On a night when the harness racing world stood in awe at another dominant performance from Kevin Seymour’s champion Leap To Fame in the Blacks A Fake Queensland Championship the previous race at Albion Park provided its own highlight reel.

Seymour’s biggest cheque on the night came courtesy of his 2yo Always B Miki colt Fate Awaits which shattered the Australian Record for a 2yo over a distance greater than one mile when he rated 1:50.6 over the 1660 metres to lower the old record of 1:52.6 set by Jilliby Nitro at Albion Park in 2019.

Having just his sixth start Fate Awaits brought up his fourth win in the new Albion Park slot race for 2yos the Protostar and the $250,000 first prize lifted Fate Awaits earnings to $300,082.

Fate Awaits beat the 2024 2yo Nutrien Sales Classic winner The Highlight Reel and the Captaintreacherous colt Sanchez which was a 2023 Nutrien Sydney Yearling Sale graduate selling for $130,000.

Although he breeds significant numbers class juveniles from his own band of quality broodmares, Seymour is not afraid to put his hand up at a yearling auction to buy another breeders stock.

He bought Leap To Fame at a yearling sale and at the Nutrien Sydney Sale in 2023 Seymour paid $24,000 for Lot 55 which was offered by Phil and Denise Thurston’s Celestial Standardbreds.

Now named Fate Awaits the colt was the first foal from the Art Major mare For All We Know which had finished second to Smart As Camm Be in a 2yo Fillies Qbred Triad final on her way to six wins and $69,101 in stakes.

Seymour purchased the colt for $24,000 and like Leap To Fame he is prepared by Grant Dixon.

Queensland breeder Greg Mitchell, through GSM Racing Pty Ltd was also over the moon at Saturday’s Protostar result.

Greg has a yearling colt by McWicked out of the Hes Watching mare Meribel entered for the 2025 Sunshine Stars Yearling Sale.

It is the first foal from Meribel who is a race-winning half-sister to For All We Know – the dam of Protostar winner Fate Awaits.

Photo – Fate Awaits as a yearling

On Saturday night, at The Meadowlands, Bettors Wish sired the winners of both the 3yo Colts and 3yo Fillies editions of the $240,000 New Jersey Sires Stakes in Odds On Steno and Arbitrage Hanover.

Commencing on 3rd June, the 2024 Nutrien Winter Woolies Sale features two lots where Bettors Wish has an influence.

Lot 14 is a weanling filly by Bettors Wish from the American Ideal mare Emerging Talent p,1:55.1 which is a half-sister to She Envy p,1:53.4 $105,532..

Being offered by Jordabton Pty Ltd, this filly is out of a grand-daughter of Australian Broodmare of the Year Alldatglittersisgold.

Emerging Talent is therefore closely related to Australian 2yo Colt of the Year Bling It On p,1:50.2 $1,882,956 who is a son of American Ideal as are a couple of other winners from Alldatglittersisgold in Bletchley Park p,1:52.4 $418,028 and The Code Breaker p,1:56.3 $179,016.

Lot 135, on account of R & C Angove, is the Somebeachsomewhere mare Eyewitness which is in foal to Bettors Wish with her first foal being due in mid to late September.

Bettors Wish has sired five individual winners of $200,000 or more in the USA with his first crop of current 3yos.

Two of those five winners in the previously-mentioned Arbitrage Hanover and Wish You Well are out of Somebeachsomewhere mares.

Eyewitness is bred in the purple being a daughter of former Australian 2yo Filly of the Year Espeshlimade Lombo p,2,1:58.6 $299,199 which makes her a half-sister to no less than nine winners.

Eyewitness’s grand-dam is an Australian Broodmare of the Year in Butterfly Trunkey which also produced nine winners including one of the country’s legendary race-mares in Tailamade Lombo which won 49 races and $1,354,978.

On-line bidding for the 2024 Nutrien Winter Woolies Sale gets underway on June 3rd and To bid on any of the 207 lots potential buyers must register with Auctions Plus online at AuctionsPlus.

Mark Barton – 0419 488 256 and Gemma Smallmon – 0447 356 549 will be only too happy help if you have any questions or require assistance to register to bid.

One of the big attractions of any Mixed Sale is the ability to buy a mare that is already in foal to a quality stallion and the 2024 Nutrien Winter Woolies Sale is no different.

What is a little different is that this year leading Western Australian breeder KTC Bloodstock is offering ten mares which give fellow West Aussies to chance to buy a quality mare and not face the delay in getting the mare across the Nullarbor.

Kody Charles, the principal of KTC Bloodstock, is selling five mares in foal along with a further five that aren’t currently in foal which means they can be sent to the stallion of the purchaser’s choice early in the new season.

KTC Bloodstock bred the current star Western Australian 3yo filly Water Lou which after her win in the $50,000 Group Three Diamond Classic on May 17th has a record of 16 wins and two seconds in her 20 start career for stakes of $313,013.

While they aren’t offering Water Lou’s dam KTC Bloodstock is offering the Armbro Operative mare Generally Outspoken p,2,1:59.4 $69,688 in foal to Always B Miki as Lot 123.

This mare has already produced three winners including the Group One WA Golden Slipper runner-up Whataretheodds p,2,1:55.5 $87,840.

Also in foal to Always B Miki is the Northern Luck mare Luck Has It, Lot 120, which was placed at Group Three level and took a record of p,1:56.7 and banked $81,411.

Luck Has It is also the dam of three winners including Get Ready To Rock p,1:54.9 $89,643 and the current 4yo Juggernaut p,3,1:56.2 $28,701.

KTC Bloodstock are also offering the unraced Artsplace mare Hearty Franco in the foal to Downbytheseaside who sired the 2023 New Zealand 2yo Pacing Filly of the Year in Coastal Babe and the 2023 New Zealand Oaks winner Aardiebytheseaside.

Hearty Franco is Lot 119 and she is already the dam of seven winners including the Group One WA 2yo Diamond Classic winner Lady Luca which won nine races and $134,568 in stakes along with the smart Eldaytona p,1:54.9 $213,428.

Hearty Franco has a last service date of 16th October so a nice early season foal is on the cards.

Lot 121 is the race-winning Elsu mare Lindennys Buttercup whose first four foals are all winners with her fifth foal being a current yearling.

Her four winners include Matai Reactor p,1:55.2 $84,593 and Precocious Lady p,3,1:57.0 $69,525.

Lindennys Buttercup is in foal to the New Zealand bred 2yo New Jersey Sires Stake winner Foreclosure which is already the sire of 15 Australasian winners. Her foal is due in mid-October.

While on the subject of Foreclosure, KTC Bloodstock is offering the Rock N Roll Heaven mare Heavens Open as Lot 125 and she is a three-quarter sister to Foreclosure. While she is not currently in foal she is the dam of two live foals in the current 2yo starter Luna Goddess and a yearling colt by Ultimate Sniper.

The other mares being offered by KTC Bloodstock that are not in foal are Lughnasadh (Lot 170), Whats In The Bag (Lot 172), Artistic Gal (Lot 122), Kiwi Rose (Lot 171) and Sounds Bettor (Lot 124).

Lughnasadh is the dam of seven winners including Beltane p,1:51.4 $454,356 and the grand-dam of Group Two WA Nights of Thunder winner Queen Shenandoah and Group Two New Zealand Kindergarten Stakes winner Vessem.

Whats In The Bag is an unraced half-sister to WA Oaks winner Has No Fear p,1:56.1 $287,845 and her first foal was born in 2023.

The 2yo winner Artistic Gal is already the dam of Captain Oh Captain p,1:55.3 $54,150 and current 4yo winner Black Tuxedo p,1:58.4.

The American bred Kiwi Rose is the dam of four winners including Tasmanian Derby winner Maretai p,1:52.3 $194,574 and she had a Bettors Wish filly in 2023.

The lightly raced Bettors Delight mare Sounds Bettor is a half-sister to ten winners including three $100,000 earners and the dams of Puntarno Stride p,1:56.4 $191,924 and Our Vinnie p,3,1:56.5 $132,938.

The 2024 Nutrien Winter Woolies Sale features a couple of young mares by Australia’s Leading Sire of 3yos this season in Sweet Lou.

Sweet Lou, whose oldest Australian progeny are current 8yos, has sired 57 individual 3yo winners of 99 races and $1,053,416 to head the list comfortably from Art Major and American Ideal.

Over a long period of time it has shown that the leading sires of one generation have proven to be the leading broodmare sires of the next generation and Sweet Lou is heading along these lines.

His oldest daughters at stud are current 8yos and in the Southern Hemisphere he is already a successful broodmare sire with My Ultimate Barney taking out a heat of the 2024 Bathurst Gold Crown in 1:54.2 and then finishing second to the unbeaten Fox Dan in the $150,000 Group One final.

My Ultimate Barney is a colt by Downbytheseaside and he is the first foal from the Sweet Lou mare Treasure Me NZ and he is one of just two live foals of racing age in Australia out of Sweet Lou mares.

It is a similar story in the Northern Hemisphere where the oldest progeny of Sweet Lou mares are currently 4yos (foaled in 2020) and there are 22 winners of $1,195,956 with five individual earners of $100,000.

Interestingly three of those five $100,000 earners are sired by sons of Somebeachsomewhere which is also the case with My Ultimate Barney.

The young Sweet Lou mares in the Winter Woolies Sale are headed by Lot 191 Soho Lumine which is a current 4yo and she is in foal to Soho Tribeca which has already produced two 2yo winners with his first crop in 2024.

Soho Lumine has a strong maternal pedigree and took a record of 1:57.0 as a 3yo and won three races and her first foal is due in October this year.

Lot 169 is an unraced 5yo Sweet Lou mare in Sweet Houdini which is not in foal which opens up the opportunity to breed her early in the new season.

Sweet Houdini is a half-sister to Prince Joy which won 15 races and $116,504 in stakes.

While organisers were struggling to get the up-to-date 2024 Winter Woolies catalogue on-line last night, some horses seemed to go out of their way to make things difficult.

Trainer Keith McDeed won the 2yo at Tamworth last night with the Lazarus filly Two Cracked Corn to give her a maiden win.

Two Cracked Corn won by 17 metres and rated 1:57.6 for the 1609 metres.

Her dam Grandma Gertie, a half-sister to superstar Australian Harness Horse of the Year Smolda, is Lot 128 in the upcoming Nutrien Winter Woolies Sale.

Grandma Gertie is now the dam of three winners and she is being sold with a positive test to another superstar in King Of Swing. King Of Swing was voted Australian Harness Horse of the Year on no less that three occasions.

The 200 lots on offer include a range of 37 weanlings, 15 yearlings, 63 in-foal broodmares, 50 empty mares and 35 racing stock and looking at the pedigrees on offer there is something for everyone.

The Winter Woolies on-line sale starts at 9:00am on Monday 3rd June and ends at 6:00pm on Wednesday 5th June and the catalogue is live on-line at Nutrien Live – Online Catalogue (nutrienequine.com.au)

To bid on any of the 200 lots potential buyers must register with Auctions Plus online at AuctionsPlus.

Mark Barton – 0419 488 256 and Gemma Smallmon – 0447 356 549 will be only too happy help if you have any questions or require assistance to register to bid.

The second heat of the Nutrien 2yo Fillies Classic at Ballarat on Thursday night was won in impressive fashion by the Captaintreacherous filly Miss Australiana for trainer Clayton Tonkin and driver Mark Pitt.

Making her racetrack debut, Miss Australiana led throughout and sprinted home the last half in 55.4 seconds (28.6, 26.8) and was nine metres clear of her nearest rival at the finish.

Lot 198 in Sunday’s Nutrien Yearling Sale at Oaklands Junction is a three-quarter brother to Miss Australiana being being by another son of Somebeachsomewhere in Stay Hungry from the Bettors Delight mare Bettor Downunder.

Being offered by Wayne Ronan, Lot 198 is now out of a 100% Producer as Bettor Downunder has now had three foals of racing age and all three are winners.

Bettor Downunder was a smart race-mare and her 13 wins included an Ararat Cup and stakes of $134,067 while Stay Hungry has made an impact with his first crop racing as 2yos this season.

Stay Hungry is now the sire of seven individual 2yo winners this season including the Group Two WA Sales Classic runner-up Louie Vee p,2,1:55.8 $31,092.

There are four lots in Sunday’s sale by Stay Hungry and all four are colts.

In addition to Lot 198 they are Lots 218, 273 and 290 and the quartet will be available for inspection on Saturday prior to the sale on Sunday.

For full details and catalogued yearlings in the Melbourne Nutrien Standardbred 2024 Yearling Sales, click here.

By Alan Parker

When the 4yo Captaintreacherous mare Lanning won the opening event at the Warragul meeting on Monday she gave her dam Trojan Fire her fifth individual winner.

Driven by trainer Kyle Marshall, Lanning led for the bulk of the 1790 metres and rated 1:58.1 with a last half in 58.3. It was Marshall’s 18th win as a trainer from 78 starters at an excellent winning percentage of 23%.

Trojan Fire’s first foal died but since then she has five from five headed by Group Three 2yo Australasian Breeders Crown Silver winner Concealment p,3,1:55.3 $106,257, Fleetwood Rock p,1:55.7 $79,889 and Bao Nien p,1:55.2 $77,038.

Trojan Fire has a current 2yo by American Ideal in work with trainer Ricky Debono and she is also the dam of Lot 351 in the Nutrien Melbourne Yearling Sale set down for April 12th to 14th.

Being offered by Grenada Park, Lot 351 is a filly by former Australian 3yo Colt of the Year Poster Boy p,1:49.1 $803,310.

Poster Boy whose first crop commenced racing as 2yos only a matter of a week or so ago is already the sire of the smart Western Australian winning filly Delulu p,3,1:58.3.

Although unraced herself, Trojan Fire is a half-sister to nine winners including four $100,000 earners which include the Victorian Youthful Stakes winner Garnet River p,1:50.0 $555,822, Western Blaze p,1:53.7 $171,220 and Zante Beach p,1:59.0 $115,160.

Zante Beach is now the dam of the Group One WA Mares Classic winning mare Savvy Bromac p,1:54.3 $307,445 and she is also the grand-dam of Zeuss Bromac p,1:49.4 $494,965.

Such is the depth of this filly’s pedigree Lot 351 has only two dams appearing on the catalogue page.

Dr Kath McIntosh from Llowalong Farms is preparing this lot and Dr McIntosh can be contacted on 0427 497 429 to arrange a pre-sale inspection.

For full details and catalogued yearlings in the Melbourne Nutrien Standardbred 2024 Yearling Sales, click here.

By Alan Parker

Tomorrow afternoon at 5:52pm Australian Eastern Standard Time eight horses, representing the cream of Australasian trotters, will line up in the $600,000 TAB Trot at Cambridge with not only a lot of money on the line but a lot of bragging rights at stake.

On Sunday at 11:00am auctioneer Darren Macaulay will get the 2024 Nutrien Melbourne Yearling Sale underway with Lot 162.

This Pastor Stephen filly, from the outstanding maternal family of Australian Trotter of the Year Sumthingaboutmaori, will be the first of 66 trotting bred lots offered on Sunday.

Five of those 66 lots have close relatives in the TAB Trot and everybody involved in Sunday’s Sale will have their fingers crossed for a good result.

There is no better advertisement for the trotter in the Southern Hemisphere than Friday’s race and then Sunday’s Sale.

Lot 168, on account of Aldebaran Lodge, is a filly by the highly successful French stallion Brillantissime from the Muscle Hill mare Aldebaran Aliza.

Aldebaran Aliza’s first foal, Aldebaran Abel, made his debut last night at Bendigo and finished fourth behind Rainbow Jester in the second heat of the 2yo Nutrien Sales Classic.

Aldebaran Aliza’s dam Kyvalley Aldebaran is a half-sister to the seven times winning Cabaletta which is the grand-dam of the Greg and Nina Hope trained Midnight Dash which will start from barrier five in Friday’s $600,000 race with legendary driver Tony Herlihy at the reins.

Lot 242, on account of Yabby Dam Farms, is a colt by Australian 2yo Trotter of the Year Always Ready from a Majestic Son half-sister to the millionaire Just Believe in the Group Three RC Freestone Trotters Cup winner Heavenly Sister which won 11 raced and took a record of tr,1:56.5 and earned $129,745.

The truly remarkable Just Believe, which will start from barrier three tomorrow night, has won 28 races including two Inter Dominions and a total of six wins at Group One level on his way to earnings of $1,131,523 and a record of tr,1:54.9.

Lot 242 is Heavenly Sister’s second foal and her first was the 2023 3yo winning filly Keep Believing.

Lot 255, on account of Robert Ashley Haynes and Christopher Anthony Shaw, is a colt by Australia’s and New Zealand’s Leading Sire of Trotters in Majestic Son from the four time winning Sundon mare Justa Phoenix.

This colt is a half-brother to a rising star in the trotting ranks in Arcee Phoenix which has drawn ideally in barrier two on Friday and will be out to repeat his last start when led throughout at Melton to down a gallant Just Believe and rated a career best 1:53.5 over the 1720 metres.

Arcee Phoenix has now won 11 of his 33 starts and has a further 11 placings for earnings of $271,805.

As if that isn’t enough credentials, Lot 255 is bred on the same cross as 29 $100,000 earners including the millionaire Sundees Son tr,1:56.4 $1,401,248.

Lot 275, on account of Alabar Bloodstock, is a colt by Australian 3yo Trotting Colt of the Year Elite Stride from the Group One placed Pegasus Spur mare Miss Blissful tr,1:58.5 $118,728.

Miss Blissful is out of the Majestic Son mare Paramount Bliss which is a half-sister to Paramount Faith (by Pegasus Spur) – the dam of Muscle Mountain which won his second Group One New Zealand Trotting Championship at his most recent start on 30th March.

Muscle Mountain will be driven by Ben Hope tomorrow night and will start from barrier seven over the 2200 metres.

Lot 294 is another on account of Yabby Dam Farms and this filly is out of a seven race winning half-sister to the imported star Callmethebreeze which won at Group One level as a 2yo, 3yo and 4yo in Italy and in the past couple of months has become a multiple Group One winner in Australia.

Possessed of a blistering turn of foot, Callmethebreeze has run sub 1:54 times at each of his three wins in Australia since January and is drawn in barrier four tomorrow night.

Lot 294 is out of the Italian bred Cantab Hall mare Onestar LB whose seven European wins earned $144,271 and her yearling filly is a half-sister to the Scotch Notch Mile winner Courmayeur which won six races as a 3yo including a heat of the Need For Speed in 1:58.4.

As a music guru once said “Do yourself a favour and tune in tomorrow night, or better still, watch the best field of trotters ever assembled and dream about what you will witness on Sunday at the Nutrien Sale.

The depth of trotting blood in the catalogue is quite remarkable.

For full details and catalogued yearlings in the Melbourne Nutrien Standardbred 2024 Yearling Sales, click here.

By Alan Parker