Breeding Snippets for May 25, 2026

By Rob Courtney (NZ Standardbred Breeders Association) 

Back in the day, Merinai and Jimmy Stormont were a lethal combination on the track, winning 19 of just 27 starts, amazingly running just one single placing in a ‘glittering’ career, but she did win all the big trots and was voted Horse of the Year (1998) over her pacing contemporaries. 

Wind the clock on nearly 30 years and Stormont was aboard one her grandsons when Tactical Approach (Tactical Landing – Classic Armbro) won his second race from just 5 starts at Cambridge last week.

Classic Armbro (Armbro Invasion – Merinai) won two races in a 7-start race career and at stud all 9 of her progeny have been good enough to get to the races with Sertorius (by Muscles Yankee) being the best of them with 13 wins and $163k in the bank.

Merinai herself had 10 foals, leaving 6 winners. Miss Pegasus (9 wins) and Sunny Elegant were arguably the best of her progeny but what has kept the Merinai name ‘in lights’ is the fact that 6 of her foals were fillies and they have bred on to very good effect. It's surprising on one level considering she was by a pacing sire Tuff Choice (by Windshield Wiper) who was hardly a success here in NZ.

As a great example, first foal Sun Mist (by Sundon) didn’t make it to the races but as a broodmare has left the likes of Sonofanearl (22 wins and $118k), Pretty Sunday (15 wins and $175k) and Leaf Stride (10 wins and $138k)

Now grand daughters of Merinai are successfully breeding on. Rosemma (Monarchy – Sun Mist) won 10 races on the track and now her first two foals, both by Majestic Son have already been winners. Pretty Sunday’s first three foals have also won races. The legacy of the great trotting mare Merinai looks set to continue.

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Axel Rose (En Solitaire – Pegarose) won at Addington on Friday night in the style of a horse who can go a fair bit further through the trotting ranks for trainer Matty Williamson, his third win in just his ninth start.

His sire En Solitaire, a son of Ready Cash, has been largely disappointing at stud here in NZ and subsequently, breeders have moved away from supporting him in recent seasons.

Dam Pegarose, like Classic Armbro above, won two of just seven starts and at stud her only two foals Annrose (2 wins to date) and Axel Rose have made a positive impression as racehorses but after missing to En Solitaire in 2022, the Pegasus Spur mare was deregistered as a broodmare.

Second dam Watch Rose Trot, by Malabar Maple, won 5 races and was a half sister to a fair sort in Watch Him Trot (8 wins).

Third dam Jaqui N, by Pernod Eden, qualified without racing, was a daughter of Miradios (6 wins), making her a half sister to Watch Me Trot (14 wins from just 23 starts), a very smart trotter for northern horseman Neil Brady of Elect To Live fame.

If one goes back far enough, one goes back directly to open class trotter Flying Maiden (11 wins) who was bred by Southland legend Colin Baynes. She left a very smart young trotter in Cool Cat (10 wins) for Baynes in the mid 70s. The latter was by the great colonial horse Johnny Gee (27 wins) trained by the great Wes Butt, father and grandfather of one of our great harness families. As his name suggests, Johnny Gee was by another colonial champion in Johnny Globe.

This family has had the ability to leave a very good horse over several decades.

Could Axel Rose be that next good thing ?

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Master northern horseman Tony Herlihy, one of a very few living legends in our sport, has a very high opinion of his 3YO trotting filly Our Col and now with 4 wins and 2 placings from her six starts, the reputation looks well founded.

Actually, this writer thinks she is currently the top 3YO trotting filly racing in the country. She is a product of Father Patrick and dam Cheeky Babe (by Muscle Hill).

Herlihy trained the latter as well and she was beaten only once in a very short five-race career. At stud, her first three foals have all been by Father Patrick. First foal Illicit Love, now a 4YO, has won three races to date for the Wallis/Hackett stable. Our Col followed and then came full brother Confession Time who is going through his 2YO prep with northern trainer Matty White.

After missing to Gimpanzee, Cheeky Babe has been served by Volstead in the most recent breeding season.

Her dam Factor The Odds (Pegasus Spur – Fear Factor) was unraced but has already left a high class trotter in Rowe Cup/Group 1 winner in Bet N Win (15 wins to date and $562k). Her half-brothers Prince Fearless (8 wins and $187k) and Stress Factor (16 wins and $249k) weren’t half bad either.

This is a family successfully developed over a number of years by Mid Canterbury breeder Michelle Baird with many carrying the ‘Fear’ name.

Our Col need not ‘fear’ too many of her 3yo rivals at this time and she looks a ‘live’ chance in all the big classics later in the season.

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There wasn’t much between Travel Agent and Chiggsy in the Group 1 Welcome Stakes at Addington (a neck) and it's interesting to note that there is not much between them when it comes down to their respective breeding when researching their pedigrees.

Both are products of breeding ‘heavyweight’ Woodlands Stud, one by Sweet Lou, one by Bettor’s Delight, both residents of the Woodlands sire roster and both were sold at the 2025 Karaka Yearling Sales as part of the Woodlands draft.

Travel Agent, a $90k purchase by Diamond Racing stables, is a son of Pacing Delight (Bettor’s Delight – Pacing Grace), making him a full brother to the likes of Aladdin (9 wins to date and $208k) and Hadron Collider (7 wins to date and $187k).

A half-brother, Mason’s Delight, by American Ideal, has gone sub 1:50 in America winning 25 races lifetime.

Chiggsy was a $37,500 purchase from the same sale and is a son of Grace Way (Dream Away – Pacing Grace) making him a half/full brother to eight well-performed winners including Three Ways (38 wins) and Shanway (20 wins).

The progeny of Grace Way have won a staggering 110 races in total in three countries.

Pacing Grace is a daughter of Jessie Grace, by Vance Hanover, who produced 14 foals and all 14 got to the races.

This family has been a relatively modern phenomenon (last 30 years) in terms of breeding success, not that those connected to it are complaining.

At that same 2025 yearling sale, a Captaintreacherous – Gina Grace filly sold for $175k when offered by the another northern ‘heavyweight’ in Alabar NZ.

Gina Grace is a 29 win/1:51 granddaughter of Jessie Grace and is a full sister to the very good filly Linda Lovegrace (14 wins and $258k)

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One breeding theory is the one that says “breed the best to the best then hope for the best”. No matter what theory you believe in (because there are no truths to theories, you believe what you want to believe), it remains the beauty of harness racing and its connected breeding, that good horses can come from anywhere.

And now out of the south by an unwanted sire, comes Imperious Girl.

Three starts now for 3 wins and at Winton over the weekend the 3YO filly, driven by trainer Craig Ferguson, had the audacity to race wide before getting to the parked position then had the class to come clear in the final 200m, running a sensational 1:56.8 for the mile.

Imperial Count, a son of Angus Hall, won 17 races in America/Canada with a best winning MR of 1:53.4. He did have one unplaced run in Australia when a 7YO before taking up stud duties. In NZ, with his oldest stock 11YOs, he has sired 22 winners and a number of qualifiers with progeny like Keayang Livana (12 wins) and Monaro Mia doing a very good job on the track. The latter won six races in NZ before going across the Tasman to win another 10 times,  banking $241k.

The move to stand in Canterbury based on this success on both sides of the Tasman (Group 1 success) at a very modest service fee didn’t really fly with NZ breeders, so much so that he was returned to Australia, to live out his stallion days in the ‘backblocks’ a couple of years ago.

He has two registered yearlings and three 2YOs on the ground with none of those five named as yet. Not that the owner of Imperious Girl, Brian Norman, is worried about that.

From the Revenue – Anreca Hest mare The Sweedish Filly (2 wins), the latter is a half to seven winners including the tough 3YO The Fiery Ginga who won 28 races for trainer Alan Clark. Latheronwheel and Heston Hall both won five races respectively. Another half-sister Leithe Ellen (1 win) has left six winners to date including another promising Southland trotter in Mor Moonlight (3 wins to date). The maternal side of Imperious Girl’s pedigree belongs to the Hest tribe, so successful for North Otago breeder Colin Campbell over several decades.

It will indeed be very interesting to see how far Imperious Girl can climb up the 3yo ‘ladder’ as the season unfolds.

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Blarney Stone’s win at Winton, at just his fifth race day start, made him the fifth winner from her dam Triple A ( Sundon – Janetta’s Pride).

Triple A has left only the six foals before her untimely passing. The only non-winning progeny was the Muscle Hill filly Dame Margot Fonteyn who placed in a short race career and her first foal is the promising Hope trained Isobel (2 wins to date from just 8 starts).

Although she was unraced, Triple A was the last foal of her dam Janetta’s Pride (3 wins) and Mid Canterbury brothers Keith and Bevan Grice bred the latter to top trot sire Sundon for several years in a row (14 times in fact).

To say that ‘cross’ worked would be an extreme injustice to the sire and the mare.

Those 14 matings produced 9 winners and one qualifier. Dependable (14 NZ wins), Jo Anne (12 NZ wins), Shirley Temple (Group success) and Ima Gold Digger (15 NZ wins) were stars on the track at some time during their race careers.

Eleven of the 14 foals were fillies and they bred on very successfully to produce the next generation of successful trotters. Jo Anne produced Jimmy Carter (21 wins) and Our Pinocchio (9 wins to date). Vivian Leigh produced Benchmark (9 wins). Juliana produced Sarah Palin (10 wins), Monty Python (15 wins), Dark Horse (14 wins), Hidden Talent (10 wins to date) and Father Christmas (11 wins). Jasmyne left Red Hot Poker (10 wins). Shirley Temple left Crusher Collins (8 wins)….and the list goes on…. and that is some list!