Woodlands Word - June 6

WOODLANDS WORD ISSUE #3

June 6, 2019

TONY HERLIHY’S STELLER DAY SWEET LOU SIRES HIS FIRST HARNESS JEWELS WINNER

UPDATES FROM AUS AND THE US

10

A REVIEW OF THE HARNESS JEWELS

CONTENTS

06

BOLTING SUCCESS AT THE JEWELS

Success on Harness Jewels day is no uncommon occurrence for the Woodlands Stud contingent, but it usually comes down to horsepower, not human.

09

WOODLANDS NEWS

A wrap of of the week that’s been. A look at our sires progeny winners and other news out of Woodlands Stud.

14

HARNESS JEWELS PHOTOS

Harness Jewels day in photos!

16

PEGGY ISN’T SLOWING DOWN JUST YET...

A look at Pegasus Spur’s impact as a trotting stallion in Australasian harness racing.

04 WELCOME 16 LATEST FROM OZ 17 FAVOURITE PHOTO 21 HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE US 22 WHAT’S COMING UP?

FRONT COVER: SWEET ON ME AFTER WINNING THE GROUP 1 2YO DIAMOND AT THE HARNESS JEWELS LAST SATURDAY.

WELCOME STACEY WHITE

Dear Readers, Another Harness Jewels day has gone by, and for once the weather didn’t play it’s part. Congratulations to the team at Addington Raceway for managing to still put on a great day despite the hurdles they faced due to the weather.

While some of the results were expected it was also good to see some close finishes and some big divvies in the top three. Muscle Hill stamped his mark in the trotting ranks with two quinellas on the day and Bettor’s Delight continued yet another successful feature race day in style claiming four of the six pacing races.

As the dust starts to settle on the 2018/19 season, I always find it to be a good opportunity to reflect on the last 12 months and the highlights that it has bought. For Woodlands Stud it was welcoming two new sires into our stallion roster and seeing Sweet Lou step up to play with the big guns as his 2YO crops hit the track. We can only hope that 2019/20 will be as exciting!

I hope you enjoy this edition of Woodlands Word.

Stacey

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- NZ Marketing & Sales Manager

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WOODLANDS WORD // 5

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WOODLANDS WORD // 6

TONY HERLIHY AFTER HIS WIN WITH BOLT OF BRILLIANCE AT THE HARNESS JEWELS

// BOLTING SUCCESS AT THE JEWELS \\ MATT MARKHAM

Success on Harness Jewels day is no uncommon occurrence for the Woodlands Stud contingent, but it usually comes down to horsepower, not human. But, last Saturday at Addington a longstanding bastion of the Stud stood up and took control. His name, Tony Herlihy.

Aside from the obvious downcast mood which was felt across the industry in relation to the weather, the winner of close to 3,500 races in New Zealand was loading up his team of horses and heading into Harness HQ with the mindset of being hopeful, rather than confident.

It wasn’t as though Herlihy was being dismissive. He had four chances, Bolt For Brilliance in the Two-Year-Old Ruby, Dina Brown in the Three-Year-Old Diamond, Tickle Me Pink in the Three-Year-Old Ruby and Forget The Price Tag in the hotly contested Four-Year-Old Ruby.

Four really nice horses, but four horses who were going to need a few things in place to even figure in the finish of their four respective challenges – Herlihy’s own words, not ours.

What unfolded over the proceeding four or five hours by far exceeded the expectations of the Auckland based horseman as he took home two winners, a third placing and a fifth to cap things off.

“It’s been a huge day, I couldn’t be happier with how things have panned out,” Herlihy said late in the day.

“We’ve had a bit of luck go our way, but the horses have been spot on and a bit of that credit has to go to the team that’s been down here with them, Jimmy and Sandi Curtin especially and Chanelle.”

Herlihy, who carries the Woodlands Stud branding as a sponsored driver and has done for many years, kicked things off with a patient and calm steer on Bolt For Brilliance. Tickle Me Pink stepped out a few races later and delivered and almost all the way victory before bold runs from both Dina Brown (Third) and Forget The Price Tag (Fifth) capped things off.

The Group One double took Herlihy to a remarkable 69 Group One victories here in New Zealand, not far behind Ricky May but a long way off brother-in-law Mark Purdon. But, while numbers aren’t a big part of Herlihy’s mindset when it comes to success, there’s one number at the moment that is incredibly important.

He currently sits on 3,499 career New Zealand driving wins – one shy of a remarkable milestone in a career which sees him as the person with the most wins out of both jockeys and drivers in New

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Cometh the hour, cometh the ice man.

An interview in the earlier hours of last Saturday morning on Radio Trackside with harness racing legend, Tony Herlihy told you all you needed to know about how he felt his day was going to pan out at the Harness Jewels.

Zealand – and a figure that’s going to be hard to reach, let alone surpass.

On Friday, at Alexandra Park – if thing go to plan, there’s enough hope in a number of his drives that the Woodlands Stud sponsored driver, with the incredible winning record can produce some of the magic he’s known for producing that he’ll etch his name into the record books even further.

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And from there, who knows?

There’s 931 training wins next to the name, and that’s an element of his skillset that’s going from strength to strength at the moment so becoming a part of the elite club, largely filled with members of his own family, as a driver and a trainer of more than 1,000 winners would appear to be only just around the corner.

Herlihy is to harness racing what a man like Ross Taylor is to New Zealand Cricket – a prominent and key figure for an incredibly long amount of time.

FROM LEFT - RIGHT, TOP BOTTOM: BOLT OF BRILLIANCE WINNING THE 2YO RUBY; BOLT FOR BRILLIANCE’S CONNECTIONS (ANGE HERLIHY); TICKLE ME PINK AND CONNECTIONS (ANGE HERLIHY) AND TICKLE ME PINK AFTER WINNING THE 3YO RUBY.

NEWS WOODLANDS STALLIONS STELLAR DAY OUT AT HARNESS JEWELS The ‘Harness Jewels’ is the culmination of Group 1 racing in New Zealand for the 2018/19 season and at Addington, the Woodlands roster played a major part.

Bettor’s Delight’s daughter Elle Mac kick started the day when she won the 4yo Diamond for mares. Elle Mac took her career earnings to over $600,000 with this victory.

Woodlands stallions quinelled the event with American Ideal’s daughter Divine Bellezza claiming 2nd spot.

In the 2yo Emerald for the colts and geldings, One Change remained undefeated in his juvenile season when he claimed victory in this feature. The son of Bettor’s Delight led in a trifecta for his sire and now has banked close to $290,000 in earnings.

In the 3yo features Bettor’s Delights daughter Belle Of Montana captured her fourth Group 1 of the season when she won the Diamond and claimed the mantle as 3yo filly of the year and Jesse Duke bred and raised on the farm at Woodlands won the boys division of the 3yo Emerald, he now has banked over $425,000 in stakes!

Sweet Lou’s daughter Sweet On Me iced a memorable 2yo season with victory in the 2yo Diamond for fillies.

Sitting in the chair, she simply out stayed her rivals and gave Sweet Lou another feature success ‘down under’ in his first season as a sire!

Congratulations to all these winners!

FOR INFORMATION OR BOOKINGS CONTACT: In New Zealand - Stacey White on 021 595 492 or stacey@woodlandstud.co.nz In Australia - Mark Hughes on 0451 650707 or mark@woodlandsstud.co.nz

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American Ideal continues to leave winners on both sides of ‘the ditch’. Ideal Conquest was an impressive winner at Bendigo, Miss Patriot scored at Redcliffe, Ideal Liner was a Gloucester Park winner and Cee Cee in America scooted around Ouyen to win. In New Zealand, American Mac was a Forbury Park winner and Infatuation won at Auckland.

TOP - BOTTOM: SWEET ON ME, HARNESS JEWELS TROPHY FOR THE 4YO DIAMOND SPONSORED BY WOODLANDS, ONE CHANGE AND CONNECTIONS AFTER HIS WIN AND JESSE DUKE RETURNING TO THE STABLES.

ADDINGTON RACEWAY, JUNE 1ST 2019

A REVIEW OF THE HARNESS JEWELS

WOODLANDS WORD // 10

The Harness Jewels for 2019 will always be remembered for it’s terrible, freezing cold weather. But putting the weather waffle aside, there were also many standout performances on the track that will be remembered also.

From a Woodlands Stud perspective, we had a very good day. Bettor’s Delight and Sweet Lou won five of the six pacing features.

The first of the day, the Woodlands Stud sponsored 4YO Diamond, saw Elle Mac return to the winner’s circle after some mixed form of late. She won well in the hands of Natalie Rasmussen for the All Stars and it was great to see for her owners Jean and Bill Feiss, who are big supporters of Woodlands Stud.

It was also a terrific start to the day for Elle Mac’s breeders, Breckon Farms who are really starting to make their mark on the harness racing industry with their breed. It was a Woodlands quinella in the race with long-shot Divinia Bellezza, the daughter of American Ideal shooting home for second.

The second pacing feature, the 2YO Diamond was a very exciting race for the Stud. Sweet On Me was the winner of the race and she is of course out of the Champion mare Adore Me, bred by Woodlands Stud co-founder Charles Roberts and owned by him alongside his daughter and son-in-law, Mary and Paul Kenny.

But this wasn’t the only highlight from a Woodlands Stud perspective, as it also saw the first Harness Jewels for our up

RIGHT: THE HARNESS JEWELS THROPHIES (ADDINGTON RACEWAY).

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and coming sire Sweet Lou. With his first crop in Australasia going great guns, this was the icing on the cake, and we hope it can continue for seasons to come!

The 2YO Emerald followed right after this race and One Change continued his picket fence form line when securing the victory for the All Stars. The son of Bettor’s Delight has now won five from five with $287,707 in the bank.

The first four placings were filled with Woodlands Sired runners. Bettor’s Delight sired the trifecta with Flying Even Bettor and Zeuss Bromac taking second and third spots respectively and The Ideal Touch scooted up the inside to nab fourth for American Ideal.

In the 3YO Diamond we saw the closest finish of the day, to the point where the usually accurate Mark McNamara called the wrong horse home. It was a tight battle between Princess Tiffany and Belle Of Montana, but the latter managed to win by a whisker.

This should secure the daughter of Bettor’s Delight the 3YO Filly of the Year title for the season. Princess Tiffany who is out of a Bettor’s Delight mare, went a brave race and only missed by the barest of margins.

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The 4YO Emerald still eludes Woodlands Stud, with us having no sired winners of the race to date. Turn It Up was too classy for his

SWEET ON ME SECURING SWEET LOU HIS FIRST H

rivals in this race for the All Stars team and the son of Courage Under Fire looks like he could be anything in the future.

It was good to see the Woodlands Stud bred and raised Henry Hubert get home for a nice second in the race.

The final pacing feature of the day was another great result for Woodlands Stud, the All Stars and Bill & Jean Feiss. Jesse Duke beat his rivals in the 3YO Emerald after having to compete out of his age group for some time and having mixed form. He was bred and raised at Woodlands Stud and purchased from us by Jean at the 2017 Yearling Sales.

The son of Bettor’s Delight won well over Gran Chico who also went a good race – making it a Bettor’s Delight quinella.

The trotting races were also a positive for Woodlands Stud with two of them being taken out by progeny of Muscle Hill – in fact

ELLE MAC AND CONNECTIONS

it was two quinellas for the champion trotting sire.

With his son What The Hill joining our roster last season and serving a strong book of mares including the dam of the 3YO Ruby winner Tickle Me Pink, this adds to his value as a fresh semen sire at a good price across Australasia.

What The Hill’s dam is also a full-sister to Majestic Son who sired the trifecta in the 4YO Ruby, so all is looking positive for our newest trotting stallion heading into the upcoming breeding season.

Harness Jewels day is always the start of the wind down for the season, but there are always so many good stories to take out of the day and this year was no exception. Congratulations to everyone who helped make the day as good as it could be and to all the winners as well.

HARNESS JEWELS WINNER..

JESSE DUKE WINNING THE 3YO EMERALD

2019 HARNESS JEWELS DAY

// A COLLECTION OF PHOTOS FROM SOCIAL MEDIA THAT WERE TAKEN AT THE 2019 HARNESS JEWELS

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LATEST FROM OZ AN UPDATE FROM AUSTRALIA WOODLANDS WORD // 16

BETTOR’S DELIGHT AT WOODLANDS STUD

Legendary stallion Bettor’s Delight has his eighth consecutive Australian stallion title in his sights.

As we hit winter, Bettor’s Delight passed through $10,000,000 in earnings in Australia this season. He is close to $3,000,000 in earnings ahead of his nearest rival, having achieved this on less runners at the race track.

Bettors Delight’s progeny have depth, unlike in any stallion in history, they run as juveniles and they dominant the Grand Circuit.

He is now starting to impact as a broodmare sire and even is plying his trade as a square gaiting sire.

Bettor’s Delight returns ‘down under’ for the 2019/20 season in

August and his semen will again be available in Australia. At the tender age of 21 years old, Bettor’s Delight still remains the rock star sire in harness ranks in both hemispheres’, he is again the leading sire in the USA!

Bettor’s Delight remains the ‘Northern Dancer’ of harness racing sires and his service fee will be $27,500 GST INC. Normal discounts will apply. Don’t miss out this season, as we have a number of early bookings to ‘The King’ For all Australian stallion bookings please contact: Mark Hughes on 0451650707 or via email on mark@woodlandsstud.co.nz

MARK PURDON WITH THE WOODLANDS STUD BRED JESSE DUKE AFTER HIS WIN IN THE 4YO EMERALD AT THE HARNESS JEWELS.

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// FAVOURITE PHOTO

PEGASUS SPUR ON FARM AT WOODLANDS STUD - TRISH DUNELL

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// PEGGY ISN’T SLOWING DOWN JUST YET Our long term resident trotting sire, Pegasus Spur, might be 21 years old but you wouldn’t know it when you look at him performing in his winter paddock.

He first arrived at Woodlands Stud in 2006, shuttled back to North America for the next 3 seasons and after skipping 2009 was purchased outright by Woodlands Stud and has stood here ever since.

Other than banging his hock recently playing in his paddock, he hasn’t had a single soreness or illness issue, and was certainly well received at our stallion parade in September last year.

His siring statistics are particularly impressive considering he is purely a sire of straight out trotters and equal to or superior to many of our great trotting sires.

Pegasus Spur’s best son is of course Speeding Spur ($1.1 million, 27 wins, 1.55.5) and other top performers are Paramount Geegee (14 wins $350k), Flying Isa (26 wins to date, $520k), Monty Python (14 wins to date, $260k), Wilma’s Mate (14 wins $340k) and in Australia, Maori Time (24 wins, $420k).

Downunder he has sired 18 winners of more than $100k and a further 36 winners of more than $50k. His fastest progeny are the mares Daylon Miracle (1.50.3) and Maori Time (1.51.5).

We fully expect Peggy to make his mark as a broodmare sire given his excellent dam side pedigree as he can cross with any other trotting stallion available.

In Australia he has already sired the dam of Kinvarra Sue (2 Group 1’s, $163k) and Pretty Majestic (Vic Trotting Oaks , $90k) and in New Zealand the dams of the 2 year olds Cheeky Babe (4 wins) and Muscle Mountain (4 wins) and also Star Of Oleysha (3 wins) and Tobruk (3 wins).

His North American figures of 303 winners from 453 foals (68%) and just short of $16 million, means he has sired the winners of over $25 million worldwide.

Pegasus Spur’s fresh, chilled semen will again be available this season at $3,000 plus GST in NZ and $3,300 including GST in Australia, with the usual discount structure applying.

Steve Cornwall Accountant – Woodlands Stud (and resident trotting tragic!!)

FOR BOOKINGS OR ENQUIRIES CONTACT:

In New Zealand – Stacey White on 021 595492 or stacey@woodlandsstud.co.nz In Australian – Mark Hughes on 0451 650707 or mark@woodlandsstud.co.nz

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From his 312 live foals 3 years and older he has a 40% winners to live foals of 600 races and over $7.2 million in stakes. Combined with his Australian progeny a total of 159 winners at a rate of 38% winners to live foals of 868 races and almost $9.5 million in stakes.

With Speeding Spur safely arrived in USA and with a large number of good trotters still racing downunder, we expect Peggy’s record will be further enhanced and he is long way from finished.

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The world’s fastest harness racing twoyear-old, the Sweet Lou filly Warrawee Ubeaut, remained undefeated in two seasonal starts despite 29 days away from the races, winning one of four $30,000 divisions of a Pennsylvania All Stars event for three-year-old pacing fillies in 1:51 over a surface rated “sloppy” - a condition “Ubeaut” had shown she could overcome when she won the Breeders Crown here last year.

With Yannick Gingras, the only driver ever to have handled Warrawee Ubeaut, racing at Woodbine after a second-place finish in the World Driving Championship, Matt Kakaley got the driving assignment from Ron Burke. Kakaley kept the champion filly third through a :27.2 opener, then took the lead just past the 3/8 and went on to set middle fractions of :55.4 and 1:24.

ELIMINATIONS DRAWN FOR NORTH AMERICA CUP

The 36th Pepsi North America Cup has attracted 18 entrants to compete in this Saturday’s harness racing eliminations at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

The group of 18 three-year-old pacers have been split into a pair of $50,000 eliminations.

The top-five finishers from each elimination

will advance to the $1 million final on June 15.

The elimination winners will earn the right to select their post position for the final.

Captain Crunch is the top contender heading into the eliminations. The Dan Patch Award winner will start from post-four in a stacked first division.

BETTOR JOY N WINS IN A NEW LIFETIME BEST

Bettor Joy N and Phaetosive emerged victorious in the harness racing co-features at the Meadowlands Friday night.

In the Preferred for fillies and mares on the pace, Bettor Joy N raced in third past the half as Kissin In The Sand was rolling along on the lead in a rated :55.4. Bettor Joy N came after the leader from first-over after popping out of the three-hole but was still a length behind at the head of the stretch.

Bettor Joy N, the even-money second choice by a few dollars, then proceeded to wear down Kissin In The Sand (the actual post-time choice) to record a neck win in 1:50.4, a new lifetime best for the 5-year-old daughter of Bettor’s Delight-Joyfulbelle.

Bettorhaveanother finished third.

Trained by Jim King, Jr. and driven by Tim Tetrick, Bettor Joy N returned $4.00 to her backers while winning for 15th time from 37 starts, good for lifetime earnings of $423,634.

SHARTIN N SENSATIONAL IN BETSY ROSS

As she so often is, Shartin N ($4.40) was simply sensational on Sunday afternoon (May 26), duelling down a determined Caviart Ally to capture the $100,000 Betsy Ross Invitational for pacing mares at Harrah’s Philadelphia, one of three co-featured harness racing events on a blockbuster card.

Unlike her previous five wins this season, achieving the lead was no easy task for the 6-year-old Tintin In America mare. Shartin N resolutely held her ground to prevail by a neck in 1:49.2, her fastest win of the season.

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HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE US HARNESSLINK UPDATES FROM THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE

WARRAWEE UBEAUT CONTINUES WINNING WAYS

WHAT’S COMING UP?

A LOOK AT WHAT IS COMING UP IN THE HARNESS RACING INDUSTRY OVER THE NEXT MONTH

JUNE 14

JUNE 25

JUNE 27

// UNCUT GEMS

// NORTH ISLAND STALLION SEMINAR

// CANTERBURY STALLION SEMINAR

The Uncut Gems will be held at

KARAKA SALES COMPLEX

ADDINGTON RACEWAY

Addington Raceway on Friday 14

TIME TBC

TIME TBC

horses

Join all of the Stud’s at this stallion

Join all of the Stud’s at this stallion

nominated for Sires Stakes, Nevele

seminar to hear about each of their

seminar to hear about each of their

R Fillies Series or NZ Yearling Sales

stallion rosters for the upcoming

stallion rosters for the upcoming

Series.

2019/20 breeding season.

2019/20 breeding season.

A full list of series and conditions can

This is a must attend event for breeders

At both seminars there will also be

be found on the NZ Sires Stakes Board

to help you make your decisions on

talks from guest speakers from HRNZ,

website.

stallions. Hear from Alabar, Nevele R

Equibred, Kentucky Equine Research

Stud, Woodlands Stud and more!

and Accountants.

opportunities

to

those

WOODLANDS WORD // 22

June and present further earning

2019/20 Stallions

DISCOUNTS MAY APPLY TO SERVICES - CONTACT US TODAY!

AMERICAN IDEAL

BETTOR’S DELIGHT

DOWNBYTHESEASIDE

HIGHVIEW TOMMY

PEGASUS SPUR

SWEET LOU FULL AND CLOSED IN AUSTRALIA

WHAT THE HILL

WWW.WOODLANDSSTUD.CO.NZ

BOOKINGS AND INFORMATION:

New Zealand: Stacey White - 021 595 492 or stacey@woodlandsstud.co.nz Australia: Mark Hughes - 0451 650707 or mark@woodlandsstud.co.nz

WOODLANDS WORD // T. 09 292 8250// E. STACEY@WOODLANDSSTUD.CO.NZ // WWW.WOODLANDSSTUD.CO.NZ