When people look at the harness racing sires list in North America you would think that they all race under the one flag but of course we know that is not the truth.
Canada is fiercely independent and standardbred breeders in Canada are no different so we thought we would do a review of the performance of Canadian based stallions and their influence on harness racing in Canada and beyond.
The leading sire on the all age pacing sires list in 2014 that stands in Canada was Matt's Scooter son, Mach Three who headed off the perenial top dog in Canada in Camluck.
This two were head and shoulders above the competition as the siring chart below shows.
Canadian all age pacing sires list for 2014
Stallion Name Money won Wins
MACH THREE $11,458,141 1181
CAMLUCK $7,159,237 964
JEREMES JET $4,232,278 453
BADLANDS HANOVER $3,484,110 423
SHADOW PLAY $3,055,528 230
NO PAN INTENDED $2,808,131 331
MILLION DOLLAR CAM $2,616,398 335
SPORTSWRITER $2,475,204 78
STONEBRIDGE REGAL $2,379,050 344
MODERN ART $2,323,643 274
The overall record of both Camluck who is now 28 years old and Mach Three who is 16 are outstanding and would hold their own anywhere in the world.
Camluck – Winners – $100,000 Winners – Millionaires – Sub 1:50 Total Stakes
1596 592 28 62 $217,969,096
Mach Three – Winners – 100,000 Winners – Millionaires – Sub 1:50 Total Stakes
619 211 2 21 $106,923,082 (Worldwide)
So it looks at the moment as if Mach Three and Camluck have a jump on the competition but two young sires are lining up to challenge them in Shadow Play and Sportswriter.
Shadow Play finished fifth on the list even though he only had two and three year olds to represent him while Sportswriter finished eighth with just his two year olds to represent him.
If they can maintain that early momentum from their initial crops then they have every chance of toppling the leading duo in the next two or three years
The table above does have a very "Australasian" look about it with eight of the ten sires on the list having stood down under at some point of their career.
The trotting sires list is again dominated by a couple of well estalished elite level sires in Kadabra and Angus Hall.
The emergence of Muscle Mass as a leading sire will be bitter sweet for Canadian breeders as he has since relocated to Blue Chip Farms in New York.
Canadian all age trotting sires list for 2014
Stallion Name Money Wins
KADABRA $7,239,806 542
ANGUS HALL $5,582,473 613
MUSCLE MASS $3,885,863 285
MAJESTIC SON $2,773,259 184
KEN WARKENTIN $1,930,438 252
DEWEYCHEATUMNHOWE $1,907,078 85
STRIKING SAHBRA $1,814,017 207
AMIGO HALL $1,648,308 178
FEDERAL FLEX $947,671 92
DUKE OF YORK $914,302 133
The overall records of both Kadabra who is 16 years old and Angus Hall who is 19 years old are both outstanding as the figures show.
Kadabra – Winners – $100,000 Winners – Millionaires – Sub 1:53 – Total Stakes
399 141 3 15 $51,015,193
Angus Hall – Winners – $100,000 Winners – Millionaires – Sub 1:53 – Total Stakes
746 231 6 14 $87,008,509
With Muscle Mass no longer standing in Canada, the two established siring greats don't have any real challengers on the horizon which is never healthy long term.
The 2015 season has started well for the Canadian based sires in the first nine weeks of the season with Mach Three leading the all aged sires list in North America with Camluck holding down seventh spot while on the trotting sires list for North America, Kadabra and Angus Hall are first and second at the moment.
However the Canadian breeding industry really needs one of the new boys on the scene to step up big time in the next twelve months because the old guard can't go on forever.
All in all the Canadian breeding industry continues to have a major impact on harness racing around the globe but it is in need of some renewal or that influence will start to wane.
Harnesslink Media