ACROSS THE LINES (part 2) – ADIOS & TAR HEEL
Last week I looked at Worthy Boy’s influence on the modern trotter and found that he also has a far greater influence on the modern pacer than many of us give him credit for. On the other side of the line, I’ve noticed an infrequent but interesting occurrence of mares carrying the golden pacing cross: Adios –Tar Heel, being matched successfully with trotting stallions. Adios was born in 1940, the same year as Worthy Boy. He became one of the star pacers of his era. Tar Heel, born a little later in 1948 did same. Adios become a sire of sires. Tar Heel cemented his name in pacing history as a broodmare sire. They formed one of the most truly significant crosses in pacing history but it has also successfully crossed the lines.
Majestic Son’s link to Adios – Tar Heel may well just go down as a curious oddity in most parts of the harness racing world. Yet here in Australia this link has risen to surprising prominence. Majestic Son has been a real success story here having served close to 200 mares these past 2 seasons in a pool of approximately 615 trotting broodmares. Tar Heel & Adios appear 5 & 6 generations back in his maternal line. Of course since then his pedigree has been refined with strong trotting bloodlines being by Angus Hall who I mentioned last week. However, having the Adios – Tar Heel influence didn’t seem to do him any harm as he trotted on to win almost US$2 million on the track & now blazes the way at the top of the Victorian Trotting Sires Premiership.
Incredibly just as Majestic Son has burst onto the Australasian Trotting Sires stage, here in Australia we are witnessing a rise of trotting stallions carrying the same cross. Two Victorian broodmares are of particular interest: Fionas Flair and Past Judgement. Both pacing bred but both just wanted to trot. Both carried the Adios – Tar Heel cross.
Fionas Flair needs no introduction. She was a classy racemare finishing 2nd in a 4yo Vicbred Trotters Final & went on to win a Cochrane Cup. She cemented herself as one of the great modern Australian trotting broodmares early in her stud career giving us 3 star trotting geldings: Son Of Flair (1996 – $257,909), Mighty Maori (1997 – $256,305) & Touch Of Fair (2000 – $569,197). Touch Of Flair earned the distinction of being invited to the Elitlopp.
She was never tried with a pacing stallion, yet that is what every pedigree program search would have told her owners to do. Her final gift came from her mating with the great trotting stallion Muscles Yankee. This mating brought us Down Under Muscles (2005 – $216,925). Left as a colt, his wayward manners cost him the 2008 2yo Trotters Breeders Crown but his athleticism & turn of speed impressed all who saw him race. He’s only had 2 seasons at stud with limited support, but his first crop due to hit the ground this spring will be keenly watched.
Past Judgement who raced at metro level has given us former juvenile star, Danny Bouchea (2004 – $326,062). Danny Bouchea won the 2yo Trotters Breeders Crown (2007) & Seelite Windows & Doors Victoria Trotters Derby (2008). He also broke multiple track records. Danny Bouchea, by the mighty Sundon, will also see his first small crop hit the ground this spring. He’ll have bigger numbers the following season. He may surprise us at stud. He carries the weight of being one of Sundon’s last (if not last) hopes of giving him an heir.
However, now he won’t have to carry that weight alone. Fellow Sundon stallion, Red Samurai (2002 – $230,722) returns to Victoria to stand at Niota Bloodstock alongside Great Success. Red Samurai’s Harold Park winning dam, Sally Anns Future, was also pacing bred but preferred to trot. And yes, she too carries the Adios – Tar Heel cross.
Australia has had something of a quiet flirtation with this phenomenon. Joanie Toliver (1977) was a star juvenile trotter who went on to win a Dullard Cup defeating the great Amazon in the process. Glenfield Girl (1982) also trotted her way to glory winning not only a Dullard Cup but also an Australasian Trotters Championship & a Freestone Cup. She has been largely forgotten but in every one of those victories she triumphed over Victorian trotting legend, True Roman. Both mares were pacing bred with the Adios – Tar Heel cross.
We’ve seen a regular sprinkle of breeders experimenting with pacing bred mares to trotting stallions and we’re seeing a spike of this at the moment. We haven’t seen much of the reverse. Trotting mares to pacing stallions. But one we have recently seen has given us a remarkable result. Like A Calder, trotting bred close in, carries the Adios – Tar Heel cross not far back in her pedigree. She was matched with pacing stallion Metropolitan ($1,317,315). Metropolitan carries 4 male lines of Adios & 4 female lines of Tar Heel. It brought us one of the most exciting juvenile trotters we have ever seen: Blitzthemcalder (2009 – $432,149). Let’s hope we get to see him back on the racetrack!
Suddenly in Victoria we now see almost as many trotting stallions with pacing influences standing alongside the ‘pure-breds’. These next two springs we are going to see up to 140 trotting foals on the ground carrying the golden pacing cross of Adios – Tar Heel. Who’d have thought!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this 2 part series. Check in on Trot Check next week where I’ll be reviewing the state of Australian trotting as we enter the new financial year.
by Michael Taylor
Australian Sales & Booking Co-ordinator for Nevele R Stud
Driving the future of Harness Racing