Behind the Breeds - who's catching the eye?

by Don Rae

Behind The Breeds is a new series where breeding enthusiast Don Rae takes a deep dive into the pedigree of some of today's trotters and pacers. In this edition he casts his eye on North Canterbury and North Otago.

The North Canterbury Owners and Breeders trials on 13 September showcased two potentially smart young trotters to swell the ranks of promising juveniles.

Pasternak (2 B g Volstead - Lara Lass trained by Ross Houghton) and Lil Whip (2 B f Father Patrick - Eilish Aimee trained by Regan Todd) both qualified, with Pasternak prevailing by a neck.

Pasternak's dam Lara Lass is a full sister by Sundon to Stardon, the dam of Colin Hair's recently retired record breaking champion trotter Sundee's Son (34 wins). His deeds are too fresh in mind to bear detailed repetition, suffice to say he is the only trotter to win Horse of the Year in consecutive years; three Dominion Handicaps, two Rowe Cups, 12 Group Ones, 9 New Zealand records just to scrape the surface.

This is a very successful trotting family tracing to the 5-win Johnny Globe mare Gay Marlene. Thriller Dee (24 wins) by Crockett was the best of her progeny, with Pasternak's grand-dam being another of her offspring in the shape of the lightly raced Great Evander mare Marlene Dee. Thriller Dee was champion three-year old of 1978/79 winning both the New Zealand and Great Northern Derbies and New Zealand Trotting Stakes for owner Mrs G W Dickie.

Among several good horses with Gay Marlene in their pedigree are the likes of Charlemagne (16 wins including the 2012 4yo Ruby at odds of 90/1 and the 2013 5yo Ruby), Kipper Dee (15 wins), Classic Wizzer Dee (8 wins), Taylamade Dee (6 wins), Ruby Ridge (7 wins to date), Classic Dee (6 wins), Classical Whiz (7 wins), Uncas (10 wins) and J K Dee (7 wins).

Others from this family further back in the pedigree include Lord Rodney (7 wins), Two Step [1945] (7 wins) and Carmen Suva (5 wins), who was dam of Falcon Lord (6 wins) and grand dam to Final Ridge (8 wins) and Suvarno Hanover (9 wins).

Lil Whip's dam Eilish Aimee is by Love You out of Eilish Mac by Chiola Hanover out of the Out To Win mare Shining Lady out of Sure Thing by Bachelor Hanover out of Kimmer by Light Mood out of Ailsa Craig.

Kimmer was the dam of champion mare Tussle (38 wins) while Ailsa Craig left Parisian Duke (7 wins), Flying Ailsa (5 wins) and Warrior Bold (4 wins). Flying Ailsa features in the pedigree of Ailsa Hanover (7 wins) and Game Captain (8 wins) and there is a tremendous family descending from Flying Ailsa's unraced grand daughter Game Flyer (by Game Pride out of Flying Bay by Bay Foyle).

Game Flyer left five winners from ten foals, with the best of these Africa (11 wins). Among the non winners was a broodmare gem, Niamey, who has left ten winners from fifteen live foals including Springbank Sam (20 wins), Daenerys Targaryen (15 wins) and Pocaro (13 wins). Descendants of Niamey also include Missandei (9 wins), Kings Landing (9 wins) and Woodstone (11 wins)0

Both Pasternak and Lil Whip will bear keeping an eye on as the juvenile season progresses.

Of equal interest to those who enjoy breeding trivia is the breeding of Greg Craw's five year old mare who qualified in the first trotter's trial. Polarised, by name, is by Peak from the Monkey Bones mare Young Monkey which on the surface implies a stout trotting breed. And bred to trot she certainly is.

Young Monkey is a Chiola Hanover mare out of the Tuft mare Kay Tina out of the Flying Song mare Super Star out of Luckylast. This is the family of Roger Marshall's "Desert" breed with which he and his family have enjoyed plenty of success.

Cornishman (11 wins) was perhaps the very best of the breed but Desert Kiwi (7 wins), Richard Evander (4 wins), Victory Blaze (4 wins), Ringcraft (4 wins), all had more than a modicum of talent.

Flying Song is an interesting influence; in rough proportion he left one winning trotter for slightly more than every two pacers.

Al Mundy (10 wins for Alf Bourne) and Flying Maiden (11 wins for the Baynes family and foundation mare for a great Southland trotting breed) are just two examples of the fine trotters Flying Song sired. Flying Song appears in the pedigree of many fine trotters and that was touched on n Lil Whip's pedigree above featuring the Flying Song mare Flying Ailsa.

Luckylast (by the Jack Potts colonial-bred sire Blaydon) appears mainly as a pacing influence; from eight live foals, she left four winning pacers, with three of these being good winners. Dacron and Lucky Song both won six times but the best was Chiffon who won eight.

Chiffon left six winners too for Central Otago's Hamilton family albeit none of them won more than four races. The Chiffon fillies also bred on and the Hamiltons won quite a few races with the bred if no top class events.

Luckily for the Hamiltons they also secured the unraced mare Dainty from Luckylast. She left one foal only, a Van Hanover mare called Vonnell, but she was a terrific broodmare leaving in order Tokorangi (8 wins), Trevira (16 wins), Trilobal (9 wins), Tricotine (4 wins), Lirelle (4 wins) and Cambric (3 wins).

Tokorangi won the 1976 Franklin Cup for Ray Ogg with a young Mike DeFillipi in the cart and contested the best class fillies' races.

Trevira by Scottish Command was a high class animal and the best of this breed. He nearly pulled off a New Zealand Cup for junior driver and family member Gavan Hamilton, finishing third behind Lord Module (1st) and Rocky Tryax (2nd) in the 1979 race at very good odds of over 7/1 for a place. He won the 1980 Easter Cup as second favourite beating the Roydon Lodge stablemates Roydon Scott and Phillipa Frost with favourite Delightful Lady, Wee Win and Sapling among the beaten division. He could sprint as well as stay and numbered two Waikato Flying Miles, an Ashburton Cup, and placings in a New Zealand Free-For-All, New Brighton Cup, Hannon Memorial, Thames Cup (twice) and Easter Cup among his many successes.

Trilobal's best win was the 1983 New Brighton Cup at 10/1 with Stampede and Hilarious in the beaten lot in a small field. He was good enough to run 5th in the 1983 Easter Cup as rank outsider 14/14 in the betting behind Hands Down before being exported.

Tricotine was a handy filly and she left one very good horse in Just Royce who won nine. He ran second to Il Vicolo in the 1995 New Zealand Cup, second in Rain Again's 1995 Messenger and completed his career running second behind Vic's Vance in the 1995 Thames Cup. Another of Tricotine's progeny was the unraced mare Tri Royce who left the nine-race winner Riverboat Royce.

Summing up, Polarised has a very interesting pedigree with trotting influences to the fore in the first three generations but a strong pacing breed also being produced from further back in the line.

Breeding of course does not guarantee how a horse will race. For example, we do see the occasional trotter coming through sired by champion pacing sire Bettor's Delight and some of these are very good indeed. Donegal Bettorgretch has won seven in New Zealand including a Group One Ruby, Cody Banner has won eight, but over the Tasman, London To A Brick is a very high class animal indeed and already as a three year old has defeated the older horses at Albion Park in the Group One $150,000 Haras Des Trotteurs Great Square.

At the North Otago trials on Wednesday, 13 September one trotter caught the eye through his bloodlines.

Miles Away (3g Trixton - Not Likely) seems more likely than unlikely to make the grade as a trotter for South Canterbury trainer Murray Tapper and owners Mrs C A Tapper and R Cahill.

Tapper has enjoyed plenty of success with trotters over the past three decades with the likes of Stylish Monarch (17 wins including 2010 Dominion Handicap and two New Zealand Trotting Championships), Domination (10 wins) and Syndication (8 wins).

Domination incidentally managed to leave four very good trotters before her demise in 2018. Rydgemont Milly (10), The Dominator (14), Rydgemont Son (8) and Domination's Call (8) have all been good winners for their breeders and racing partners.

Miles Away is a half brother to Natty Pagger who won three in New Zealand and has won a further eight races over the ditch.

Not Likely, by Continental Man from Our Super Ann by Game Pride out of Vivacious Lady from the Bandit mare Contraband, won six races and her brothers and sisters did well too.

War Machine won ten times for the Baynes and was good enough to run fourth in a 4YO Ruby behind Habibi Inta, at Cambridge in 2018. Blood And Whiskey (7 wins) and Our Super Ram (5 wins) were also handy horses.

Vivacious Lady was unraced and left just the one winner, Our Super Ann (won two races) but one of her unraced fillies, the Sundon mare Sundress, has left two winners so far for Rakaia's Allan Ford - Witheze (2 wins) and Navara (6 wins to date).

Contraband was a prolific breeder producing fifteen live foals. Evander Rose (11), Sergio Bandit (9), Martin's Pride (6), Trafficker (4), Argus Tuft (9) all won races but unfortunately Contraband produced very few fillies.

Apart from Vivacious Lady, the only other Contraband filly to make any impact was the unraced Tina Evander who left just one winning filly, Spin Ya Wheels who won three times. Spin Ya Wheels has been handy at stud. Her first foal The Bog won seven races, Winnie McGoogan won twice from four starts and her first foal Minnie McGoogan has also won twice while Slainte has won once to date.

Others in the wider family include the Light Brigade mare Cardigan Lass (7 wins) and Daisy Duke (1979), with five pacing wins, but all of this side of family have produced dead ends in the pedigree for one reason or another. The Contraband line however looks strong enough to continue on for a few generations yet.

More interesting breeds will be highlighted at least every fortnight, or as results dictate.