Winter Olympics history buffs will recongnise Chamonix as the site of the first Winter Olympics held in 1924 in France.

On Saturday night at Albion Park, Chamonix the pacer was a good winner for trainer/driver Grant Dixon downing Gotta Go Milking and My Ultimate Victor in a career best rate of 1:53.8 over the 1660 metres.

It was Chamonix’s 11th win and took the earnings of the gelded son of Hes Watching to $149,504.

The 2024 Nutrien Sunshine Stars Yearling Sale will include a three-quarter sister to Chamonix which is being offered by Burwood Stud.

This filly is by Hes Watching’s sire American Ideal from the Mach Three mare Tour Le Monde and, in addition to Chamonix, she is a half-sister to five other winners including 2yo Qbred Triad runner-up For All We Know p,3,1:54.2 and Ma Joi p,1:58.1.

Importantly for buyers considering this filly is the fact that the catalogue page features two outstanding female horses in Bettor Cover Lover and Under Cover Lover.

Tout Le Monde, dam of the filly in question, is a half-sister to Bettor Cover Lover which was New Zealand’s 2yo Pacing Filly of the Year and backed that up as an older horse with a New Zealand Mare of the Year title.

Bettor Cover Lover retired to stud as the winner of 19 races and $1,026,427 and her dam Front Cover Lover is a half-sister to New Zealand 3yo Filly of the Year Under Cover Lover which won 21 races and $864,923.

Under Cover Lover also went to the USA as a 3yo and won the Nadia Lobell Stake and Shady Daisy Stake before finishing third in the USA Breeders Crown.

As for trainer/driver Grant Dixon, he is heading for Menangle next weekend where his stable star Leap To Fame will tackle the $2million Tab Eureka.

On the subject of Leap To Fame, Sloys Company will offer an American Ideal filly from the Art Major mare Deadly Woman at Nutrien’s 2024 Sydney Yearling Sale.

Deadly Woman is a winning full-sister to Lettucereason p,2,1:55.9 $180,073 which is the dam of Leap To Fame as well as being a full-sister to millionaire For A Reason p,1:49.4 $1,111,470.

Leap To Fame will also become a millionaire pacer this coming weekend as he heads into the Eureka with earnings of $987,757.

Captaintreacherous 3yo colt Captain Hammerhead secured a start in the $2 million Eureka in a fortnight’s time with a win in the $50,000 The Singo at Menangle on Saturday night.

The win followed the colt’s win in the $100,000 Nutrien Classic at Bendigo eight nights earlier.

Captain Hammerhead is out of the smart Art Major mare Rogers Passion p,1:56.6 $136,446 who is a daughter of former Australian Broodmare of the Year Intrude.

Jackie Gibson from Success Stud will follow the Eureka with more than a passing interest as she has an Art Major colt out of a grand-daughter of Intrude in Obahma Joy p,1:53.2 $180,618.

This colt is a full-brother to Major Obahma p,1:51.1 $116,473.

Success Stud will offer seven lots in Nutrien’s Sydney Sale and five of the seven are colts.

A colt by Captain Crunch, whose first Australian crop will grace the tracks as 2yos in 2024, will attract plenty of interest.

He is the second foal from the Bathurst Gold Tiara placegetter Now Eye See p,1:55.8 $47,495 and the mare’s first foal is the 2023 Australian Gold Bullion winner Eye Believe p,2,1:56.0 $234,499.

Success Stud’s Captain Crunch colt is in fact a three-quarter brother to Eye Believe and the depth in this particular pedigree is clear with the produce only two dams more than filling a single page in the catalogue.

Another young sire whose first Australian crop will be offered as yearlings in 2024 is Bettors Wish p,1:47.6 $2,601,233 and Success Stud will offer a filly by Bettors Wish from the young Somebeachsomewhere mare Yes Eye See. This filly is a first foal.

Yes Eye See was unraced but she is a daughter of Oh Eye See p,1:54.5 $101,705 which is a half-sister to the dam of 2023 2yo winner Eye Believe p,2,1:56.0 $234,499.

Also in the Success Stud Sydney draft and worth inspection is an American Ideal colt from the 2yo Australasian Breeders Crown runner-up Our Angel Of Harlem p,1:55.7 $207,594.

The first foal from his dam, this colt has as his grand-dam the Bettors Delight Group One winning 2yo Paradise City p,3,1:56.0 $197,576 which is the dam of three winners from her only three foals.

Auctioneers have often made statements about residual value when selling fillies at yearling sales.

While some of those statements are little more than hyperbole the 2024 Nutrien Sydney Yearling Sale has a couple of fillies which really do have residual value but more importantly they have pedigrees which give them every chance of racetrack success.

Vendor Scott Robertson will offer a Sweet Lou filly and a Captaintreacherous filly tracing to the magnificent New Zealand broodmare Scuse Me which brought fame to New Zealand breeder Charles Roberts.

Scuse Me produced 13 winners including millionaires Have Faith In Me p,1:47.5 $1,969,141 and Adore Me p,1:47.7 $1,677,032 while a daughter in Splendid Dreams produced a further pair of millionaires in Christen Me p,1:49.1 $2,891,008 and Dream About Me p,1:50.1 $1,416,135.

Revere Me, a full-sister to Have Faith In Me and Adore Me, is the dam of a Sweet Lou filly which is a full-sister to Sugar Me p,1:51.0 $79,401 which is currently racing in the USA and is every chance to improve on his record before sale day.

Robertson’s second yearling from this family is a Captaintreacherous filly from the unraced Bettors Delight mare Return To Me whose oldest foal is the current unraced 2yo Love Of Mine.

Return To Me is a full-sister to Gold Coast Oaks winner Splendour (Our Splendour) p,2,1:56.2 $148,990 which is the dam of star WA pacer Magnificent Storm p,1:52.5 $756,053.

A full-brother to Splendour is the Victoria Derby winner Maxim p,1:53.8 $510,151 while her dam Splendid Deal is a half-sister to the aforementioned Christen Me and Dream About Me.

Scott Robertson is renowned for the manner in which he presents his yearlings and this pair of fillies, which do have true residual value, can be expected to attract plenty of attention.

( Pictured – Scott Robertson’s 2021 COLT OUT OF RETURN TO ME NZ/CAPTAINTREACHEROUS (US) – Sydney 2023 Sold $200000 )

The effort of the Sweet Lou colt Dangerous with a fast-finishing second to Captain Hammerhead in the Alabar Bloodstock 3yo Nutrien Classic at Bendigo last Friday put a focus on the draft of Greg Mitchell’s GSM Racing in the 2024 Nutrien Sunshine Stars Yearling Sale.

GSM Racing have five yearlings entered in the sale including a colt by Tintin In America from the Rock N Roll Heaven mare Ark Teamo which is a half-sister to Dangerous.

Dangerous took his record of 1:54.9 as a 2yo and he has now won five races and Friday’s second placing lifted his earnings to $89,526.

Ark Teamo took her record of 1:58.7 as a 2yo and she is also a half-sister to the Redcliffe Oaks and 4yo Qbred Triad winner Eleniark p,1:51.8 $203,855 which is currently at stud in the USA where she finished her racing career.

The GSM Racing draft is made up of three pacing-bred and two trotting-bred yearlings.

In addition to the Tintin In America colts they will offer a colt and a filly by rising star sire Downbytheseaside.

The colt is out of the Fake Left mare Find Fake Cash and is a full-brother to the current season’s 2:00 2yo winner Blackjack Crippa along with 10 other winners.

Those ten winners include Corporal Luna p,1:54.0 $220,874 and Stylish Soiree p,3,1:54.0 $102,714.

The Downbytheseaside filly is the first foal out of the smart Fake Left mare Saint Kilda Beach p,1:53.9 $105,814. This filly is from the family of Tasmania’s Eureka representative Magician.

GSM Racing’s two trotting-bred colts includes a three-quarter brother to the Australian Aged Trotter of the Year Majestic Man tr,1:53.5 $807,870.

This colt is by Majestic Son and is the second foal from Majestic Man’s half-sister to Ultimate Daiquiri tr,1:59.7.

The second of GSM Racing’s trotters is out of the good Monkey Bones race-mare Sharon’s Millicent tr,2:00.6 $99,675 which is already the dam of two winners.

This colt is by What The Hill whose oldest foals are current 3yos and include the 2023 Northern Trotting Derby winner Lovemeto tr,3,2:01.0 $113,630 and the NSW 2yo Trot Final winner Dreambigaimhigh tr,2,1:57.9.

( Dangerous as a yearling )

Sponsor celebrates in style

Glen Mortimer is a sponsor of Gloucester Park through Retravision and he celebrated his 60th birthday in style on Friday night with the win of the promising 3yo Rolling Fire.

Trained by the State’s leading trainer of young horses Justin Prentice, Rolling Fire was driven by Gary Hall and it was the gelding’s eighth win in 13 starts and lifted his earnings to $73,879.

Rolling Fire is owned by a group of seven owners and was purchased from the inaugural Nutrien Yearling Sale in Melbourne for $31,000 and when he won in early March 2022 he became the first winner from that sale.

The ownership group includes Gloucester Park CEO Michael Radley, Gloucester Park President John Burt, Gloucester Park committeeman Rob Gartrell and first time owner Richard Sargent.

The gelding’s breeder Gary Crocker and regular Prentice stable owners Glen Mortimer and Ross Fitzgerald also have shares.

“Gary had been telling what a great colt he had bred and was in the sale, I told Rob Gartrell about him, and he was keen to look at him, so Justin had him inspected. The reports were all positive and we were lucky enough to pick him up.” Michael Radley said after Friday’s win.

Justin Prentice wasn’t able to attend the sale in person so did his bidding on-line from his stables in Boyanup.

“Gary Crocker was on the phone straight after he went through the ring asking to keep a share of the flashy colt.”

Rolling Fire was broken-in in Victoria before being sent to Western Australia where he became a stablemate of Australian 2yo Pacer of the Year Never Ending and $100,000 2yo Valedictorian.

“Rolling Fire has clearly benefitted from working with that pair but Justin has always said that he would improve as he matured,” Radley said.

The trio will all be candidates for the $200,000 WA Derby in early November.

Rolling Fire’s dam Incendio is an interesting story in that she was bred in New Zealand by Western Australian breeder Robert Watson who brought her to Australia as an early yearling.

Incendio won six races in WA under the care of veteran trainer Jesse Moore.

Watson bred the first three foals from Incendio, all winners, before selling her to Crocker and Rolling Fire is the first foal that Crocker bred from the mare.

Lux Aeterna is Latin for eternal light and the unbeaten Captaintreacherous filly is an early favourite for the $175,000 2yo Fillies Nutrien Equine Classic final at Bendigo on Friday night.

Her Menangle based trainer/driver Rickie Alchin gave her a private trial on Friday after the 2yo fillies heat scheduled for Menangle last Tuesday was abandoned due to insufficient acceptors.

Alchin was pleased with the filly’s work and has re-affirmed that she is on target for Bendigo this week.

Lux Aeterna hasn’t raced since winning the $150,000 Bathurst Gold Tiara on March 25th when she overcame barrier 10 to down Eye Believe and Forever Skyfall and rated a slick 1:55.8 over the 1730 metres.

She goes into Friday’s race with a perfect four wins from four starts record and stakes of $112,432.

A full-sister to Captain Crusader p,1:50.4 $328,772 and three-quarter sister to Crunch Time p,1:49.6 $289,725, Lux Aeterna’s grand-dam Reacquainted is a three-quarter sister to Chariots Of Fire and Victoria Cup winner Caribbean Blaster p,1:52.6 $1,113,677.

Brooklyn Lodge will offer a full-brother to Lux Aeterna at the 2024 Nutrien Sydney Yearling and he will be one of the highlight lots in the 2024 catalogue.

( Lux Aeterna pictured as a yearling )