Colonial bred stallions are making their present felt whenever they are given reasonable stud chances. The results of the first two-year-old races in Victoria and WA emphasised this.
Three of the first four placegetters at Bendigo were by locally bred sires, the winner Viva Storm and runner-up Stormy Woods both being by The Storm Inside and the fourth placegettter Alighieri by Soho Tribeca.
Reinette, a daughter of Vincent, won the initial babies’ race in WA, run at Pinjarra, with the Fly Like An Eagle trio Noble Thorondor, Formel and Quados Kid finishing second, third and fourth respectively.
The Storm Inside, the brilliant unbeaten 2YO Colt of the Year in 2016, has 62 two-year-olds to represent him in his first season.
Vincent, The Storm Inside’s Alabar studmate, has sired classic winners in New Zealand in The Real Sherlock, Vessem and Vinke B as well as the Australian Group winners Our Vincent Can Gogh, Brulee, Staroftheshow, Our Vinnie and Swiatek Leis from his first two racing crops.
Vincent finished sixth on the NZ three-year-old sires’ list and seventh in Australia last year.
The NZ champion Lazarus, the leading first crop sire in Australia in 2023, and Ultimate Machete (Cobbitty Equine Farm), fourth on the list, both have their biggest crops to represent them.
Tintin In America, Tiger Tara, For A Reason, Fly Like An Eagle, Follow The Stars and the deceased Alta Christiano have carried the flag for colonial stallions recently.
Soho Tribeca, the WA Pacing Cup and Kilmore Cup hero, and his Llowalong Farms’ studmate Poster Boy, the 2018 3YO Colt of the Year, both received strong support in their first season at stud. The former has 87 eligible two-year-olds this season and the latter 73.
Other Victorian-based colonial bred stallions include Ride High, whose first crop are heading to this year’s sales, Guaranteed, the Llowalong Farms pair Raging Bull and Yankee Rockstar, Soho Lanikai, Jilliby Kung Fu and the trotter Skyvalley.
Poster Boy (127 mares), The Storm Inside (120), Vincent (110) and Ride High (105) all received significant support from breeders in the closing season.
Well known breeding guru John Coffey said: “It appears that Australian breeders at long last are throwing their weight behind the colonial stallions. They’re all exceptionally well bred and they’re all terrific racehorses in their own right.
“It’s great that breeders are supporting our best horses here who are bred pretty much the same as the American imports. I’ve got no doubt that these horses would be running 1:47 and 1:48 if they were racing in America under American conditions.”
Maryborough breeder-owner Len Parker, whose horses carry the ‘Moth’ moniker, looks to have unearthed another potential star in the three-year-old Meteor Moth, who is undefeated in two attempts. The colt is out of the Youthful Stakes winner Flying Moth and is her first produce
The American horse Mel Mara, who stands at Llowalong Farms, was represented by his first winner in the three-year-old Letsgetrowdy, who emerged successful at Maryborough
Roam, a winner at the Shepparton Cup meeting, was bred by Goulburn Valley bookmaker cum breeder John Hallam. The seven-year-old traces back to Hallam’s foundation mare Pat Petulus, the dam of Allwood’s Chief, Exhilarator and co
The opinions expressed in The Forum are those of the author and may not be attributed to or represent policies of Harness Racing Victoria, which is the state authority and owner of thetrots.com.au.