are accessible to Australian breeders only the promising new young sire Poster Boy is available to New Zealand breeders.

Footnote:

A very respected Southland breeder the late Alec McDonald who bred the likes of Lento and Whanau was a huge Spinster fan and liked to use wherever possible over his mares stallions well-endowed in lines of Spinster.
In more recent times a stallion that he frequently used was Grinfromeartoear because he carried the two sons of Spinster's daughter Breath O Spring ( Race Time and Storm Damage ) up close in his pedigree which he liked.
And a favourite breeding practice was putting Falcon Seelster mares to Grinfromeartoear as the former held the presence of Touch Of Spring, a female sibling of both Race Time and Storm Damage and thus offering highly desirable sex-balancing to Breath O Spring. Any other stallion carrying Warm Breeze e.g. Shadow Play, could offer likewise.
How many Queensland breeders utilised the services of Cammibest to offset his two close-up male lines of Harold J with a female balancing line emulating the same situation with Grinfromeartoear? 


 

Back at the beginning of the new millenium I worked for a couple of years ( 2002 + 2003 ) at the fledgling Standardbred stud, Linden Park, Pukekawa, where stallions stood such as Sands A Flyin, Road Machine and others the likes of Tuapeka Knight, Hitchcock, Butler's Reward and even a trotting stallion in Bellam.
Whilst each was competitive as a racehorse, none were deemed highly Commercial or stallion's to consider for breeding Yearling Sales prospects.
At an early date Sands A Flyin did have a few cracking racetrack performers in Sly Flyin and Sparks A Flyin to be followed by Monkey King but still these super horses were not enough to see any sort of flow of Commercial broodmares, let alone any significant increase in numbers, either coming through the gates of Linden Park or via increased off-farm semen transportation.
Commercial stallion's were the realm of the big Studs largely because of their ability to grapple with the costs of shuttle stallions and the latest and greatest bloodlines from North America.
The so-called "little players" or "Wee man" as Grant Beckett aptly puts it, were left to pick up on domestic stallions ( Grant has two currently in Royal Aspirations and Locharburn ) or discarded shuttle stallions looking for re-homing.
"Breeding to race" was essentially their place in the market and "lesser" mares the norm.
So it came as no surprise when Grant & Di Beckett from Phoebe Standardbreds burst into print last week on their Facebook page admonishing racing journalists and reporters alike for the lack of any acknowledgement or story regarding the Group 1 success on 31 December 2020 of Imperial Count's highly progressive daughter Keayang Livana in the Vicbred 4YO Trot Mares Final at Tabcorp Park in Melton, Victoria,in an impressive 1:57.8 mile rate and in the process providing her sire Imperial Count with his first Group 1 winner.
I can fully understand and empathise with this claim having worked at Linden Park and facing a similar situation with stallion's not considered Commercial.
Bosses like Graham Bell at Linden Park and Grant Beckett at Phoebe Standardbreds must become so frustrated when they face the question of "What could be if only their stallion's could be given the opportunity with a bevy of better bred or Commercial mares?" It always leaves the big question unanswered and therefore highly frustrating and in the case of Graham, forces them out of the game in sheer despair.
Good on Grant and Di hanging in there, with sheer passion, but for how long?
A horse such as Keayang Livana ignites this passion and keeps it fuelled for a good deal longer. For her sire Imperial Count it has happened at the right time to provide future hope.
Her victory in the Group 1 Vicbred 4YO Trot Mares Final made it 4 wins in a row for this exciting new talent having been preceded by two Group 2 victories in both the Breeders Crown 4YO Trot Mares Championship and the IRT Australia Matriarch Trot.
Keayang Livana now has 10 wins from just the 21 starts having already bankrolled $130,930 with the promise of a whole lot more to come.
There is no doubt that a lot of her "genuineness" can be attributed to her sire Imperial Count who was just that himself as a racehorse, being one of the fastest and richest sons of Angus Hall, a Noble Victory-line legend.
Trained in North America by ex-Kiwi Richard 'Nifty' Norman, these were the words 'Nifty' used to describe Imperial Count "A horse trainer's dream, never been sick or lame, never made a break, never had a bad day, 26 seconds gate speed, very good gaited, very easy to drive, never wore a headpole on any sized track, Mr Reliable." Imperial Count raced from 2 years old through to 5 years old and predominantly in town hall company, winning 17 races and placed 21 times for $680,393 at a time when contemporaries included the likes of Market Share ( $3.4 million ), Daylon Magician ( $1.7 million ), Mister Herbie ( $1.8 million ), Sevruga ( $1.0 million ) and Tamarind.
With such a strong damline, racetrack performance and tracing back to legendary matriarch Minnehaha, Imperial Count possessed the right credentials to become a successful sire.
His own dam Miss Imperial won 12 races at 2 and 3 years old, taking a record of 1:53.6 with three of her foals being sub 1:58 performers whilst granddam Rush Light left 4 winners from 5 foals and great granddam Starlight Sue left 4 winners from 8 foals.
Arriving late into New Zealand during the 2013-14 breeding season to Jonathon McNeil's Barra Equine Stud in Canterbury, Imperial Count served only 15 mares in what proved to be a rather truncated breeding season.
A decision was made to switch him to Lemon Tree Stud ( Ross Gange ) Shepparton in Victoria for the 2014-15 season where he served 28 mares, staying on for the  2015-16 season where he was to serve a further 22 mares.
In an ironic twist, having been returned to New Zealand for the 2016-17 breeding season, Imperial Count's sons and daughters  have been "on fire" in Australia in recent times.
Apart from Keayang Livana, his flag has been consistently waved by his sons and daughters the likes of Monaro Mia, Countess Chiron, Glengariff and Who's Countin. You will hear a lot more of these names in the months and years to come simply because they are so genuine, just like their father was on the track.
From 2016-17, Imperial Count has served books of 3, 17, 24, and 15 in the 2019-20 season so has struggled to gain any real Commercial appeal from his new Canterbury base at Phoebe Standardbreds but now that he has proven he can leave a Group 1 winner off the back of very low numbers we hope New Zealand trotting breeders will take notice of the fact that Imperial Count "has kicked a Stephen Donald like goal" as a springboard to his future stallion career being still only a relatively young stallion at just 12 years of age.
Winners to date for Imperial Count have come from mares by Sundon ( 4 winners including Keayang Livana ), Wrestle ( Monaro Mia ), Gee Whiz II ( Imperial Whiz ), Monarchy ( Phoebe Imperial ), Bacardi Lindy ( Imperial Countess ) and Grinfromeartoear ( Imperial Poet ).
The last-mentioned of this list has a dam by pacing sire Grinfromeartoear but it comes as no surprise to us here at Premier Pedigrees that this blood has "nicked" with Imperial Count's bloodlines.
And here is where New Zealand and Australian breeders of trotter's should take note.
Grinfromeartoear's pedigree is full of lines of the grand old matriarch, Spinster. Some refer to her as being the "Queen of Matriarchs". And there are bountiful trotting mares out there that hold the presences of Spinster's sons and daughters, Light Brigade being one that readily springs to mind.
Breed them to Imperial Count and you may just get a pleasant surprise for your very modest outlay ( currently standing at NZ $1500+gst ),
Why?, do you say. The answer, we say, is because of the common genetic denominator that exists.
Spinster is tail female to Minnehaha. So too is Imperial Count!!!
In the case of Imperial Poet ( out of a mare by Grinfromeartoear ), the blood of Minnehaha ( via Spinster and her tribe of descendants ) is being returned to Imperial Count's very own line of direct maternal descent which also traces directly to Minnehaha.
And if you are a follower of effective breeding techniques, you will be aware that returning this same good blood from your mare to the stallion's "bottom line" is a well-recognised and practised breeding formula ( used in both equine codes ) for the creation of speed enhancement.
A high value stallion at a rock bottom Stud Fee shapes Imperial Count as a stallion promising an excellent return on investment as well as giving the "Wee man" with a passion for the sport, a helping leg up.   
 
  

It is extremely gratifying when one can witness a horse, in this case a mare, progress from humble beginnings to becoming the biggest act on the World Stage, of going from "ordinary" to "extraordinary" and perhaps defying her modest breeding.
But Shartin's breeder Grant Crabbe would challenge some of this saying as a young foal she was never "ordinary" but "special" and that her breeding was precisely targeted to the point of being cleverly constructed.
We will have a look at Shartin's pedigree a little later in this article but firstly a rundown on her life beginnings and racetrack accomplishments.
Bred in Canterbury in 2013, the result of a mating between Tintin In America and the Live Or Die mare Bagdarin, it was not until Shartin went to the breakers that it was becoming obvious to Grant that she was deserving of the "special" tag.
After winning a trial at Ashburton, Shartin was never to line up at a New Zealand race meeting, being sold to Australian interests off the back of her winning trial.
She had just the 13 starts in Australia during 2017, her three year old season, winning 7 of these including the Tasmanian Oaks ( Gr3 ) and the Queensland Oaks ( Gr2 ) as well as running 2nd in both the Queensland Derby ( Gr2 ) and the Provincial Oaks ( Listed ) and bankrolling $105,718 all in a little over 7 months.
It was however her win at Melton defeating Victorian Horse Of The Year Jilliby Kung Fu ( 1:48.4, $529,710 and now a sire ) after sitting parked out and winning in a class record 1:52.5 mile rate for the 1720 metre journey that caught the attention of Standardbred bloodstock agent John Curtin, always on the lookout for a suitable horse to handle North American racing for one of his North American buyers.
With the deal done, Shartin was on her way to the home of harness racing, the United States, where principal new owner Richard Poillucci of South Easton, Massachusetts, would also bring in firstly JoAnn Looney King of Delaware and a little later top driver Tim Tetrick, also from Delaware, into the racing ownership of Shartin.
And what a ride they were all about to experience.
Poillucci was the first to admit that when she first came into the barn of trainer Jim King Jnr, Shartin was not a well-mannered mare but through the tutelage of her trainer and the patience of her driver ( Tetrick ) along with the constant work and attention of JoAnn King they turned her into the World Champion that she became.
In 2018, Shartin captivated North American harness racing fans winning 19 of her 24 race starts, earning $1,053,236, and almost completing a clean sweep of the major races for mares that year. 
This earned her the title of Dan Patch Pacer of the Year, her earnings for the season setting a record for the highest ever total by a pacing mare.
As if this wasn't enough, 2019 was to get even better for her racetrack resume. In August of that year at The Meadowlands in the Lady Liberty, Shartin was on a pedestal the winning the race in 1:46.4, eclipsing the old record by 0.6 seconds and also becoming the fastest Standardbred ever to be bred in New Zealand.
By the end of 2019 the Shartin juggernaut had won another 15 of her 19 starts for season earnings of $982,177, a season's high for her gait and sex.
This culminated in her being  named 2019 Dan Patch Harness Horse Of The Year, becoming only the 5th female pacer and the first horse bred outside of North America to win this award.
To give you some idea of the exalted competition she was up against, this included champion 3 year olds Bettor's Wish 1:47.3 $2,781,240 and Warrawee Ubeaut 1:48.3 $1,948,175, the top FFA and joint world recordholder Lather Up 1:46.0 $1,917,935 as well as McWicked 1:46.2 $5,103,271 and world record holders and leading trotters Manchego 1:49.0 $2,857,315 and Atlanta 1:49.1 $2,859,610.
In her final truncated season in 2020, Shartin was to win another 5 races including both the Lady Liberty and the Artiscape for the third time each whilst also winning the Clara Barton for the second time.
With quarter cracks appearing in her feet it was time to look after the mare in another way with the curtain drawn on her racing career, retiring as the winner of 46 races from her 68 starts and the equivalent of NZ$3,745,946 in lifetime earnings.
As her North American owners were not really breeders it was time once again for New Zealand based Standardbred bloodstock agent John Curtin to once again step in and broker another deal this time finding a new owner to share in her breeding barn exploits, this being Ola Yoder of Kountry Lane Standardbreds based in Indiana.
Already it has been signalled that Shartin has her first date in 2021 with Captaintreacherous to be followed in 2022 by a date with Lazarus. Truly cases here of putting the best to the best and hoping for the best.
Shartin is a product of a family belonging to Ashmorven Farm in Canterbury set up by Bruce Francis's parents and continued by Bruce. It is a family beginning with the U Scott mare Chenault, born in 1955. Shartin's branch is arguably the best descending through Chenault's daughter Bravine ( by Bachelor Hanover ) a very good 8 win mare who teetered on the edge of Cup class. The female line continues through Bravine's daughter Kiatina ( by Fallacy ), a 5 race winner and a 3/4 sister in blood to Locarno. Those of us watching harness racing through the 70's will remember the blistering high speed Locarno frequently demonstrated in his highly successful 18 win $181,915 career as one of this family's leading performers along with the likes of Italian Delight 1:50.2, Donegal Delight ( North Island Breeders Stakes ), Im Bella Jay ( WA Wesbred 2YO Classic ) and Kanturk ( NZ Celebrity Stakes ).
Kiatina then produced Kinsale ( by Noodlum ) who qualified but went unraced. A mating of Kinsale with Ashmorven Stud's resident stallion Save Fuel produced Slatina, the winner of 5 races with a personal best of 1:57.9.
It was from Slatina's mating with Live Or Die that we saw Bagdarin's appearance in the world with the latter going on to produce Shartin.
If nothing else, this was a family that frequently produced high top end speed with the correct matings. Throughout it's development we have seen examples of this.
Having painted the background picture, it is now time for an analysis of the pedigree of Shartin and identify where and what we think may have contributed to her arsenal of talents as a racehorse.
What we do know is that Shartin had superior speed and stamina qualities all rolled up into one body.
So it would be good to identify the possible sources of these two great qualities from the presences within her pedigree page.
The first thing that stands out is that every one of her parents and grandparents close-up in her pedigree was a sub 2.00 minute performer.
From her parents Tintin In America 1:53.2 and Bagdarin 1:57.7TT, through to grandparents McArdle 1:49.0, Zenterfold 1:56.6, Live Or Die 1:51.8 and Slatina 1"57.9TT, the first foundations are laid for speed inheritance.
Shartin is a product of sensible linebreeding at 5x6x4 favourably sex-balanced to Bret Hanover ( his great attributes being a tenacious winning desire and a great heart ) with Tintin In America providing the key female balancing line via Margie's Melody's presence in his sire McArdle.
This is ably supported by strong sex-balanced linebreeding to Most Happy Fella ( stamina and toughness being his overwhelming attributes ) at 5x5x6x6. And what is particularly interesting here is that Shartin's pedigree not only combines two male and two female strains but the two female strains just happen to be Most Happy Fella's two best racetrack daughters in Happy Sharon ( his best daughter found in McArdle ) and the high speed Silk Stockings ( present in Live Or Die ). It is relatively rare to see these two great daughters of Most Happy Fella combining in a single pedigree. Are they a key influence in Shartin's greatness?. Or are they just part of it?
We have always said where you have heavy under-pinning of Meadow Skipper in a pedigree, present here at 7x7x6x6x6x7x6x7x5 and in favourable sex-balance, then so too should you have balanced lines of his two best sons for best results since they provide complementary attributes.
Albatross, in contrast to Most Happy Fella, is all about speed and good gait.
So we go looking for balanced lines of Albatross within Shartin's pedigree chart.
And do we find them? Yes, we do but only just. There is just the single duplication of Albatross in Shartin at 6x5 but fortunately for her it is favourably sex-balanced through son Niatross ( again via McArdle ) and daughter Makin Smiles ( in Live Or Die ), rather intriguingly in the same two forebears as the top two daughters of Most Happy Fella were found in.
Finally, and before we leave the pedigree make up of Shartin, it would be remiss not to mention some intricate linebreeding, again in favourable sex-balance, that is taking place in the maternal depths of Shartin's pedigree where she carries a 6x7 sex-balance to Bachelor Hanover ( via Noodlum and Bravine ) as well as a 7x6 sex-balance to Light Brigade.
The 6x7 sex-balance to Bachelor Hanover also meshes with the female line of Bachelor Hanover ( via Zenover ) in Tintin In America, both Tintin In America and Bagdarin carrying Bachelor Hanover as their 4th damsire.
And who is the common denominator here? None other than that grand old highly influential matriarch, Spinster, still weaving her magic all these years later.
And in Shartin she weaves a complex jigsaw with at least 8 presences through son Light Brigade ( twice ), grandsons Bachelor Hanover ( 3 times ) and Dancer Hanover ( once )via daughter The Old Maid, as well as through great grandson and great grand-daughter Race Time and Touch Of Spring ( full-brother and sister ) via another daughter in Lady Scotland ( twice).
The above sees 6 strains of Spinster coming via Bagdarin and 2 strains from Tintin In America resulting in even the great old matriarch herself being sex-balanced in Shartin's pedigree and providing a significant influence running through Shartin's veins.
We will follow the proposed matings of Shartin with Captaintreacherous and Lazarus with keen interest and pray they may result in offspring that can be at least somewhere near as good as their legendary mother out on the racetracks of North America. 
   

Here at Premier Pedigrees we firmly believe that there are times to linebreed, there are times to outcross breed, and yes ... you guessed it, even times to inbreed where the opportunity is presented, for best outcomes.
A lot depends on opportunity with the pedigree of the mare you have placed in front of you and the strength and desirability of particular ancestors within her pedigree and whether these can be favourably built upon with the available pool of stallions.
For a heavily inbred mare, an outcross stallion is probably the preferred option. A mare with desirable ancestors present may present better linebreeding opportunities if you decide to concentrate on the multiplication of a perceived superior ancestor.
And a mare with powerful female presences, especially featuring close-up in her pedigree may present inbreeding opportunities to stallion's carrying the same influential female presence up close.
In this particular article we are going to focus on inbreeding with Rainbow Blue being used as our example.
With specific reference to the standardbred as a breed, inbreeding describes the mating of close relations such as two individuals from the same immediate maternal line or two individuals who share a common ancestor that occupies a prominent or close-up position in each horse's pedigree.
A 1x2, 1x3, 1x4, 2x2, 2x3 or 3x2 duplication are all inbreeding positions ( in some cases incestual ) in the standardbred with Factor 5 ( say 1+4 or 2+3, you add the generational numbers rather than multiplying them ) being recognised as the outer edge of inbreeding.
Whilst this breeding practice has largely been avoided  mainly because of the increased chance of duplicating any faults the doubled-up individual may carry, there have been some successful stories documented with so-called "inbred" horses such as C R Kay Suzie ( a full-brother and sister are present at her second generation ) and A Stud Named Sue ( had two half-brothers at his second generation ) in North America where close-up duplication has taken place to seemingly fault-free individuals.
In Australasia, both Make Me Smile ( NSW Derby winner ) and Smiling Shard ( Australian Breeders Crown Final winner ) were bred on the same genetic template carrying a half-brother and sister at their second generational level.
In the thoroughbred world all four of the above horses are clear examples of inbreeding forces at work but technically in the standardbred world the common duplicated ancestor occurs at the third generational level and is at a 3x3 position in the pedigree ( Factor 6 ) therefore at the very inside edge of linebreeding. Nevertheless the point here is that close-up duplication of female ancestors in particular can be very effective and especially with regard to speed enhancement.
If you are going to undertake inbreeding or very close to it then it is recommended that you do so to superior and correct individuals.
Often standardbred inbreeding occurs to a superior female rather than a male forebear but in the case of our subject study Rainbow Blue we are going to focus on a close-up male forebear duplication.
Bred by Winbak Farm, Chesapeake City, Maryland, Rainbow Blue was foaled on 8 March 2001, almost six months to the day before 9/11. She was purchased for just $10,500 at the 2002 New Jersey Classic Yearling Sale by ex-North American baseball star George Teague Jnr along with his sister Brenda and good friends Kevin and Ron Fry ( K & R Racing ), all of Houston, Delaware.
Trained by part-owner George Teague Jnr and mostly driven throughout her career by Ron Pierce, Rainbow Blue was to achieve a lifetime record from 32 starts of 30 wins and a 3rd placing, bankrolling $1,428,934 with a personal best time of 1:49.4.
As a two year old in 2003, Rainbow Blue won 6 of her 7 starts, earning $102,674 but was to have her debutante season curtailed because of a knee injury.
Returning in 2004 as a three year old, Rainbow Blue was to sweep nearly all before her winning 20 of her 21 starts, bankrolling $1,195,010 and taking a personal best of 1:49.4.
She was the leading money winning pacer in 2004 and the first three year old filly to win two sub 1:50 miles. Her average winning margin of victory in her three year old season was 2 3/4 lengths.
Her extraordinary achievements in 2004 saw her elected as North American 3YO Pacing Filly Of The Year, North American Pacer Of The Year  and North American Horse Of The Year, the latter seeing her edge out Trotting Triple Crown winner Windsong's Legacy for the Dan Patch Award by 119-98 in the tightest vote since veteran trotter Savoir beat 3YO Filly Pacer of the Year Silk Stockings in 1975.
This achievement also allowed Rainbow Blue to join Fan Hanover ( 1981 ) and Bunny Lake ( 2001 ) as the only female pacers to win the Horse Of The Year award, ironically all three fillies winning it in their three year old season.
Her four year old seasonin 2005 saw Rainbow Blue win all 4 of her starts earning a further $131,250, running 1:49.24 again before succumbing to a tendon injury that brought an end to her wonderful racing career.
In 2012, Rainbow Blue was inducted into the United States Racing Hall Of Fame and deservedly so.
Rainbow Blue is by Artiscape out of Vesta Blue Chip, the latter a daughter of On The Road Again.
A perusal of Rainbow Blue's pedigree is an interesting exercise as it contains multiple genetic delights.
Firstly, she is bred on a 5x5 reverse-sex cross to Meadow Skipper which not only provides her with a breeding core but also a potential "engine room".
This is compounded by an intricate direct maternal line which sees her granddam Penny Royal bred on the famed Adios/Tar Heel golden cross whilst her great granddam Greentree Marie was bred on a Tar Heel/Adios cross.
And here is where we believe things get interesting genetically.
Rainbow Blue is also inbred 3x2 to On The Road Again on what is known as a female reverse cross ( as opposed to the much more common reverse-sex cross ). Observant breeders may also be aware that the highly successful New Zealand stallion Holmes Hanover was also bred on a reverse female cross at 4x2 to large heart progenitor Tar Heel. And he was a significant stamina influence as well, just like On The Road Again.
For those not aware, On The Road Again has frequently been acclaimed as the second greatest stamina horse ever produced in North America, behind only the legendary Cam Fella.
Could it be that On The Road Again is both the stamina influence and the speed influence in Rainbow Blue?
The stamina coming from his paternal pedigree ( via Happy Motoring / Most Happy Fella ) whilst the speed is derived from his maternal pedigree where his damsire Bye Bye Byrd "triggers" the deep maternal Adios presences in Rainbow Blue's dam Vesta Blue Chip by feeding her Adios's full-sister Adieu ( granddam of Bye Bye Byrd ).
It could be the case that this inbred 3x2 reverse female cross that Rainbow Blue carries is also in a position of great influence and one where we see "returning the best blood of the mare to the best blood of the stallion" right up close and personal and in the favoured second and third quartiles of the pedigree match i.e. right where Rainbow Blue carries it.
​Lots of speculation here but good sense at the same time and it just could be that this inbreeding presence featuring On The Road Again is the very reason why Rainbow Blue turned out as good as she did on the racetrack.     

It has been a long time since Australasia has had a standardbred stallion exert such prepotent dominance as that recorded by Bettor's Delight.
He has been a true revelation for those breeders subscribing to the breeding theory of "Breed to the best and hope for the best" simply because "Bettor's" did not leave many duds.
They say "timing is everything" and Bettor's Delight came along at the right time to march the "downunder" standardbred to a new level.
Detractors would say that this has occurred too quickly to the point that it has suddenly "narrowed the genepool".
We at Premier Pedigrees are not in agreement with this view. Rather we look it as a time of sudden in the quality of bloodlines going into our genepool.
Just a few decades ago "colonial bloodlines" prevailed with a mix of imported Adios blood ( particularly in Australia ) and in New Zealand we saw Meadow Skipper particularly through his complementary sons Albatross and Most Happy Fella making their mark on the previously largely "home grown" product.
The outcross influence of Direct Scooter through his sons such as Deal Direct, Direct Flight, OK Bye, WRH and In The Pocket in New Zealand as well as the likes of Stoneridge Scooter and Yankee Sensation in Australia came next and was to take the breed to the next step particularly through gait refinement which then facilitated higher levels of speed, an impact experienced on both sides of the Tasman.
All of this then played right into the hands of new stallion arrival Bettor's Delight.
He had the right genetic cocktail flowing through his veins to offer huge compatibility with the broodmares of the time.
He was bred on a 6x6 reverse-sex cross to Adios ( a speed upgrader in his own right pre Meadow Skipper ) so he had an invaluable breeding core as well as an "engine room" ( on display on the racetrack as well in his many great battles with his mighty foe, Real Desire ).
This would ensure he would be highly receptive to mares' with a strong Adios influence of which there were perhaps more in Australia than New Zealand.
At this time New Zealand had a plethora of Meadow Skipper-line mares mostly coming though either Albatross or Most Happy Fella. The Albatross over Most Happy Fella, or vice versa, breeding cross also abounded.
These proved a godsend for Bettor's Delight as his pedigree held exactly that which most of these mares lacked and in the firm view of Premier Pedigrees one of the key reasons for his success with New Zealand mares in particular.
Bettor's Delight possessed balanced lines of both Albatross ( speed and gait ) and Most Happy Fella ( stamina and toughness ). This meant he could immediately supply these mares with a sex-balancing line of either Albatross or Most Happy Fella so that their potential gene inheritance could be "triggered" in their resultant foals. Hardly any other stallion at the time could offer this thus giving Bettor's Delight a decisive "competitive edge" genetically.
It also meant that he had the means of instantly upgrading colonial bloodlines with an infusion of Meadow Skipper in the best possible manner through injecting sex-balanced lines of his two best sons in Albatross and Most Happy Fella with their complementary traits and attributes.
You may well ask then, "Why did Bettor's Delight develop a golden cross with firstly the blood of In The Pocket and then Christian Cullen when they were largely outcrossed bloodlines?" Was it the benefits of hybrid vigour shining through or was it something else at play?
In our constant perusal of pedigrees sometimes it pays to dig a little deeper than 7-generations to find a common denominator that may be at play.
And the one we find is perhaps one of Bettor's Delight's other great secrets, this one a little further "back in genes".
In The Pocket is a son and Christian Cullen a grandson of Direct Scooter meaning Direct Scooter is the common denominator.
So we search his pedigree make-up and compare it with the pedigree fabric of Bettor's Delight to see if we can find another common denominator that could lay reason to a possible genetic affinity.
And do we find one? Yes we do. His name is Volomite.
Peter The Great has 12 occurrences within Direct Scooter's 8-generational pedigree chart, easily the most by a single ancestor.
Direct Scooter is bred on a 5x5 reverse-sex cross to Peter Volo ( a son of Peter The Great ) thus the latter being at the very heart of his breeding core and "engine room".
Direct Scooter is also 4x5 paternally linebred to Peter Volo.
Both of these Peter Volo presences are through his son Volomite hence making Direct Scooter also 3x4 paternally linebred to Volomite with his damsire Noble Victory also being paternally linebred to Volomite at 2x4.
Because of Volomite being present in Direct Scooter relatively close-up at 3x4x6, on linebreeding weighting factors ( more points are allotted the closer-up the presences occur generationally without being incestuous ), Volomite incurs the highest weighting percentage at 5.08%.
How then do we relate this to Bettor's Delight's 8-generational pedigree? 
We hope Bettor's Delight displays a strong proportion of this Peter The Great-Peter Volo-Volomite presence as well.
And yes, we do find what we are looking for.
These are led by Abbedale 19 presences, Hal Dale 16 presences, Billy Direct 14 presences then both Volomite and Peter Volo with 12 presences each and Peter The Great with 4 presences.
Better still, as an additional genetic connector between Direct Scooter and Bettor's Delight, the latter holds in his 8-generational pedigree the presence of revered mare Volga E who is a full-sibling to Peter Volo ( both Peter The Great - Nervolo Belle ).
Where is all this heading then?
We are trying to put up a case for what bloodlines Bettor's Delight has reached an affinity with as a stallion and if these might work for his daughters in their future matings. Reverse therapy if you like.
Obviously, daughters of Bettor's Delight cannot go to sons of Bettor's Delight such as Lazarus or even grandsons such as Lather Up which leads any standardbred breeder having to look at sons or grandsons or now even great grandsons of the Western Hanover, Artsplace, Direct Scooter or perhaps even Cam Fella ( his own sireline ) as the dominant sirelines or else the more scattered less Commercial sirelines the likes of Dragon's Lair with a stallion like Fear The Dragon.
Truth is that Bettor's Delight has demonstrated his own versatility over a wide range of sirelines and "produced the goods" and this may very well prove a similar case with his broodmare daughters showing wide range versatility with a number of sirelines and sires.
Whichever way you might already have headed or are contemplating heading, one thing is for sure, there is no template or magic "golden cross" in play as yet.
No doubt breeders will be keeping a very close eye on North American "Crosses of Gold" just as they will in Australia and New Zealand for the next outstanding performer out of a Bettor's Delight mare.
The Studs are quick to come out in their advertising with crosses that are working for their stallion's with Bettor's Delight mares, for example, Rock N Roll Heaven has produced Let It Ride out of a Bettor's Delight mare and Heaven Rocks was produced from a Cam Fella-line mare etc but really the truth is the dust has yet to settle on a golden cross this way around.
Another practice has been to reverse-sex to Cam Fella ( utilising both a breeding core and a potential "engine room" ) which can be done with stallion's carrying Cam Fella in their damsire line as do the likes of Somebeachsomewhere, Rock N Roll Heaven and even Sir Lincoln.
Those breeders seeking a little value or breeding to race could also look at reverse-sexing opportunities to Cam's Card Shark ( a big influence on Bettor's Delight's own mojo ) via the likes of A Rocknroll Dance or Heston Blue Chip.
At Premier Pedigrees we are going to go out on a limb with another decision to breeders of Bettor's Delight mares and it is for part of the reason why we spent so much time in this article on Direct Scooter's genetic linkages with the blood of Bettor's Delight.
We are all well aware of In The Pocket's affinity with Bettor's Delight particularly in New Zealand at one time being New Zealand's "golden cross" but also working in North America to produce million dollar earner Dream Out Loud.
Well, we are going to endeavour to go one better by saying breeders possessing mares by Bettor's Delight should ensure that they have the presence of Matt's Scooter fitting somewhere in the bloodlines of the chosen consort for their mare. Our reasons for this are twofold.
Firstly, Matt's Scooter was Direct Scooter's best performed racetrack son, easily eclipsing the deeds of In The Pocket and also eclipsing him as a sire in North America.
As a racehorse Matt's Scooter sustained high speed, could run within himself, and possessed an extreme reaching stride which was best suited to top gear. He passed these qualities on to his top juvenile colts and fillies who inherited his own sustained speed.
Our second reason for the inclusion of Matt's Scooter is simply genetic but one where we see Matt's Scooter holding a huge edge over In The Pocket.
Matt's Scooter is tail female to Aida. So too is Bettor's Delight. In other words they descend from the same maternal family hence breeders should be taking the opportunity to compound this same blood but not in a way which sees either inbreeding or incest.
The following is a brief listing of stallion's either carrying the presence of Matt's Scooter in their paternal or maternal pedigrees;

Paternal:                              Maternal:

Captaintreacherous              American Ideal
Captain Crunch                    Fear The Dragon
Downbytheseaside               Net Ten Eom
Poster Boy
Sir Lincoln
Stay Hungry
Somebeachsomewhere

This may be a restricted bunch but it sure packs some quality and you may be feeling a little smug if you already have young stock on the ground by one of these sires' from your Bettor's Delight mare or if you currently have your "Bettor's" mare currently in foal to one of these stallions.
But there is also a little value to be found in the above listings for those planning to "breed to race" or with a non-Commercial "Bettor's" mare.
I can recall having a lengthy telephone conversation with Empire Stallions principal David James two to three years ago now with David preaching to me back then how Captaintreacherous was going to become Bettor's Delight's obvious successor.
With just 60 Captaintreacherous  bookings allotted to New Zealand breeders, I wonder just how many of these have been snapped up by breeders with Commercial Bettor's Delight mares and of those missing out how many have been accommodated by David James other stallion's with a Matt's Scooter presence the likes of Stay Hungry and Somebeachsomewhere.
One thing is for sure, there may be more than one reason why Captaintreacherous over a Bettor's Delight mare becomes the next "golden cross" and we may just have pinpointed one of the key genetic contributing factors as above.


  

 It must now be close to two decades ago that two keen young lads mucked out the boxes and drove work for their then youthful Pukekohe based boss in Todd MacFarlane, the latter relatively fresh from his tutorage under the experienced eye of Roy and Barry Purdon.
The two lads, Chris Gillies and Clint Mackay ( my son ) got on that well that soon the relationship extended to further family members on both sides.
Whilst Chris was shortly after to return to Cambridge, Clint has remained with Todd to this current day.
But distance was not a stopper when through my own two years working at Linden Park Stud, Pukekawa in 2002-3, I had singled out a couple of pacing mares running in a herd which had not been tried and were at least four years old.
Both were owned by Greg Corbett from Lurnea, New South Wales, whom I had the good fortune to meet on one of his frequent visits to New Zealand. Greg operated a large and successful second hand office furniture business in South Western Sydney and loved talking standardbred pedigrees.
And so began the Gillies / Mackay racing partnership as I was able to secure firstly Nullabor Song and then Cool Service which got us launched on the front foot.
After these two horses came a succession of useful pacers for us to race together which Chris had managed to acquire by keeping his ear to the ground including the likes of The Ledge, Can't See A Thing ( he actually only had one eye ) and Lofty Brogden.
By now we had multiple photos on the wall ( we even won two races on the same programme one evening at Cambridge ), attended the races regularly, and were beginning to think the game "wasn't too hard" even though we were not winning out of turn.
But it was from here on in that things were about to take a sudden change.
From memory it was 2010 when I took a phone call from Chris saying there was a well-bred young trotting filly for sale in the Harness Racing Weekly that was from the Martina H Family, a two year old that was big, had been prepped but needed another year to mature before becoming a racehorse.
This was a Family that breeder Kevin Marr had kept full control over but on this occasion he had too many filly's around him so was prepared to let her go.
She was advertised cheap at $2000. Chris said we had to move quickly to get her and we agreed to go 50/50 so a quick call to Chris's brother Owen ( who worked for Derek Balle where the filly was domiciled ) and we had her secured for less than asking price.
Sometime later Derek ( who trained Nullabor Song for us ) told me he could have sold Daniela H four times over and for more money than what we paid. But we were in first and got the chocolates.
At Chris's suggestion, since we had to wait a year, we put her in foal as a two year old with the intention of racing her after having the foal.
Derek Balle knew the Lang's from Victoria when he successfully campaigned Miami H at the Breeders Crown so was able to arrange a package deal of 7 mares to Skyvalley of which we became one.
When I went out to Woodlands Stud where she foaled a filly in 2011 the foal was anything but what I was expecting.
With Daniela H being 16.2 hands and a big mare and knowing Muscles Yankee ( sire of Skyvalley ) could leave quite coarse bone I was not expecting a petite very fine boned filly. Far from it.
All I could put it down to was that our dark brown bordering on black filly had thrown to Skyvalley's damside i.e. Chiola's Lass who was not very big herself.
We named this filly Valle De La Luna ( Valley Of The Moon ) and whilst racing and showing extreme promise with three good placings in her first few starts she did succumb, not unexpectedly, to ongoing tendon and suspensory issues that led to her premature retirement.
Upon having her first foal, we had Daniela H at Woodlands Stud to be mated with Pegasus Spur.
As Daniela H was by Dream Vacation out of a Sundon mare Justine H ( a full-sister to Martina H ), Chris had been told several times by his mare "Dixie" ( trainer John Dickie ) that any mare with Sundon close-up in her bloodlines, it would be foolhardy going to any other stallion than Pegasus Spur based on their personal experiences with the ill-fated Paramount Geegee and also the courageous Speeding Spur.
So to Pegasus Spur did we go and our resultant foal was literally a cross between an elephant and a giraffe. A colt, he could not have been more different than Daniela H's first foal.
We named him Whips N Spurs and we had to wait for him for a long time before he debuted but in a few starts he snaffled two wins at the "Ribbon of Light" ( Alexandra Park ) for trainer Derek Balle.
I recall rival trainers including Todd MacFarlane saying "what a magnificent animal he is" when he was parading around in the birdcage at Alexandra Park.
But like Valle De La Luna, so too was Whips N Spurs to develop ongoing leg issues that were to curtail his return to the track despite his immense talent.
We then let a third party breed a foal from Daniela H. She was put to Monarchy and had a filly which we were told had some temperament issues and whilst tried from the Todd Mitchell barn was never to grace the racetrack.
After a brief financial breather for the partnership, Chris was keen to go again and we decided to go back to Skyvalley in 2015 and see if we could get a foal that perhaps threw to the paternal side of his pedigree.
But even the best laid plans can run amuck, and at the last minute ( the day before serving ) Chris was told that they could not get Skyvalley semen to him in time for insemination.
Chris phoned me in a mad panic saying he needed to order semen that day and who else could we go to where we could get semen in a hurry.
I said "leave it with me for half an hour and I will come back to you".
Quickly grabbing the Stallion Directory for that season and rushing through the "value stallions" I noticed that Master Glide had some of his best progeny success in North America from Dream Vacation mares so a decision agreed, the semen ordered same day, and the next season we had a sizeable Master Glide filly which Jan Gillies named Slippery Mistress for us.
After several preps because of growth spurts, this impeccably mannered now four year old mare acquired her qualifying ticket on 19 December 2020 for trainer Todd MacFarlane and we finally now have another racehorse. 
I already have her mate selected should she one day trickle towards the breeding barn in the Haras De Trotteurs stallion Volstead ( a sublime mating on paper ).
As part of my previous work for Queensland based Trump Bloodstock which included a service entitlement to Sebastian K, Daniela H foaled us "her best foal yet on type" in a colt we have named Sebastian Montoya, so different from all her other foal's being far more short-coupled and of average size. Now a three year old, he has had a couple of preparations at Todd MacFarlane's and according to Ian Hilliard ( who likes him ) he has shown Ian that he has "a lot of bottom to him". We have high hopes for him and do not intend to rush him.
If nothing else, the "trotting game" as opposed to the "pacing game" has taught us that you need a whole new level of patience.
In 2019 we tried to get both Daniela H and Valle De La Luna in foal, serving them both with the Trump Bloodstock stallions, firstly Sebastian K and then promising new stallion Centurion ATM ( from the direct maternal family of Sundon and a juvenile performer in similar vein to Muscle Mass ).
Surprisingly, Daniela H ( who normally gets in foal first serve ) did not hold to either stallion but her daughter Valle De La Luna did take to Centurion ATM and we now have a dark brown bordering on black yearling filly ( the only one by this sire in New Zealand ) that is built like a tank, although like her mother, not overly tall.
She remains on the lush pastures of Milan Park in Cambridge, where Jan Gillies currently works, mixing her daily life with her thoroughbred paddock mates but time will come soon where we will need her to realise what true life is all about.
Rather than leave Daniela H out in the paddock at the Gillies' Cambridge property ( on the Cambridge - Te Awamutu Road ), we have loaned her to Dr Lee Morris at Equibreed for use as a surrogate mother so she can maintain her maternal instincts in the interim should we decide to breed another foal from her as she is still only 12 years old.
For the moment, it will be Training Fees over Stud Fees as we see what we have got with these young ones but be rest-assured that if any start showing promise then out will come the cries to "breed another" such is our wonderful game.

Footnote:

I once told the Gillies' the wonderful s tory that the road they now live on just outside of Cambridge was once known as the "Swamp Road" which was surveyed back in the 1950's by my late Uncle, Owen Cooper Mackay, a huge Tauranga based yachting enthusiast who sailed many ocean going races as a valued navigator. Owen regularly sailed on a vessel Mata-a-Tua and he later became a considerable shareholder in the yacht Ceramco New Zealand.
As if this was not significant enough in the Gillies / Mackay partnership, I worked for 17 years for BP New Zealand at the same time as Don Gillies had worked for the same company for 35 years without knowingly crossing each others path. Don is now well into his eighties but has been a keen member of the Gillies / Mackay racing and breeding partnerships. Small world.  

Dedicated, visionary and opinionated are three words that come to mind when endeavouring to best describe former legendary Australian pedigree guru Mr Gordon Campbell who back in the late 1980's put himself through TAFE night school to study basic computer programming with a vision to create his own fully comprehensive Australian standardbred database.
A colossal challenge if there was ever one but a mighty powerful tool if ever completed.
Over the course of 11 years commencing in 1989 Gordon and his dedicated wife Valerie uploaded more than 350,000 records into their online database which incorporated every horse in Australia's pedigree from 1990 onwards out to 6 generations as well as full statistical data encompassing race performance, earnings and breeding exploits.
It was to easily form Australasia's largest privately-owned standardbred database and to Gordon it provided the trustworthy tool from which he could justify his breeding recommendations to client's in his role as a pedigree consultant.
Now, he possessed the cold hard facts on any breeding cross proposed and could purport this with statistical data on numbers and percentages to either support a proposed mating or to deter from it if the data did not support the likely success of the mating.
A powerful tool indeed and one used prolifically by Gordon in the wake of his own favoured breeding theories and to dispel others.
This whole exercise burst into reality after Gordon had identified that Tarport Low mares' needed Adios blood up as close as possible in a stallion ( the strength of this coming from the stallion's maternal bloodlines ) and having listed manually the pedigrees of some 430 Tarport Low mares plus the stallion's they had been bred to, he then had to go through the tedious exercise of ascertaining percentages in order to define success rates or otherwise.
There had to be a better more expedient way of deriving this data for future exercises and the resultant data mission formed the basis of the foundation of what Gordon named as Computabred Ltd with it's primary function being it's use for bloodline compatibility testing based on factual statistics.
It was from this vast database that Gordon was to substantiate many of his favoured breeding techniques and theories when doing his own writings or stallion recommendations for a client's mare. It also allowed him the flexibility of becoming receptive to new breeding trends the success or otherwise which could easily be identified from his own statistical data.
At the very forefront of his philosophy was a strong belief that maternal lineage is crucial to ongoing success both on the racetrack and in the breeding barn.
He was extremely cautious of the progeny of standout mares from ordinary families just as he was the likely success of sires with poor female families, the latter often being a derivative of Sires Stakes racing of which Gordon was no fan.
As the 'X' chromosome comes from the sire's mother, if this is weak so too will the progeny be weak. Heart size comes from the female which is all important to the athlete in any species.
Allied to this was Gordon's strong belief that one of the very best forms of breeding was to emulate that which occured naturally in the wild. This was centered on the horse being a herd animal and a flight animal, living in fear of predators, characteristics that are still evident today despite human involvement with the horse now stretching to some 3000 years.
A 20 plus year old mare in a natural state could not produce simply because she would most likely have been devoured. Speed was essential to simply exist with nature saying that the first born is vital for the ongoing existence of the species.
Are there not some clues or guidelines here on breeding from young mares with their earliest foals being their best? Much food for thought here including the wisdom or otherwise of breeding from an older mare, all of which could be supported statistically from the Computabred database.
Gordon has also been a staunch advocate for returning the best blood from a mare to the stallion's "bottom ( direct maternal ) line" as sheer speed and stamina is all that has enabled the wild horse to frustrate their would-be predators, and that speed and stamina comes from stallion's " breeding back into the herd" ( BBITH )from which they themselves have come.
We would like to point out that there are two variations here and both can be highly effective in a planned mating.
The first of these is returning is returning the same blood from a mare ( often via a different sibling ) from any position within her pedigree back to the stallion's direct maternal bloodlines ( otherwise known as his "bottom line" ).
This breeding practice has been happening for a long time now and it's success has meant that it has endured in both standardbred and thoroughbred breeding circles as it is looked upon as a highly successful formula for speed enhancement just as Gordon was referring to as occuring in the wild.
The second means of returning the same blood from the mare to the stallion is much more position specific and is known simply as "breeding back into the herd" ( aka BBITH ). This breeding formula features the same female ancestor present in "bottom line" of both the stallion and the mare ( either via the same or a different sibling ).
Once again this simulated that which naturally occured in the wild where the dominant stallion of the herd often covered close relatives or more distant relatives sharing the same maternal family.
Incorporated into this whole returning of the same blood from the mare to the stallion can be another breeding feature known as a Rasmussen Factor. Allegedly founded by Leon Rasmussen, the Rasmussen Factor was defined as "Breeding back to superior female through different individuals( siblings ) within the first 5 generations".
Gordon Campbell was a proponent of this practice offering the comment that "If the Rasmussen Factor is understood, it is on the mark", citing examples such as Surfing Safari and Mazzini Magic. Both of these very good horses are examples that position in pedigree matching is important otherwise there can be no effect at all.
Premier Pedigrees is also a fan of this form of breeding with no better example of it being highly effective in inducing high speed than the template set  by the superior mare Blue Horizon ( a grand-daughter of the "Queen of Gait" in Golden Miss ) when she featured in a 3x3 reverse-sexed Rasmussen Factor in the pedigree of the Paul Fitzpatrick trained NSW Derby winner Make Me Smile ( $517,518, 34 wins from 68 starts ) who possessed sizzling top end speed including blistering gate speed.
​So taken were we with Make Me Smile's dazzling speed that when Southland's Debbie Scarlett ( now Smith ) emailed Premier Pedigrees a short time later looking for a mate for her Panorama mare Sly Shard we had little hesitation recommending Grinfromeartoear. The template had been set and hence the beginnings of what was to become Smiling Shard.
Ironically, I was working at Geoff Small's barn sometime later when Cran Dalgety walked in looking for Geoff. It was just after the Karaka PGG Standardbred Yearling Sales and I made the comment to Cran in passing that he had purchased the best breed yearling in the Sales. I recall vividly his response "Oh, I don't know about that, the little squib, and I paid too much for him" knowing he had secured him for $42,000 and hastily showing me in his Sales Catalogue that he had him marked down as a $30,000 yearling.
The rest is history as they say as the " little squib" ( alias Smiling Shard ) won the Tabcorp Breeders Crown 2YO Colts and Geldings Final amongst his 17 wins from 50 starts with lifetime earnings of $1,089,831.
Whilst things like Rasmussen Factors were seen as real strengths in the pedigrees of top horses, Gordon Campbell remained open to the fact that genes further back in pedigrees could also have an influential effect on a foal.
This is something that has been more widely exploited in thoroughbred breeding circles particularly with regard to ascertaining patterns in a mare's pedigree and whether these carried through into the pedigrees of a likely consort.
Gordon was also not afraid to make a call on matters close to his heart and it was such bravery to "put it out there" which gave him his at times controversial reputation. These were often voiced through his regular Datapace columns that he wrote in the bi-monthly Harness Racing International magazine. I recall one particular phrase that he espoused time and again "Never believe every thing you read" often targetted at a glossy advertising brochure of a new offshore stallion arrival.
When In The Pocket was beginning to create a breed-shaping ripple with his first crops in New Zealand, Gordon was of the opinion that most Australian mares did not have the genetic make-up to  click with him.
We tended to be in agreement with Gordon on this one as the Australian broodmare genepool carried a massive Adios influence as opposed to the New Zealand genepool that was heavily skewed towards Meadow Skipper and his sons and grandsons.
One of the prime factors supporting our opinions was "position in a pedigree" with a lot ( and there were numerous ) of the grand-daughters of Meadow Skipper producing foals bred on a 4x4 reverse-sex cross to Meadow Skipper which proved an overwhelming success ( often to the point of lethal ) and featured in the pedigrees of most of In The Pocket's best sons and daughters led by the likes of Christian Cullen, Courage Under Fire and Under Cover Lover.
There may have been another factor at play here as well. Adios was well-gaited allowing for speed maximisation. Meadow Skipper on the other hand had imperfect gait and so the injection of Direct Scooter ( refined gait ) attributes via In The Pocket may have been far more breed shaping in New Zealand than it would have been in Australia.
This all appeared to make good sense but there is also a school of thought that Adios was in fact the catalyst that In The Pocket required to produce his best horses . With no Adios blood of his own, In the Pocket's two best performers in North America in Sanabelle Island and All I Ask both carry a double dose of Adios on their dam's side as do the three New Zealand performers we have identified above in Christian Cullen, Courage Under Fire and Under Cover Lover.
Gordon was also of the belief that Christian Cullen may have struggled as a sire on the grounds that he did not descend from a particularly strong maternal family and certainly not from a sire producing family up until that time, Tiger Jones and Julius Caesar following on but of no real consequence.
I guess there is always an anomaly to be found somewhere in any situation and when you are dealing with a freak the old adage " expect the unexpected" surfaces as Christian Cullen went on to become a dominant sire in New Zealand.
When Premier Pedigrees officially launched in 2001 and released extensive advertising into the Australian ( as well as New Zealand ) market to establish a new client base particularly through the excellent magazines Harness Racing International as well as Track Bred, little were we to know that in a very short time we would be inundated with breeding match requests from new Australian clients, many of whom were former Computabred clients.
Upon the passing of his treasured mother Elsie at the grand old age of 98 in 2001, and being an only child, Gordon and his loving and supporting wife Valerie, suddenly determined that there were other priorities in life and up-anchored to the central Northern Coast of New South Wales to go fishing and play lawn bowls.
Very few persons would know what happened to that great database that the couple developed, whether it is still in existence somewhere and still being privately maintained or whether it was left to simply expire but there has been no talk or evidence of it resurfacing in the two decades that have since elapsed.
Back in 1999 in a Datapace column for Harness Racing International, Gordon did make a comment, perhaps a little " tongue in cheek " and with thoughts of retirement obviously beckoning, that he may release a book "The Campbell Factors" in 22 years time.
Well, if that is the case and the thought has come to fruition, then Premier Pedigrees will be the first in the queue when it is set to go to print in 2021.










       

In the formative days of Premier Pedigrees back in 2001 ( also the year of 9/11 ) I recall taking a call from a hobby breeder by the name of Stan Dunlop who lived on the outskirts of Morrinsville.
Stan had a Camtastic mare by the name of Carnlough Bay and sought our advice as to a suitable stallion for her. He and his wife were going to breed her with their good friends the Monk's.
Stan told me, almost challengingly, that Carnlough Bay was from the "Grantham breed" tracing back through Dinnaken ( bred by the Corrigan's ) and what I vividly recall from Stan were the words "crossfire", "crossfired" and "crossfiring" throughout the conversation until they were absolutely ringing in my ears sufficiently so for me to be mentally ( not verbally ) replying "Direct Scooter", "Direct Scooter", "Direct Scooter" in response to Stan's pleas for a remedy.
This was at a time when Standardbred breeding was immersed to the point of saturation in the blood of Meadow Skipper but it also coincided with a new opportunity.
It also corresponded with the arrival of a new potential breed-shaper in the form of Direct Scooter bloodlines through several of his sons the likes of Deal Direct, Direct Flight, OK Bye and others.
But it was another son in In The Pocket who had begun revolutionising performance of the Standardbred on New Zealand racetracks through fast dominant and precocious horses such as Christian Cullen, Courage Under Fire, Tupelo Rose and Under Cover Lover.
Put a Meadow Skipper-line mare to In The Pocket and you just about had a licence to print money. And after all, Carnlough Bay was a Meadow Skipper-line mare.
Whilst this outcross blood was very welcomed to broaden the New Zealand Standardbred genepool from the almost total dependence on Meadow Skipper bloodlines, the real value at play here was the contribution that Direct Scooter made in enhancing the relatively moderate gait qualities inherent in a large majority of Meadow Skipper descended progeny.
Enhanced gait was Direct Scooter's trademark ( even if temperament wasn't ) and laid the platform for energy conservation and efficiency which in turn created the ability to sustain higher levels of speed over greater distances.
Evidence of this was certainly on show in plentiful abundance particularly with the top sons and daughters of In The Pocket.
When it came time to making a recommendation to Stan that he should breed Carnlough Bay to In The Pocket I was a little deflated when he thought he was a little expensive at his then Service Fee of $6000+gst. At that stage his progeny were in full flight and there were strong murmurings that his Service Fee was about to head North of this figure. In The Pocket was now proven and you knew what you were getting.
So it was back to the drawing board, but racking my brain it didn't take long to come up with an alternative.
I was hellbent on staying with a son of Direct Scooter and then I remembered.
I had been at Alexandra Park one day, not sure whether it was at a rare Sale Day they had there or if it was a race day/night and Michael House had a new stallion arrival in the barn on parade. His name was Tinted Cloud and he was a big 16.2 hands eye-catching son of Direct Scooter. Michael was displaying him proudly to prospective breeders and alike and I thought "what a grouse looking horse" and he was only going to be standing at $1500+gst.
I mentioned him to Stan and at that price I could feel Stan warming to him by the minute on the premise that he could counter a lot of the gait imperfections that his breed held.
So a breeding match was rubber-stamped and a booking made.
Little did either Stan or Premier Pedigrees know that together they were about to create another of Australasia's pacing greats.
As a non-Commercial foal, Smoken Up as he was to become known ( as named by the Dunlop's and the Monk's ) was bred as a racing commodity and placed in the care of trainer John Butcher at nearby Tamahere.
A 2002 foal, Smoken Up qualified locally at Cambridge on 24/8/2006 winning his trial in 2:51.5 at a mile rate of 2:05.4 so nothing out of the ordinary.
I saw Smoken Up run one evening at Cambridge in a low class event and was of the opinion that a small hitch was still evident in his gait.
This may have been an immaturity weakness which is often present in a young horse and later disappears as they develop but it was not enough to deter a vastly experienced Australian trainer/driver in Lance Justice to purchase him for a Group of his owners.
And it soon became evident with more racing and maturity that Smoken Up became more fluent in his gait.
Never in a thousand years could Stan or myself have believed that this horse of humble origins would go on to record 74 wins, 23 seconds and 11 thirds, earn $2,681,026 and acquire a personal best time of 1:48.5.
These figures could have been even better if he had not been disqualified from winning the Inter Dominion Grand Final in Auckland for a subsequent EPO breach.
I was there that night in Auckland as he flashed past the winning post in front of me some 3 lengths clear of some pretty reputable horses after easily doing the most work in the race. He left me just shaking my head in awe. What a heart this horse must also have had.
Smoken Up, you were one of the true ironhorses and one where we may have held a small but important part in his creation.

Footnote:

Tinted Cloud is testimony to the old adage that "every stallion is capable of leaving a good horse". The secret is presenting him with the right cocktail ( physical and genetic ) to allow it to happen.
For Tinted Cloud that horse was Smoken Up just as for Sharvid Adios it was Tyler Foulden whilst in the Thoroughbred world for Pag-Asa it was Bonecrusher and for Sharivari it was Shivaree.
There are many other examples in both codes and they will continue to occur sometimes planned but mostly by fluke.   

If ever a client exemplified the cliche "Our success is your success" then long term Premier Pedigrees client Queensland breeder Jeff Wallace would stand at the top of the pedestal.
Back in 2012 a brief but much appreciated note came through on the Premier Pedigrees email stating something to the tune of "Ken, thanks to you we now have 18 photos on the wall".
This positive feedback came from one of our most loyal Australian clients in Brisbane breeder Jeff Wallace and his wife operating with a band of around half a dozen mares.
It never ceases to amaze us how one stallion can change a breeders fortune and the stallion in Jeff's case was Western Terror.
The vast majority of the 18 photos Jeff possessed at that stage were provided by two sons of Western Terror that Jeff had named Blazing Terror and One Eyed Terror.
Both turned out to be evergreen warhorses.
Blazing Terror became the veteran of 242 starts for 36 wins, $234,654 in earnings and with a time credit of 1:54.6 whilst One Eye Terror fashioned a similar record with 254 starts for 45 wins, $229,226 in the kitty and a personal best of 1:54.9.
Another stallion to create an affinity with the Wallace's breed was Mach Three.
Some of their success stories with this stallion included Mach Dreamy, 58 starts for 10 wins, $75,257, 1:58.0, Mac Sweet, 124 starts for 13 wins, $61,908, 2:01.3 and the talented but ill-fated mare How Will I Know, 70 starts for 18 wins, $195,159 and a 1:55.9 mile credit. It was a bitter disappointment losing this mare carrying her first foal as she had provided the Wallace's with a great thrill on the racetrack winning the Group 2 Qbred Triad Final 4YO Mares in 2014.
Four mares have largely contributed to what these days would be closer to 318 photos on the wall ( I don't know if Jeff has kept a record of his winning tally ) for the Wallace's who are "Breed To Race" breeders rather than "Yearling Sales" breeders therefore emphasis when breeding each season has always been to look at stallions that offer value for money and most importantly are also genetically compatible with their mares.
These four mares are Forgiven ( Perfect Art ), Sweet Shania ( Fake Left ), Impish Princess ( Fake Left ) and the latter's daughter Lets Rocknroll ( Rocknroll Hanover ).
Forgiven has left Blazing Terror and Mach Dreamy ( see details above ) as well as Just Rokin ( Rocknroll Hanover ) 114 starts for 19 wins, $109,348, 1:53.7, and has foal's yet to hit the racetrack by the likes of Captaintreacherous and Always B Miki.
To date Forgiven's progeny have won 77 races.
Sweet Shania has left One Eyed Terror and Mac Sweet ( again see details above ) as well as Girl With Fire ( Grinfromeartoear ) 68 starts for 14 wins, $94,355, 1:53.7.
To date Sweet Shania's progeny have won 90 races.
Impish Princess was an elite racemare brought back from North America for breeding with the ill-fated How Will I Know ( see her details above ) being her best racetrack performer to date ahead of the likes of Mista Natural ( Mister Big ) 9 wins and Rocknroll Annie ( Rock N Roll Heaven ) 10 wins. 
Daughters still on the racetrack include Western Showgirl ( Western Terror ) 7 wins and Royal Princess ( Pet Rock ) whilst an un-named yearling filly by Sunshine Beach awaits in the wings.
To date Impish Princess's progeny have won 45 races.
Lets Rocknroll is the first foal from Impish Princess and only had one unplaced start before hitting the matron's paddock where she is now creating the beginnings of her own breeding legacy.
Her first foal Ima Rock Princess ( Shark Gesture ) won 1 race from 6 starts and is now being bred from but in her second foal Im Norma Jean ( Modern Art ) the Wallace's hit the jackpot fittingly providing them with Group 1 glory in the $100,000 2016 Qbred Triad Final for 2YO Fillies.
At last, the Wallace's had achieved a much deserved and treasured Group 1 winning photo on the wall and it came about through focussing on a mating that was endeavouring to exploit a Rasmussen Factor to a mare that oozed precocity in Wendymae Hanover.
It is immensely satisfying when a targeted mating plan comes to fruition for the right reasons given bloodlines are only one of the variables that contribute to winning performance at any level.
Im Norma Jean had 94 starts for 17 wins, $172,837 and a personal best mile credit of 1;52.8 so is well-credentialled as she heads into the breeding phase of her career..
Following on from Im Norma Jean, Lets Rocknroll had Corey William ( Mr Feelgood ) with another powerful genetic build behind him. To date Corey William has raced 89 times for 22 wins, $134,580 and a mile rating of 1:52.4.
Two years after the birth of Im Norma Jean came a full-sister in Miss Mia. As a now 5 year old to date her figures are 60 starts for 7 wins, a modest $38,691 in the bank and a personal best of 1:58.3.
From this outcome we become true believers in Mendel's Law Of Probability as it pertained to Genetic Variation where if you truly identify a superior pedigree mating then you should do it 4 times because of gene variation where in equine parlance one will be a superior performer ( Im Norma Jean ), two will be fair to modest performers ( we would put Miss Mia down as one of these ) and one a complete dud ( not being able to run fast enough to keep warm ). There already exists a lot of equine evidence to support this Law,
Ima Beach Babe ( Sunshine Beach ) and Joy Maker ( He's Watching ) have won 3 and 1 race respectively to date and are currently racing whilst Lets Rocknroll has had a Changeover filly this season.
To date Lets Rocknroll's progeny have won 51 races.
​It will be the daughters and grand-daughters of these four mares that will continue the already amazing breeding legacy of Jeff Wallace and his wife and Premier Pedigrees thanks the Wallace's for being allowed to be part of the journey.

Footnote:

Two years after the birth of Im Norma Jean a colt was born further South of Queensland bred on the same genetic template i.e. by Modern Art out of a mare who was a great grand-daughter of Western Hanover...his racing name is Lochinvar Art and he just happens to be one of Australia's current elite modern day pacers.
Whilst we cannot lay any claim to the mating which produced Lochinvar Art we did have at least six genetic reasons why Lets Rocknroll should be mated with Modern Art and the rest is history as they say.....the creation of a Group 1 winner.     

​Rene Descartes back in 1637 penned a famous phrase "Je pense, donc, je suis" ( I think, therefore, I am ) and one could be excused for thinking that he was applying this to legendary Canterbury horseman and standardbred pedigree authority Jim Dalgety.

A recent article written in the NZSBA Breeders' Weekly Update told us the story of Jim Dalgety and his wonderful racemare Imagine That ( Man Around Town - Happy Hazel ), winner of 15 races and $415,289.
From 2008 through to 2015 Jim had bred her to the best available stallions resulting in 5 live foals which included a colt by Mister Big and four fillies, one each by Falcon Seelster, Christian Cullen, Bettor's Delight and Art Major.

None of these foals was to meet with success on the racetrack.
​
In 2016 Jim had literally "given her away as a breeding proposition" and little was thought of her until one day noticed by a fellow standardbred breeder Keith Shadbolt in a paddock whilst passing by.
Being keen to breed from her, Keith took the advice of Jim to breed her to "trotting stallions" so adhered to that advice despite Imagine That holding what is predominantly pacing bloodlines, to a point where Keith is now the breeder of a colt by Andover Hall and a filly by Father Patrick from the mare.

So why would "a master" like Jim Dalgety recommend to Keith Shadbolt to breed her to trotting stallions other than the obvious that he had seen evidence of her trotting at some stage?

Perhaps only Jim can supply us with the real reason but I think I may know at least partial reason if not the full reason for this recommendation.

Back in 2008-9 I was working as a pedigree consultant at the thoroughbred stud Stoneybridge Farm in Karaka, having replaced Peter Jenkins who had moved on to Arrowfield Stud in the Hunter Valley, when I received a phone call from Jim Dalgety.

It was a phone call to "knock your socks off" from a man who regularly thought outside the square.
In brief, Jim was asking to breed Imagine That to the Stoneybridge thoroughbred stallion and former NZ Derby winner St Reims.

Why did he single out St Reims of all the thoroughbred stallions available in New Zealand?

Jim's fundamental concerns were that the Standardbred as a breed was quickly beginning to lose it's hybrid vigour. Whilst it was becoming faster, it was also becoming too refined and more frail, not standing up too long to the rigours of training and more regular racing with racing careers encompassing lesser starts than in decades gone by.

St Reims appealed to Jim to re-inject hybrid vigour, he had demonstrated stamina and as a son of Zabeel he offered scope as well as a more dense bone structure, all valid reasons to cross breed.

With the Standardbred becoming more refined particularly with the genepool beginning to narrow ( something which was to hasten in the future with the prepotent dominance of Bettor's Delight in the pacing ranks ) Jim saw a quick thoroughbred "bloodline infusion shock" as one way of reinstating hybrid vigour to his beloved standardbred breed.

Another option was to breed Imagine That to the more coarse or heavier boned trotting stallions although there wasn't the choice back then that there is now.

Having previously toured the great breeding farms of North America ( both Standardbred and Thoroughbred ) in the company of the likes of Patrick Hogan ( before his knighthood ) may have been another reason for singling out St Reims as Sir Patrick possessed a number of Breeding Rights to St Reims which could see nominations transferred in private deals at rates substantially below the Advertised Stud Fee of that stallion.
And Jim needed a Service Fee as cheap as possible as the resultant foal could not be registered with the governing body ( in this case Harness Racing New Zealand ).

He also needed to get a resultant filly foal from which to breed, any colt foal being a total write-off for that which he was trying to accomplish.

A filly foal could not be raced as a cross breed but she could be put to a standardbred stallion and have her foal registered for racing as a standardbred.

So a potentially costly path with inherent risks and patience required at the other end as this was a plan that was all going to take a little time.

Needless to say after talking with Jim we both agreed that his best course of action was to touch base with Sir Patrick Hogan and that is where we both left it.

I did not hear back from Jim or Sir Patrick and was certainly not aware of Imagine That being booked to St Reims in the time that I worked at Stoneybridge Farm so I can only assume the matter was not taken any further but I have often wondered what the outcome would have been if those ideas and events had come to fruition.

What we do know is that the alternative option did occur with Imagine That having been subsequently bred to trotting stallions in her most recent breedings  and we will watch her progeny's performance with keen interest knowing that there was " a Master" at work in their creation. 

​Premier Pedigrees lost one of it's most loyal client's with the sudden passing of Mike Stratford during Covid lockdown in 2020.

A client for nearly two decades, Mike would ring me with a list of 10-20 mares each season to be pedigree-matched utilising his favoured Tesio linebreeding techniques.
A builder by trade morphing into a property developer in more recent times, no one experienced the tough periods such as the Global Financial Crisis 2007-9 or the Christchurch Earthquakes 2011-12 more than Mike.

Whilst these major events did not deter Mike from breeding during these times it did mean that he adjusted either by breeding less mares or by breeding more where he could obtain a package deal price from a Stud.
Often his requests would come with the qualifier, "here's my list of mares, which are the best four mares that go genetically with Stonebridge Regal, Gotta Go Cullen or Sir Lincoln" during these times.
During the good times in the building and property development sector Mike had no fear in going to the best stallion's, the likes of Bettor's Delight, Mach Thee, Christian Cullen or Art Major if we felt the mare warranted them.

It was indeed from one of these that "we" were to able to breed Mike's best horse. The mating of his Washington VC mare Suzy's Delight to Christian Cullen produced NZ Derby winner Locharburn.
So where did Mike's passion for breeding Standardbreds originate?

Back in my early punting days through High School and onto University of the mid to late '70's like many others I had favourite horses that I faithfully supported primarily because of their honesty ( they seemingly always gave you a good run for your money ) and secondarily because they nearly always returned a healthy dividend when in the money.

One of these was the bonny Canterbury pacing mare Classiebawn ( Scottish Hanover - Heathmount ) who registered 10 wins when racing against legends of the grit that included household names the ilk of Bad Luck, Trusty Scot, Roydon Scott, Lord Module, Palestine, Rondel, Sun Seeker, Rocky Tryax, Wee Win, Majestic Charger, In Or Out and Sapling to name a small cluster of her illustrious opponents.
As fate would have it, Classiebawn was raced by Mike's father and was to become the foundation mare for the naming of Mike's father's horse stud.

Many of the broodmares that Mike took over to breed from had Classiebawn appearing at some generational level in their maternal lineage.

Most also carried Scottish names such as Penscroft, Stronechrubie, Monaveen etc and it was perhaps no coincidence that even foundation mare Classiebawn was by none other than Scottish Hanover, of course.
This Scottish naming tradition was also ingrained in Mike and something he proudly sustained as part of the Classiebawn legacy. No better later example than Locharburn.

Whilst many of his breedings were simply in the name of M J Stratford, many others were in the name of his company, Cee Bee Holdings Ltd, the Cee Bee naturally an abbreviation for Classiebawn.

It was under the latter banner that he acquired the nice racemare Sagitta to breed from, a move which provided Mike with some of his proudest achievements as a Standardbred breeder.

From this daughter of Nero's BB, Mike was to breed some outstanding racetrack performers including Deimos ( a prolific winner in Australia ) and Smiling Star ( $106,878 ) and from Sagitta's daughter Lilsistar things got even better with the latter becoming the dam of Classiesistar ( $209,799 ) and Just Cala ( $247,547 ).

The sheer number of horses Mike has bred in the last two decades is phenomenal for a relatively small breeder and his success rate also staggering.

The Standardbred family in the years to come are going to miss the breeding endeavours of Michael J Stratford but for now we will still see M J Stratford printed in the racebook or on the Internet as the breeder of horses currently running around such as Cranbourne or Bundoran to quickly name a couple currently doing battle out on the racetracks of New Zealand.
​
So long Mike, Premier Pedigrees thanks you as an unsung breeding hero and Standardbred participant.
​May you rest in peace.