All the colour and fun of a day at the races may soon have an extra bit of sparkle with hopes high Matt Craven’s cream standardbred Milky will see the starter gates.
And the $14,000 purchase from the 2022 Australian Pacing Gold Melbourne yearling sales may soon have company, with Tourello Standardbreds having prepared further colorful types for forthcoming sales.
The breeder offered Milky as lot 136 in 2022, with the colt by buckskin stallion Arctic Cat out of chestnut mare Rainbow Banner believed to be the first cream standardbred to go under the hammer.
He certainly caught the eye of Craven and, two years on, he now races him as White Lion.
“We are really happy with how much he’s progressed last prep,” Craven said. “Hopefully next prep we can tune him right up to go to the races.”
White Lion produced two eye-catching trials, the last at Terang on December 17 before being put out for a short spell.
Watching his progress closely will be Tourello Standardbreds, which was based in Victoria before moving to Tasmania in 2019 where they continue their passion for breeding colour into harness racing.
They will have offerings at both Friday’s Tasmanian Nutrien Equine Yearling Sale and the February 4 Australian Pacing Gold Melbourne sale.
At the latter they have a colt by Tell All out of Dynamic Cat, which is lot 131 in the Oaklands Junction sale.
Before that yearling goes under the hammer they will be hoping to attract owners’ interest at the Tasmanian sales on Australia Day, when they will be offering two striking-looking Vicbred yearlings.
Lot 3 is a buckskin filly out of a cream-coloured mare Luna Cat, a sister to Hopes Choice, who recently won her first Vicbred bonus. The lot’s sire is Metropolitan, whose progeny averages more than $35,000 in earnings per starter.
Lot 19 is a registered skewbald filly, but she more closely fits the piebald category. A skewbald has a combination of white and any other colour patches, typically brown, chestnut or bay. However, piebald horses have irregular black and white patches. This filly is out of piebald mare, Electric Cat. Her sire is Tell All, a stallion whose progeny has now won over $3 million dollars.
Both fillies are Vicbred eligible, which entitles them to:
– $8,000 first-win bonus at 2YO, 3YO, 4YO or $4,500 if 5YO+.
– Access to exclusive Vicbred race series (Vicbred Super Series)
– Access to races that are restricted to Vicbred only horses.
Alongside these two fillies are a further 10 Vicbred eligible yearling in the upcoming Tasmanian Nutrien Equine sale.
They are:
LOT 2: CAPTAIN CRUNCH – LADY ELAINE
LOT 3: METROPOLITAN – LUNA CAT
LOT 4: DOWNBYTHESEASIDE – ORDINAIRE JANE
LOT 6: DAWN OFA NEW DAY – TRISH BROMAC
LOT 7: LATHER UP – WEONA BADGIRL
LOT 8: STAY HUNGRY – ANGELA DE MARCO
LOT 10: POSTER BOY – ASHURAS BEAU
LOT 11: ALWAYS B MIKI – BETTOR BE AWARE
LOT 13: YANKEE ROCKSTAR – BUTE SISTER
LOT 15: POSTER BOY – CARMEL TOJO
LOT 19: TELL ALL – ELECTRIC CAT
LOT 23: CAPTAIN CRUNCH – HUIFFIER
To view the full Nutrien Equine’s 2024 Tasmanian Yearling Sale catalogue, click here.
Victoria’s two main yearling sales will be at Melbourne Inglis Oaklands Junction. The Australian Pacing Gold sale is on February 4 and Nutrien Equine sale is on April 13 and 14.
