Win a jewel for Price

By Tayler Strong - Otago Daily Times

Brian McCully after his win with Kylie Ree on Saturday. Photo by Tayler Strong. A half share in Kylie Ree will become the property of Maree Price as the result of the filly's win in the $60,000 Sires' Stakes Championship for 2yr-old trotters at Addington on Saturday. "When I bought her [Kylie Ree] from Maree Price 10 months ago the deal was that she would get a half share back if the filly got into the Harness Jewels," Brian McCully, the Timaru owner of Kylie Ree, said.

The deal becomes effective after the Harness Jewels at Cambridge on June 5.

"I don't know if I will retain the half share or sell," Price said.

She is a licensed trainer based at West Melton but primarily involved with breaking in horses.

Price and her son, Shane, bought Kylie Ree as a three-month old foal with her dam, Nerokilo, from Peter Robinson.

"She was one of three mares in a paddock on offer and I just liked her on type," Price said.

Nerokilo (by Clever Innocence) won six races as a trotter when trained by Gavin Hampton in the late 1990s.

She has left the winners, Sunero and Daddy Warbucks from six other foals.

Kylie Ree is by Monarchy, the sire of Sovereignty and King Charlie.

Kylie Ree, who started from the second line, finished resolutely to win by a length and three-quarters from pacemaker Paramount Geegee, the winner of his six starts.

Kylie Ree ran the 1950m (mobile) in 2.27.5 (2.01.7), 0.1sec inside the New Zealand record for a filly set by Jo Anne in 2001.

Kylie Ree is the second top stake-earner among the 2yr-old trotters in eligibility for the HJ with $33,955 behind Paramount Geegee with $35,110.

It was her first win in eight starts after three minor placings.

Price trained Kylie Ree until four weeks ago when she passed her to Mark Purdon and Grant Payne to top off for major races.

Purdon drove the filly.

McCully also bought Eric's Legend from Price and her son.

Eric's Legend won four races including a 2008 Sires' Stakes heat at Forbury Park as a 3yr-old from the Purdon-Payne stable and six for Robert Dunn.

McCully transferred Eric's Legend to New South Wales trainer Dean Atkinson in December.

Eric's Legend has had two wins at Harold Park in five starts from his new quarters.

McCully bought the half share off Shane Price in a weanling filly foal by Monarchy from Nerokilo three months ago.

"We will offer her at the yearling sales next year," Price said.

"I have always liked Kylie Ree. She was just like Pocaro when I broke her in. I gave them a 10 out of 10."

Two year old Artsplace colt repaying faith

The PGG Wrightson Ready To Run Sale has continued to be a happy hunting ground for harness racing trainer Lew Driver. Failures have been few and far between for the West Melton horseman, with his latest acquisition destined to follow in the footsteps of previous successes Presido and Fleet Magic.

Saturday night's meeting at Addington Raceway saw Amazing Art win his second race in just five appearances, when beating a handy lineup in heat three of the Sires Stakes Series for two year olds.

Driver was impressed by the athletic son of Artsplace from the first time he lay eyes on him. "He impressed me on trial day, he's got such a lovely fluent gait. But I didn't want to make the same mistake I did a couple of years when I really liked one of Michael's (House)." Driver is referring to the ill-fated Fiery Falcon who went on to win the Northern Derby as well as the Harness Jewels, amassing in excess of $500,000 in stake earnings. "When I trialed him I told Michael he was the nicest horse I'd sat behind since Gaelic Skipper, he felt abit special."

With plenty of interest in the Mach Three colt following a 55.2 half on trial day, Fiery Falcon was hot property on sale day, eventually being purchased by clients of Michael House for $200,000. A pretty sound investment in hindsight. "I had plenty of bullets to fire, but when it reached 200k I had to let him go," said Driver who came away much wiser for the experience, ruing the missed opportunity and vowing to do things differently in the future. "This time I didn't trial Amazing Art. "Naturally I had to inspect him but I got Robyn McLeish to bid on him."

The Artsplace colt was eventually knocked down to McLeish on behalf of Driver for $170,000. After enjoying some stunning success as a trainer from 2005-2007, Driver has operated in a more subdued capacity over the last few seasons, but is now looking to rebuild and regather his form of old. "I spent a fair amount time over the past few years as a caregiver to my late wife, it was a very tough time."

With solid support Driver is now concentrating his efforts to rebuilding a quality raceteam, with Amazing Art ensuing to become a cornerstone to the direct future. "He really is an absolute pleasure to train. There's three of us working the horses and everyone wants to drive him. He's such a nice horse to sit behind at speed." Bad draws and bad luck had kept Amazing Art out of the money in previous couple of starts, but things went to plan on Saturday night.

The athletic colt showed plenty of gas from a wide alley to find the front early, before handing up to Red Ransom. The move makers came with common regularity, but it was Robbie Holmes and Amazing Art sitting patiently in the trail who were to have the last say. With the passing lane presenting itself, Holmes drove the son of Artsplace through along the markers to find the front by the 200. The Muskeg Express in a display of bravery, found the front briefly before being challenged by Northerner Gold Ace.

But both were to find the deeds of their over-exertion to much, with Amazing Art holding them at bay to win by a head from the Muskeg Express and Gold Ace in a tight finish. The 1950m mobile was run in a fast 1.57.6 milerate, with the leaders running home in 58.3 and 28.4. Amazing Art has now gained his ticket to the Sires Stakes final and with it the probability of a start in the PGG Wrightson Sales Series Race.

According to Driver he has come through his run with flying colours. "I gave him Sunday off and when I put him in the paddock he took off kicking and bucking. So I don't think it's taken much out of him," said Driver who registered his 231st training success with his latest win.

Steve Dolan

Royal Cee Cee

The Michael House trained and driven Royal Cee Cee made it win number three from just six raceday outings, when taking out a heat of the Nevele R Fillies Series. The daughter of Christian Cullen was able to slide to the front for House who steadied the pace throughout the middle stages.

Left alone in front the West Melton "Ready To Run Maestro" was able to retain plenty in reserve, before allowing Royal Cee Cee to roam freely over the final stages, rounding the race off in effortless fashion to win by a length and three quarters from a plucky Courage On Fire.

Australia's top three-year-old pacer Lanercost ended his Tasmanian harness racing campaign on a high with an effortless win in the SEW Eurodrive Tasmanian derby over 2579 metres in Hobart on Sunday night (March 28).

The Darrel Graham-trained colt was coming off a brilliant win in the Australian Derby in Launceston a week earlier and that followed a track record-breaking win in a minor race at his first start in the state.

Graham has declared Lanercost the best pacer he has ever trained and rates the New Zealand-bred colt by Courage Under Fire as the best of his age in Australia. Lanercost is widely regarded by most astute pundits as a horse deserving of the title.

"We came to Tassie to win the Australian Derby but he did have a gut buster in that race and there was doubt about staying on for the Tasmanian derby but he jaded well from last week's run so we pressed on," Graham said.

"This race fell away a bit in numbers and drawing the front made things a bit easier."

Lanercost began well from gate five and soon after the start Graham allowed his stable star to roll to the front and from there it was a procession. Tasmanian gelding Gedlee, that ran second to Lanercost in the Australian Derby, filled the same role with another game effort and another local Udoit was a close-up third. Lanercost hit the line almost eight metres clear of Gedlee, running his last half mile (800m) in a slick 56.33 for a mile rate of 201.62. Graham said he will head to Melbourne with the horse and then wait for a flight to Queensland where the colt will have a short spell before tackling the Queensland Derby.

Double E Stables and the owner of Flashing Red have decided to have a zero service fee for Flashing Red this year.

He is an incredibly fertile stallion and can serve more mares than any other stallion that Michael has ever had.

SO if you have a mare that was remaining empty contact Double E stables and make arrangements.

Quite Easy

By Frank Marrion - Harness Racing Weekly

Accessing top quality trotting stallions has always been a problem when New Zealand's broodmare population has numbered between just 600-700 broodmares.

Sundon was entirely a fluke – an exceptional stroke of luck who advanced the trotting breed in this part of world immeasurably - and more recently a lot of any real progress that has been made has been done by importing frozen semen from the likes of Dream Vacation, Muscles Yankee, S J's Photo and probably the leading French sire Love You. Frozen semen has its limitations though of course and it has also usually come at a price, which has got to as much as $22,000 (plus GST and everything else that went with it) for Muscles Yankee at one time.

The likes of Earl, Monarchy and Pegasus Spur have brought positives to the table in the flesh more recently, but they haven’t exactly represented trotting royalty for both pedigree and performance either and their struggles at times have underlined the limitations of the Down Under trotting market and why it hasn’t been viable for studs to invest in a top class son of say Speedy Crown or Valley Victory over the years or more recently, and in the foreseeable future, a son of a ‘Hall’ or a horse from that extraordinary family.

This struggle was also perfectly illustrated by Alabar’s recent unsuccessful attempts to shuttle Yankee Glide for one season, although a sire of that much proven class and price was probably always going to be asking a bit much.

It is the demand from Europe which has almost always put America's elite trotting performers and pedigrees beyond the reach of Down Under breeders, so the start of a relationship this year between Michael House's Double E Stables and Roydon Lodge and the major Swedish stud and breeding entity Broline International could well be an interesting and significant development.

What it will mean for a start is an ample supply of frozen semen this year at a reasonable price from Quite Easy (2, 1.56.8; 3, Q1.54.8, $409,365), a classy 4-year-old son of Andover Hall with an attractive if not exciting pedigree.

The prospects of where this relationship might lead is what is just as promising though. Broline International, which stands the likes of Pine Chip, Lindy Lane and the French sire Juliano Star, the latter the sire of Swedish sensation Commander Crowe, a flashy chestnut who is unbeaten in 22 races, purchased Quite Easy at the end of his 2-year-old campaign and he has just completed a debut season at stud where he covered 185 mares. His fee in Sweden was a 3000 krona deposit and 35,000 on live foal, an all up figure which converts to about $8500 in New Zealand dollars.

What needs to be considered in such conversions and calculations though is the differences in the amount of money that can be raced for by trotters in Europe compared to Australasia and the resulting commercial value of yearlings at the sales etc.

Roydon Lodge's Keith Gibson and House are actually purchasing the semen in advance and are probably going to settle on a fee closer to $4500 here. "With the Americans it seems like they are always trying to clean you out of your last dollar, but these people in Sweden seem much more reasonable and interested in simply getting together to breed good trotters," said Gibson. "Straight away they knew about the limited market down here and were prepared to be practical - they seem to have a genuine common interest. "But these are also people that could buy the next Hambletonian winner straight off the track, so we're hoping to foster a relationship and who knows where it could lead.

“These are the people that you would be competing with if you were trying to buy a Quite Easy, but if we can get into bed with them it is going to be mutually beneficial for everybody," he added. A lot of trotting breeders are going to happily settle for sire with a pedigree and racing record like Quite Easy's for now. From the first crop of trotting siring sensation Andover Hall, who stood this year at Hanover for US$30,000 after also siring Donato Hanover and Pampered Princess from his first crop, Quite Easy is the second foal from the Valley Victory mare Marita's Victory (3, 1.54, $666,731, Hambletonian Oaks) and he was a $125,000 yearling at Harrisburg.

The latter fact will immediately alleviate any concerns about type and conformation for the 15.3 hands horse. Marita's Victory, whose first foal is the Pine Chip colt Stick Man Moe (4, 1.55.6, $52,826), is a three-quarter sister to champion filly Passionate Glide (2, 1.55.8; 3, 1.52.4, $2m, Breeders Crown 2yo & 3yo, Hambletonian Oaks) and a sister to Mr Vic (2, 1.57.2; 3, 1.54.4, $318,942, sire). Their dam in Miss Marita had a colt by Cantab Hall which sold for $350,000 in Kentucky last year and only a filly by Windson's Legacy at $360,000 at Harrisburg sold for more in North America.

Miss Marita, by the Super Bowl horse Joie De Vie, is a half-sister to the top Stakes winning Valley Victory fillies Act Of Grace (2, 1.55.6; 3, 1.52.6, $403,525 and dam of top Stakes colt Cobol), Prolific Lady (2, 1.57; 3, 1.56.4, $373,925) and Cherished Victory (2, 1.57.8; 3, 1.54.8, $127,675), while their dam Keystone Profile was a Stakes winning daughter of Speedy Crown and a half-sister to 1977 Hambletonian winner Green Speed. This is the famed Miss Bertha Dillon family and also tracing to her Peter Volo daughter Miss Bertha Hanover is none other than Andover Hall.

It is the cross of Andover Hall over a Valley Victory mare along with the ‘back class’ in the pedigree which will have trotting breeders salivating however. Donato Hanover and Pampered Princess are from mares by Valley Victory’s son Donerail and last year’s Hambletonian Oaks winner Danae is by Andover Hall from a mare by Valley Victory. Top colts of recent seasons in Laddie (3, 1.54) and Flirtin Man (3, 1.52.4) are by Angus Hall from Valley Victory mares, while the brilliant filly Pizza Dolce (3, 1.52.8) is by Conway Hall from a Valley Victory mare as is last weekend’s Hambletonian third placegetter Make It Happen.

Trained by Jimmy Takter, Quite Easy raced 14 times as a juvenile for seven wins and three seconds and stakes worth $228,000. After qualifying at The Meadowlands in June, he won his first Stakes assignment at The Meadows in a PASS and two starts later a Tompkins-Geers at Tioga Downs, which was the start of a five race winning streak which included a stopover at The Red Mile in 1.56.8 and a $107,385 division of the Champlain Stakes at Mohawk by three lengths in 1.57.4.

A week later at Mohawk, he won an elimination heat for the rich Wellwood Memorial in 1.57.6 before finishing a ‘flat’ fourth as the favourite in the final won by Laddie in 2.00 over a very sloppy track. A few weeks later he was back in Lexington however for an International Stallion Stake and coasted home for John Campbell in 1.56.8 with a last quarter in 27. He was then second beaten a neck in his heat for the Breeders Crown at Woodbine, but got too far back in the final won by Donato Hanover in 1.56, finishing on for fifth after being 12 lengths off the speed at the half.

After qualifying back in 1.54.8 at The Meadowlands in May last year, Quite Easy trekked back to Mohawk and won his heat and the $334,600 final of the Goodtimes, both in 1.56, where he downed another son of Andover Hall (and a Valley Victory mare) and an import this season in Monkey Bones.

That would be Quite Easy's last win however and whatever the problem was in his remaining career, it was never really pinpointed. He would finished second in the Colonial timed in 1.55 and third in a heat of the Yonkers Trot, but he was unplaced in the final of the latter and also the $1m Canadian Trotting Classic before being retired in October.

"We’ve been trying for years to acquire a trotting horse of this class but you just can't compete with the money that's on offer from Europe, so buying frozen semen at a reasonable price is probably not only the best way to go, but the only way," said Michael House, who will manage and promote Quite Easy under his Double E Stables umbrella.

"Keith (Gibson) is the ultimate realist when it comes to sires and money and it takes a bit to get him excited. "But when I showed him the pedigree of this horse and mentioned the possibilities, well he's been as high as a kite since."

Extreme Three

Quite Easy will bring the number of stallions that House will offer this season to 10, although whether the sub fertile and uncommercial Dr Ronerail stays in Canterbury remains to be seen. With a selection in the flesh which ranges between champion sire Sundon at $3750 to Thanksgiving at $800 and Monarchy in between at $2000, House could be said to have most trotting bases covered and offering something for everybody. He has certainly got the ‘breeding to race’ base covered on the pacing front anyway with proven sire Tinted Cloud and Big Tom and The Big Dog being joined by new import Extreme Three and all of them standing at $1500.

Double E Stables at West Melton acts as the ‘Stallion Station’ and nearby Roydon Lodge is the broodmare ‘collection’ farm with working fees applying there as well. Sundon turned 23 last week and is coming off a season where he successfully covered one of his biggest books ever with 154 mares in New Zealand and 49 in Australia. He has been showing the first signs of advancing age however.

Sundon’s progeny won $2.5m in New Zealand last season and while that was down on his record of $2.7m in 2007, which gave him his second Sires’ Premiership over the pacing sires, he was still quite simply in a class of his own in almost all respects. The one exception was among the 2-year-olds, where he had just the one winner in the filly Pocaro as the likes of Dream Vacation and Muscles Yankee had three or four, in what would be another sign of impending changing times.

It is Sundon’s daughters that will be his ‘own worse enemy’ as a sire in the future as they serve to promote other sires. Among last season’s top seven stakes winning juvenile trotters, Dream Machine and the fillies Jumanji Franco, Gimli and Yankee Del were from Sundon mares. He was the leading sire of 3-year-olds over Monarchy, but clearly the leading broodmare sire of 3-year-old trotters as well with the three top stakes winners in Sovereignty, Doctor Mickey and De Gaulle being from Sundon mares.

After the progeny of Sundon mares won $234,350 in 2007, last season this figure was over $1.1m and he jumped into second place by Gee Whiz II. As certain as death and taxes will be Sundon being leading trotting sire and leading broodmare trotting sire this coming season – which would almost certainly be a quite unique feat anywhere, anytime - and the latter fact will almost certainly mark the start of an era where he will be even more dominant and for longer than his reign at the top as trotting sire. That reign started in 2001 and it will be lasting a long way into the next decade.

His progeny have won over $1.5m in Australia again this season as well and he will again be in a class of his own on that premiership table, one he will top for a sixth consecutive year. We won’t be seeing his like again in our lifetimes, and with the advent of shuttle sires and frozen semen and events such as Quite Easy, who could well cover over 100 mares here this season from Sweden, we probably won’t see a trotting sire advance the breed and dominate to Sundon’s extent ever again full stop either.

But in such a limited gene pool where Sundon mares have become increasingly prevalent, he does also limit his own commercial capacity in that so many of the top racemares and or well-bred broodmares around are by Sundon, and as sure life has to move on, so too will the trotting breed inevitably move on from Sundon the sire. One of those benefiting greatly from Sundon mares is of course Monarchy, whose fee has been raised to $2000 off the back of an impending Trotter of the Year announcement for Sovereignty.

Empress, Gimli, La Femme D’Argent, Pasi and Solana have been others by Monarchy from Sundon mares. Roydon Lodge imported Monarchy as a foil for Sundon mares and now Gibson has the likes of Empress and her sister Dutchess, who are Monarchy half-sisters to Mountbatten and who are from the Sundon mare Sunvette, who are sitting up brilliantly for a sire with Quite Easy’s pedigree.

After averaging a book of 30 odd mares in his first five seasons at stud, Monarchy got to 51 mares at $1500 last season and Gibson and House are hoping for an even better result this time, but with new sires coming on to the scene such as Quite Easy and Monkey Bones ($2750) in such a limited pool of mares, that remains to be seen.

One trotting sire who had no trouble attracting a good book of mares last season was Thanksgiving, the New Zealand-bred horse with the American pedigree who proved the top juvenile trotter here in 2004 before a succession of soreness issues finally forced his retirement to stud in 2006.

He won four of his five races as a 2-year-old, culminating in the Sires Stakes at Addington and Sales race over One Over Kenny in Auckland. After a belated start to his debut season at stud, where he served 18 mares and got 18 foals, Thanksgiving got 85 last season and they included the likes of Elizabeth Bay, Gees Pride, Rona’s Jewel, Zsa Zsa, Cracker Nova, Fleur’s Invasion, Hanover The Gold, Jenny’s Comet, Kahlum (dam of Lyell Creek), Sunny Gem and What You Are.

It seems value is still an important component and trotting breeders recognized plenty of that in Thanksgiving along with his performance and pedigree. An interesting aspect of the latter is the fact that his sire King Conch (Speedy Crown-Conch) is a half-brother to Viking Kronos, who at 185,000 krona (NZ$42,000) is the most expensive sire in Sweden. “We are going to have a party shortly to celebrate Thanksgiving – the invitations are going to everybody who bred to him,” said House.

As a son of In The Pocket who has how sired over 70 winners including Australia’s fastest in Smoken Up (1.51.9, 21 NZ & Aus wins, $523,522 to date) and the fastest New Zealand-bred pacer in America in Nemisis (5 NZ wins, US1.48.2) among others, Tinted Cloud has secured his place in life as a proven sire who doesn’t cost breeders the earth.

He will be making an even bigger impression in due course as well as his biggest crop of 150 odd foals turned two last week.

With no ‘two for one’ deals on offer last year, his numbers fell back to 55 after seasons of 101 and 221, but the mares he covered in Australia as well included four for Smoken Up’s trainer Lance Justice and the likes of Richard Henry (WA Derby), Tee Pee Village and Days Of Grace have been flying a flag for him in the WA outpost as well.

He might not be the commercial success of a Christian Cullen or Courage Under Fire, but Tinted Cloud still represents an important and viable outcross and he is popular around the stud if only for the ease of working with him.“If we have 65 collection days then he does 65 minutes of work for the season.”

The same cannot be said for either Dr Ronerail or The Big Dog, but at least the latter is ‘knocking them over’ now after a disastrous start to his stud career here where it was discovered that his semen didn’t chill and he only got five of 38 mares in foal. However, since he started serving mares naturally two seasons ago, or the way it was always done up until 30-odd years ago, The Big Dog got 22 out of 22 (two foals died) in 2007 and 38 out of 39 in foal last season.

For a good horse who has sired five sub-1.50 performers including top FFA pacer He Wants It All (1.49.2, $948,640), plus an unbeaten daughter of Pacific Flight in Sirius Flight (3, 1.54.4) who now resides at Ohoka, The Big Dog probably offers some value as well, although he has just the one named colt among his first handful of foals here and only time will tell whether his fillies can overcome such a ‘handle’.

As a horse who won 44 races and over $1.5m, and as son of the underrated sire Cole Muffler, Big Tom (1.48.4) has a bit to offer as well and he will have a better chance to make an impression this season with a first crop of 30-odd 2-year-olds coming on stream. Big Tom covered 28 mares last season at $2500 in a ‘two for one’ deal, but House has brought him back to $1500 this year after conceding he probably overrated him.

That leaves Mach Three’s brother Extreme Three, who has been attracting plenty of interest at $1500, and the proven Sands A Flyin, the sire of Sly Flyin and Monkey King who was purchased by Robert Famularo last year.

Sands A Flyin has also struggled with his fertility over the years and hovers around the 60% mark, and to limit the book of the now 17-year-old while also hoping to attract a better class of mare, his fee has been increased to $3750 this year.

But it is the trotting sires which are going to be much of the focus this season, and with the addition of Quite Easy from Sweden to the roster, Double E Stables has probably cornered a large part of that small market.

Highview Tommy Jewels

Highview Tommy 2yo Colts and Geldings Emerald winner 1.55.2

By Mike Grainger – Harness Racing Weekly

Fresh from his win behind Fiery Falcon, Blair Orange was no less confident with smart looker Highview Tommy.

A Ready to Run Sales purchase from Michael House by Hazel Van Opzeeland, Philip and Glenys Kennard, Highview Tommy had won the Welcome Stakes, a Sires Stakes Heat and had been without luck in the final won by Tintin In America.

Success in the Emerald should almost certainly secure him the Two Year Old of the Year title.

The race fell perfectly into place.

Sir Clive sat outside Tintin In America, who led, and forced him hard.

Orange took a seat with Highview Tommy on the back of Sir Clive. Tintin In America had no hope of holding out a fresh and bristling Highview Tommy, and Aslan made a strong late run from three back for a fast closing second.

Orange said that Highview Tommy had never run a bad race all year.

“He just loves getting out there.

He’s got the best attitude of any 2-year-old I’ve driven.” he said.

His time of 1.55.2 was 1.4 better than Ohoka Arizona took to win the Emerald last year.

Fiery Falcon

Fiery Falcon 3yo Colts and Geldings Emerald winner 1.54.6

By Mike Grainger – Harness Racing Weekly

Fiery Falcon was the first of two winning drives for Blair Orange.

When he’d completed the second with Highview Tommy, he had the honour of being the only driver to have won four jewels.

If there’s a Crown for driving achievements, then Orange wears it.

Neither horse gave him too much to worry about.

Fiery Falcon worked steadily to the lead from his four draw. Orange kept them packed over the last lap, refusing to be pushed; they were going fast enough in any rate.

It meant Themightyquinn, in midfield, and Georgetown, four deep on the inner, had no options until the curtain came down.

Fiery Falcon headed for home running hard, The Cavalier, the trailer, held his place gamely and had half a head on Themightyquinn, who flew home when second was the best he could hope for.

It must have been something of a relief for Fiery Falcon and Orange to head to the start without the risk of seeing Auckland Reactor appear at some time.

It extended an outstanding and consistent record for the son of Mach Three – eight wins, seven seconds and seven thirds from 24 starts, and stakes of $533,786 for his enthusiastic owners, who were all on course. Orange has won three on him.

One of them, Philip Kennard, made the bold claim that Fiery Falcon was the second best horse in the country.

On stakes alone, there is no doubt that he has a place in the best company, and there is much more to come.

Veteran driver Maurice McKendry has added his voice to the huge wraps on 3-Year-Old trotting star Sovereignty after his tough win in the Breckon Bloodstock Northern Derby at Alexandra Park tonight (May 2).

The gelded son of Monarchy had all the pressure on him going into the 2700m mobile Group One feature, and his job wasn’t made any easier when he drew two on the second line.

But thanks to a hot pace up front, initially from Running On Time and latterly from The Ultimate Galleon, the Sean McCaffrey-trained Sovereignty got a lovely drag into the race and from there, it was up to the horsepower at McKendry’s disposal.

Just like last week’s Sires Stakes Trotters Championship, it was left down to Running On Time and Sovereignty to battle out the last 400m, with Sovereignty finishing off even better than last week, scoring by 2 ¾ lengths in yet another New Zealand record time of 3.25.5.

The fast clip suited Sovereignty perfectly, according to McKendry.

“It turned out good – they went hard early so it just suited us.”

McKendry sent Sovereignty off with 450m to go after the leader began to wilt.

“It was an off track and I thought he (The Ultimate Galleon) had to come back into it a wee bit,” he said.

“I knew Tony (Herlihy, on Running On Time) was getting a good run which I was sort of worried about – I didn’t want to get too far away from him.

“It just worked out good – we got a nice trip up there ... and just outmuscled him.”

McKendry wonders what Sovereignty is capable of in the next couple of seasons.

“He’s never let me down – he just keeps getting better,” he said.

“He can stay, he’s got speed – there’s not a lot wrong with him. He’s got a lot going for him.”

Matt Smith

Canterbury junior reinsman Dexter Dunn continues to baffle the harness racing world with his prowess in the sulky.

The teenager from Riccarton won his first Group 1 race in just his third drive at Alexandra Park tonight aboard the Michael House trained Rona Lorraine in the $134,000 Nevele R Stud Caduceus Club Classic.

The 2-year-old brown Christian Cullen filly was having just her fifth race-day start and first at northern headquarters and was not fancied by the punters when backed into seventh favourite in the 10-horse field.

“All of my wins have been memorable, but this one is special. I’ve always wanted to drive at Alexandra Park. I’ve seen it a lot on TV over the years and now that I’m here I can’t believe my first win on the track was a Group 1. I’ll definitely be back,” Dunn said.

Rona Lorraine had one-and-a-half lengths to spare over the second placed dead-heaters, Hemisphere and Arden’s Darlin. The Christian Cullen filly paced the 2200m mobile in 2:45.6 (mile rate: 2:01.1) with final 800m and 400m sectionals of 57.8 and 28.8 seconds.

Dunn later admitted he could have done better in the sulky.

“To be honest it was a bad drive. She had to do a lot of work in the race. At the top of the straight I thought she would throw in the towel after I had earlier pushed her out at the bell.

“She showed a heap of courage to hang on and win. This is a gutsy horse who will win more races. I’ll never forget this first win at Alexandra Park though. There’s a lot more atmosphere here than Addington. This is very memorable,” Dunn said.

Rona Lorraine now joins some quality fillies as winner of the Classic. Magaera (1996), Tupelo Rose (1999), Elect To Live (2001), Molly Darling (2004), One Dream (2006) and Suzie Maguire (2007) as past winners of the 15-year-old race.