Nevele R Stud, in conjunction with Kentuckiana Stallion Management, is pleased to announce that Muscle Mass – the stallion currently taking juvenile trotting by storm in both NZ and Australia – will be available to Australasian breeders for the first time since 2012 this coming harness racing breeding season.
Currently the leading sire of 2-year-old trotters in both NZ and Australia, Muscle Mass has had a sensational season with his first crop of any real size, siring the first two runners home (Custodian and Heavyweight Hero) in the Group 1 Harness Jewels 2YO Ruby last month and across the Tasman Group 1 Vicbred Platinum Home Grown Classic winner Illawong Shimmer, as well as the exciting Group 2 Tatlow Stakes winning youngster and recent Vicbred Super Series Final runner-up Illawong Byron, along with the Group 1 place-getter Sval Queen.
Available just the once previously (through frozen semen in 2009), Muscle Mass's first Australasian crop of only nine live foals has produced six winners to date including the current season Tontine Trotters Series winner K D Muscles 1:56.8 ($98,760, 6 wins) and the Group 2 Bacardi Lindy Mares Trot runner-up Zhenya ($69,607, 10 wins).
Muscle Mass was himself a world champion 2-year-old trotter, winning all seven of his juvenile starts including the Final of the American-National Stakes, Bluegrass Stakes and International Stallion Stakes, before injury curtailed his career at three.
A real trotting blue-blood, Muscle Mass is a son of the breed-shaping, champion stallion Muscles Yankee out of the multiple juvenile stakes-winning Pine Chip mare Graceful Touch, who has also left the Hambletonian winner Muscle Massive 1:51 ($1,245,297) and Merrie Annabelle Trot and New Jersey Sires Stakes winner Thatsnotmyname 1:55 ($340,730) to date.
His second dam Act Of Grace 1:52.6 ($403,525) was a top flight race-filly from the same crop as the freakish Continentalvictory and like her also raced the top colts and geldings on numerous occasions. From just two foals Act Of Grace left World Trotting Derby and Zweig Memorial winner Cobol 1:54 ($417,457), along with Graceful Touch.
With four crops of racing age in North America, Muscle Mass has established himself as the leading trotting sire in Ontario and has sired multiple Ontario Sires Stakes Gold champions including the O'Brien 2YO and 3YO Trotting Filly of the Year Riveting Rosie 1:52.8 ($973,336) and Muscle Matters 1:53.2 ($487,972).
Muscle Mass's service fee for the coming season is NZ$7,000 + GST (AU$7,700 incl. GST) and in good news for breeders, and a first for a Nevele R frozen semen sire, Muscle Mass will be included in the Stud's standard multiple mare discounts. His service fee is payable on positive test.
Nevele R General Manager Ged Mooar encourages breeders to book early as there is limited semen available in both countries.
Bookings will be taken on a first-in-first-served basis and can be made online through the Nevele R website – nevelerstud.co.nz or alternatively by emailing admin@nevelerstud.co.nz, phoning the office 03 349 8627, Nikki Reed 0274 346 401 or Freephone 1800 150 855 from Australia.