Recently we produced an article on the influence of dual gaited stallions on a lot of the New Zealand maternal pedigrees and we used the imported Diller Hanover stallion Crockett as an example of how in our view they had added to the success of the New Zealand standardbred.
We had quite a lot of feedback on the issue and several Harnesslink readers pointed out that the most successful dual gaited stallion to have influenced the standardbred breed in New Zealand was the colonial stallion,Great Evander.
The son of Bill B left 149 winners in New Zealand with 101 trotting winners and 48 pacing winners.
The list of high class trotters he sired reads like a who's who of the best New Zealand trotters from the 1970s and early 1980s.
Easton Light (36 wins) won the most races but About Now (25 wins), Basil Dean (25 wins), Even Speed (22 wins) and Petite Evander (21 wins) are not bad progeny to have on your resume.
His daughters left such elite trotters as Diamond Field (33 wins) Jenner (33 wins) and Pride Of Petite (35 wins) to name just three so his influence on our trotting bloodlines has been huge.
But the influence has also been felt in the pacing broodmare ranks as well.
Daughters appear in the pedigrees of such smart paces as Yulestar 1:50 ($1,985,266) and Spirit Of Zeus 1:57.8 ($243,472) and even though he died over 30 years ago, Great Evander still makes the pedigree page on the odd yearling in this years sales catalogue.
The pick of them in our view would be Lot 108 at the Australasian Classic Yearling Sale at Karaka on February 22nd.
Named How Great Thou Art, the colt is a son of Art Major and is the fifth foal of the Christian Cullen mare Toast To Cullen.
The first four foals have all won to date including Nimble Jack 1:54.4 ($76,011) and Doubleodeano 1:58.3($37,086) so the colt has plenty going for him.
The third dam of How Great Thou Art is the Great Evander mare Cinnamon Toast who produced eight winners including the former smart juvenile Traitors Gate (10 wins) while one of her daughters in Mary Darling left the brilliant two and three year old Tight Connection 1:56.6 ($473,835).
Cinnamon Toast is the grand dam of the smart In The Pocket mare in Bury My Heart (13 wins) who has produced Texican 1:50.2 ($611,437) who is having a great run in North America at the moment.
Great Evander was renowned for leaving stock that were super tough and durable and those traits still seem to be coming through to today's yearlings from his grand daughters and great granddaughters
Harnesslink Media