All eyes were on Addington on Tuesday, 14 November, Cup Day. But over the Tasman at a lowly harness racing meeting in Victoria a former New Zealand pacer won a race that provided his sire Panspacificflight with a remarkable milestone.
Arden’s Concord’s win at Ararat was the 100th for the progeny of Panspacificflight’s first New Zealand crop of only 23 horses. Nineteen of them qualified and 14 individual winners, now six-year-olds, have gone on to win 100 races between them in New Zealand, Australia and the United States, where Panspacificflight is based.
That’s the kind of start that Macca Lodge proprietor Brent McIntyre could only dream about when he secured the frozen semen rights to The Panderosa stallion in 2010. And the outlook was even brighter when Arden’s Choice, from Panspacificflight’s second crop, was a Group 1 winner at two and went on to win $280,000 in stakes.
But racetrack performance has not translated into broodmare bookings and Panspacificflight may serve only about a dozen mares this season.
“It’s disappointing that he can’t get more mares because he deserves a better go,” Brent says. “He’s done a fantastic job when you consider how few foals he’s had on the ground.”
Just last week another promising Panspacificflight emerged with three-year-old Naholo, on debut at Ashburton, coming from last at the 800 metres to win in 2:56.3 over 2400 metres.
The best-performed horse from the first crop is Wick, who won five times for Wyndham trainer Brendon McLellan before being exported to the US last year. He has won nine races there, including several at Yonkers, and has taken a best mile time of 1:51.6. Southern Pursuit, the winner of seven, is another now racing in the US.
Little Rascal, still owned by Ian Dobson of Christian Cullen fame, won eight races at Addington and Alexandra Park before joining the free-for-all ranks in Melbourne where he has won four times. He rated 1:51.8 when he beat My Field Marshall in a Group 3 event in September.
Among the other multiple winners from the crop are Glenisla (14 wins), Last Flight In (11), Wattlebank Flyer (10), Straight Thru Blue (eight), Sir Mac’s Man (seven) and Arden’s Concord (seven).
Arden’s Concord won six races for Otago trainer Graeme Anderson before the Butterworths bought him last year and took him to Victoria. Away from the racetrack for a year, he had three placings for Kerryn Manning before breaking through for his first Australian win at Ararat.
And Panspacificflight’s first New Zealand winner, The Manipulator, who was arguably the most promising of them all, may yet add to his four wins. Trained by Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen before he broke down as a four-year-old, he’s now back in the McIntyre barn at Macca Lodge and ran a promising third fresh-up at Invercargill last month before breaking at the start in the Tuapeka Cup at Forbury.
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Harnesslink Media