One of the better two year old harness racing fillies of this season in Northern Velocity has been sold to prominent Australian harness racing enthusiast Scott Robertson and his wife Kathy.
Northern Velocity raced at the highest level all season with wins in the $146,250 Sales Race at Addington as well as the $25,000 Leonard Memorial Stakes at Addington and the $25,000 Caduceus Club Classic at Invercargill.
She faced the starter eight times during the season for three wins and two placings for a healthy stake haul of $140.560.
With the All Star barn having the two other high class two year old fillies in the stable in Dream About Me and Arden's Choice, they made the decision to sell Northern Velocity after the Harness Jewels.
A daughter of Mach Three, Northern Velocity is a half sister to the outstanding pacer Pembrook Benny 1:53.6 ($907,890) and was purchased from the 2014 New Zealand Premier Sale at Christchurch for $72,500 by Mark Purdon.
While Northern Velocity has been sold to Australian interests she won't be lost to the New Zealand scene just yet as new part owner Scott Robertson explains.
" I have moved her to the Mark Jones barn with a view to her spending a big part of her three year old season in New Zealand."
" The big aim will be the Sales Race again but apart from that I am more than happy to leave it up to Mark where she races."
" At some point she will head over here to my trainer Steve Maguire," Scott said when speaking to Harnesslink this week.
Scott is slowly building up a small but select broodmare band with the aim of concentrating on the top end of the market at the yearling sales and Northern Velocity will join that broodmare band when she has finished racing.
Some smart mares have already been purchased such as
* Joyfuljoy (NZ) 1:51.6 ($480,442) who has produced a lovely Rock N Roll Heaven filly to date.
*Rockahula Baby – An Artsplace mare from a three quarter sister to Rocknroll Hanover 1:48.6 ($3,069,093)
*Glenferrie Diva 1:58 – A Christian Cullen half sister to the very smart Foreclosure 1:48.8 ($807,746)
*Magic Maddy Lombo – The dam already of Suave Stuey Lombo 1:49.6 ($566,512), Miss Trickin Lombo 1:53.3 ($230,312) and this years smart two year old filly Soho Maleleine 1:58 ($47,973)
*Snug Harbour – A Bettor's Delight mare from a full sister to Courage Under Fire 1:54.2 ($1,485,629)
*The Baggy Green 1:57 ($108,700) – A very smart Art Major daughter of the brilliant racemare Lady Waratah 1:59.5 ($564,770)
Scott has set his sights on having a small select broodmare band.
" Somewhere around the ten to twelve mark is what I an aiming at."
" I plan to sell everything in the first instance but as we get established I would prefer to sell the colts at the sales and retain the fillies where possible," Scott said
It has been an ambitious project by Scott and Kathy but with the class of mares they already have and others of the class of Northern Velocity to still join the elite broodmare band, the future looks pretty bright for these standardbred breeders.
Harnesslink Media