A late addition to the Atlantic Sires Stakes stallion roster may change the Maritime harness racing breeding landscape.
Varadero Hanover is now eligible for the program and stands at Elm Grove Farms in Elmsdale. The five-year-old is the first son of the great Somebeachsomewhere to stand in Atlantic Canada.
In Varadero Hanover’s 2012-13 career he won five races and banked $142,907 while taking a mark of 1:50.1 at Mohawk Raceway in Ontario. New Brunswick native Stephen Mahar campaigned the colt for most of his career, which included wins in an $18,000 youthful series leg at Woodbine in 1:52, a $20,000 diplomat series win in 1:52.1 and the $55,800 diplomat series final in 1:53, all at Woodbine.
Varadero Hanover was a bang-up second to world champion Sunshine Beach in the $75,000 Somebeachsomewhere stake, beaten by a half-a-length in 1:49.2 at Mohawk. His 1:50.1 lifetime best was taken in a non-winner of four races class at Mohawk on June 15, 2013, with Tim Tetrick in the bike.
Varadero Hanover has not made a pari-mutuel start since 2013 but was a winner in 1:56.3 on Feb. 28 at Pompano Park in Florida, for Islanders Wally and Danny Hennessey, before the horse came to Prince County.
The original date to register into the Atlantic Sires Stakes program was Jan. 31, but a stallion can be registered into the program as late as Aug. 1, if a late nomination payment was made.
Stonebridge Terror is another stallion that made the late payment and will also stand at Elm Grove Farms.
The nine-year son of Western Terror won $834,408 in his career while winning 16 races and taking a mark of 1:51.1 at Mohawk Raceway. Stonebridge Terror was a top Ontario Sires Stakes horse and won the $480,000 Upper Canada Cup in 2009 for driver Mike Saftic and trainer Jack Darling.
His shining P.E.I. moments came in 2010, when he won his elimination of the Gold Cup and Saucer in 1:52.4 for driver Jody Jamieson, then finished second in the $60,000 final in Part Shark’s 1:51 track-record performance. He captured another Gold Cup and Saucer elimination in 2012 in 1:52.2 for driver Anthony MacDonald. Stonebridge Terror, who is a three-quarter brother to Maritime stallion Western Paradise, bred 22 mares in his inaugural season at stud in 2014.
The additions bring the total stallion count to 24 in the Atlantic Sires Stakes program.
Maritime scene
Lynne MacLennan, executive director of the Atlantic Standardbred Breeders Association, confirmed there will be no Atlantic Sires Stakes events in New Brunswick this season.
New Brunswick last had a full slate of Atlantic Sires Stakes events in 2012, before the provincial government cut support to harness racing the following winter.
In 2013, the A.T.S.S. program was funded by Horse Racing New Brunswick with a limited schedule of one leg per division in the province, instead of the usual two stops in both Fredericton and Saint John. There were no A.T.S.S. events in New Brunswick in 2014.
The Atlantic Sires Stakes was formed more than 45 years ago as a partnership between New Brunswick, P.E.I. and Nova Scotia to grow and support the breeding and raising of young standardbreds in the region. The P.E.I. and Nova Scotia governments still actively contribute to the program.