An unswerving faith in Queensland bloodlines will come to fruition for Gisborne breeder-owners Ian and Kath Sutherland should their star filly Golden Shooz win the $150,000 Pryde’s EasiFeed Victoria Oaks Final at Melton on Saturday night.
The Captain Crunch filly booked her spot in the Group 1 decider when she outsprinted her rivals in the faster of the two heats run last Saturday.
The Sutherland’s, who have bred a long list of smart performers in their 40 year association with the sport including the crack Tasmanian juvenile Not John, the Hobart Pacing Cup winner The Grouse, Jimmy Locke (NSW Golden Mile), Seeuinnashville, Diamond Shooz and Hank Stanley, believe Golden Shooz has “got the potential to be one of the best we’ve ever bred.”
The Golden Shooz saga actually began when Ian and Kath bought her dam Art’s Treasure for a modest $21,000 at the Australian Pacing Gold Brisbane sale in 2016.
“We had sold two horses at the Melbourne sales earlier that year and I had in my mind that we needed to upgrade our pedigrees for the future,” Ian said.
“I’ve always had a strong opinion of the bloodlines in Queensland, mainly through the Seymour breed.
“We put a circle around a couple of yearlings at the Brisbane sale but Art’s Treasure was always the one for us. We loved her pedigree.”
Art’s Treasure proved herself one of the top two-year-old fillies of her year, winning almost $90,000. She captured the Group 1 $100,450 QBred Triad 2YO Final at Albion Park and a few weeks later finished an unlucky second to Pinup Boy in the Group 1 $100,450 APG Brisbane Sales Graduate Final.
All told, Art’s Treasure won seven races and $152,542 in stakes.
Retired to stud, Art’s Treasure produced Kabochon (by Captaintreacherious) as her first foal.
“We sold him as a yearling for $85,000. He’s won six races including three at Gloucester Park but has had a setback and requires a bit of time in the paddock. We can’t wait for his return as he is above average and has the potential to go a long way in WA,” Ian said.
Golden Shooz is her second foal.
“She has since produced the two-year-old Designa Label, who has been placed twice, and two fillies by Sweet Lou which we hope will continue the line. The older filly has been entered for the Nutrien Equine Sydney yearling sale next March. She’s paid up for the NSW Breeders Challenge Series, the Bathurst Gold Tiara and the NZ Sires Stakes,” Ian stated.
“We’re going to retain the other Sweet Lou filly with the intention of racing and breeding her.”
Art’s Treasure will be mated with the Alabar Bloodstock stallion Captain Crunch this season.
The Sutherland’s connection with the Art’s Treasure tribe does not end there, however.
“We went up to Brisbane to inspect the broodmare Art Start at Burwood Stud. She had a lovely colt on her by Rock N Roll Heaven,” Ian said. “We were going to buy him but he had a bump on his cannon bone and we lost interest.”
The colt turned out to be the multiple Group 1 star Expensive Ego.
“We bought Art Start as an empty mare and bred two foals out of her – Diamond Shooz, who was a Group 2 winner, and the multiple Menangle-winning speedster Fashion Icon. Art Start needed to be further bred via embryo transfer so we offered her to Benstud Standardbreds,” he said.
- Golden Shooz was one of four winners at the Melton feature meeting raised at Benstud Standardbreds, the others being Petracca and the Victoria Derby heat winners Storms Collide and Fox Dan
- Star reinsman James Herbertson bred a winner and drove a treble at Melton on Friday night. His winners were the three-year-old Backstage Pass, who he also bred, Mister Blindside and Blackindeed
- Melbourne breeder Alan Faux produced winners on consecutive nights last week in the trotter Xiaobo (Kilmore) and the pacer Blue Miki (Melton)
