by Michael Taylor
ACROSS THE LINES (part 1) – WORTHY BOY
Who would dare to go asks Tracey Chapman? In Harness Racing the trotting purists & the staunch pacing breeders are clearly reluctant. But as we all know trotters & pacers share a much written about ancestry. A heritage that we still see shared & represented by many of the great sires of today. Here is an interesting article, Freak, by Dean Hoffman: ayvacowell.com/wp-content/…/kimberlydawn-trotmagazine-freak.pdf that introduces my feature stallion, Worthy Boy.
Worthy Boy, a son of Volomite, born in 1940, a year before Pearl Harbour, features strongly back in their pedigrees. Muscles Yankee (via Valley Victory) & the three great brothers: Andover, Angus & Conway Hall (via Garland Lobell) all carry him via both their paternal & maternal lines. He stands behind the two great foundation stallions of modern trotting, Super Bowl & Speedy Crown. Trotting breeders still seek to cross these 2 mighty sires, especially a sex balanced cross. We’ve seen Worthy Boy’s influence behind the male lines of the 2 most dominant trotting stallions of the last 20 years in Australasia, Sundon & Armbro Invasion. Their influence, especially as broodmare sires will resonate in Australasia for generations to come. Worthy Boy is seen in the lines of most of the prominent trotting stallions currently standing in Victoria: Bacardi Lindy, Fling It & Great Success being among his more recent arrivals.
Muscles Yankee & the three great Hall brothers have firmly established themselves at the top of the siring tree in North America & are now doing so here. Their sons Muscle Hill, Sky Valley, Yankee Spider & Majestic Son are set to continue Worthy Boy’s influence in Australia well into the future. You can be sure others will follow.
Muscles Yankee is again showing us his champion siring qualities producing 2 potential star fillies from a small 2yo crop. High Gait (5 wins & a 2nd from 6 starts) from the Purdon/Rasmussen ran an outstanding 2nd in the Ruby Harness Jewels from gate 12 beaten a mere half head. She’s heading to Victoria for the Redwood & Breeders Crown. And anyone who caught a glimpse of Keayang Yankee from the ‘on fire’ Margaret Lees stable was left in no doubt that if she can polish up her manners she could also be a serious contender after her barnstorming win on debut.
Andover Hall made his debut down under this season & prepares for the next fresh from his recent Elitlopp siring triumph with Magic Tonight & rising star, Nuncio finishing 3rd. His first crop due on the ground here this spring is the subject of much anticipation given the success of his brother, Angus Hall’s first two crops which have produced Group 1 winners, Endsino, My Arya & Charlie Runkles.
In tough times Worthy Boy won over US$25,000. Close enough to half a million today. He won 3 classic races & a heat of the Hambletonian. He has 315 record trotters & 205 record pacers on his lifetime resume, yet very little is written about him. However, Professor Ron Groves ranks him as Volomite’s 3rd great son in his Modern Era Trotting Sirelines:
http://classicfamilies.net/eBooks/5-ModernTrottingSirelines.pdf
Worthy Boy was the leading US sire on stakes in 1957 & sired a Hambletonian winner with his most successful son, Mainliner. His greatest legacy, that has brought him immortality, has been his mighty trotting son Stars Pride (sire of Super Bowl) who held a world record that stood for 15 years. His primary reputation has been as a broodmare sire. Interestingly Stars Pride has gone on to give us Changeover via his maternal line. Changeover has risen to top of the national 3yo pacing sires premiership on percentages and is producing some promising 2yo’s. Worthy Boy’s pacing influence doesn’t stop there. He also stands in the maternal line of Somebeachsomewhere who has now produced Group 1 winners Whereibylong, Menin Gate & Our Waikiki Beach from his first 3 crops to help silence his critics. His presence also comes via the male line of underrated sire Blissfull Hall who has regularly appeared in the Top Ten Pacing Sires Premierships and produced last year’s Nevele R Stud Victoria Oaks winner Barynya.
Dean Hoffman points out that in 1962 Worthy Boy uniquely sired the fastest 2yo fillies of the year for both trotters & pacers. They ran exactly the same times of 1:58! A feat we may not ever see again. To put those times into perspective the 2:00 barrier was only broken here in Australia just one year earlier when Robin Dundee won the inaugural Miracle Mile at Harold Park in 1967 running 1:59 for a prize of $15,000. A milestone that was the centre of great publicity at the time and was televised live.
But are we a step closer than we think of seeing pacing sires return a stronger influence back into trotting ranks? We’ve just witnessed Bettors Delight’s star 4yo trotter On Thunder Road win the Seelite Windows & Doors Winter Trotters Cup Final at Tabcorp Park Melton. We’ve also seen Aces N Sevens filly, Seven Secrets win this year’s HRNSW 2yo Trotters Foundation Final. Seven Secrets carries Worthy Boy in her maternal line via Harold J who we also see in Blissfull Hall’s paternal line.
New, well credentialed stallions Sweet Lou (USA) & The Gold Ace (NZ) from modern greats Falcon Seelster & Bettors Delight are set to make their siring debuts this season and bring Worth Boy’s influence with them. So too does Somebeachsomewhere’s brilliant young US son, Sunshine Beach. Are we perhaps witnessing the start of a pacing line of sire of sires that Worthy Boy will be part of?
Or will we perhaps see another Safely Kept, who still leads the Victorian Pacing Broodmare Sire Premiership & has also been a fixture near the top of the Australian Trotting Broodmare Sire Premierships for many years? Safely Kept carried a 7m x 7f cross of Worthy Boy.
Check in on Trot Check next week for Part 2 where I’ll be looking at how some of our young trotting stallions bring our pacing cousin’s bloodlines to us today more closely than some realise.
Michael Taylor
Australian Sales & Booking Co-ordinator for Nevele R Stud
Driving the future of Harness Racing