Melbourne breeder and financial advisor Harvey Kaplan has been a key figure in the standardbred breeding industry in Australia and New Zealand for more than two decades.
The list of top flight performers he’s bred reads like a classics date book. They include the Miracle Mile winner Baby Bling, the A. G. Hunter Cup and Victoria Cup winner Bling It On, 2YO of the Year Fly Like An Eagle, Mach Doro, Flaming Flutter, Arctic Fire and Bletchley Park.
The 2012 Victorian Breeder of the Year had another red letter night at Albion Park last Saturday when he bred the winners of two Listed events on the stakes-laden card.
The Sweet Lou gelding Dangerous started the ball rolling for Kaplan when he led for the final 1600 metres to capture a second round heat of the Inter Dominion Pacing Championship. It was the gelding’s 14th lifetime success and improved his stake tally to $288,985.
Dangerous is the fourth foal and fourth winner out of the Presidential Ball mare Ark Monroe, a multiple Albion Park winner who is also the dam of the QBred Triad winner Eleniark and the Hamilton Cup victor Dee Roe.
A sister to Dangerous was knocked down for $75,000 to Success Stud principal Jackie Gibson at this year’s Nutrien Equine Melbourne Yearling Sale. Ark Monroe has since produced an Art Major weanling colt and is carrying a positive test to Confederate.
“I’m very excited to have a horse that I bred in the Inter Dominion Final. It’s the only really big race that I haven’t bred the winner of,” Kaplan, who currently owns 15 broodmares, said.
The talented mare Bella Danza rounded out a memorable night for Kaplan when she upset a star-studded lineup in the $30,000 Fleur De Lil Ladyship Stakes.
Starting from inside the back row, the daughter of Bettor’s Delight was sent to the top 500 metres after the start and was never afterwards headed.
The winner of $149,990, Bella Danza is the first foal of the all-American bred mare Capoeira.
“Bella Danza is proving to be an outstanding miler who when she gets in front is almost impossible to run down,” Kaplan said.
Benstud Standardbreds, one of Australia’s leading breeding establishments, also enjoyed a huge night at Albion Park last Saturday. Apart from Dangerous and Bella Danza, they also foaled down the Inter Dominion Trotting Championship heat winner Arcee Phoenix and Cardigan Jem, who finished a close second in the Group 1 $500,000 Benstud Protostar.
Jilliby Dreamlover, a mare bred, owned, trained and driven by the Lee family, took out the 3&4YO trotting feature at Albion Park on Friday night.
The Mach Three mare Sheluvsme, who is owned by Western District horsewoman Courtney Slater, landed two winners in the space of 48 hours. Arzali Rockstar scored at Ballarat on Thursday night, while Carramar Olam won in a new lifetime mark of 1:52.7 at Menangle on Saturday.
Bookmaker and harness enthusiast Craig Nott bred and races the three-year-old trotter Unclad, an impressive winner at Melton.
