Breeding Snippets: Proven Families Continue to Deliver

Some excellent trial form and the ace draw gave the Stonewall team confidence going into the debut run of Ride The Waves on a night of premier racing at Auckland, and so it proved, the royally bred filly taking advantage of a sweet trail to outfinish pacemaking favourite Fly High.

Ride The Waves follows family tradition

She still has a long way to go to match the race record of her dam and multiple Group winner Fight For Glory (14 wins, $675k), but the Downbytheseaside filly certainly looks to have a future, with breeder Diane Cournane retaining a share in the filly she bred.

Ride The Waves is the fourth foal of her dam and third winner.

First foal Glory’s Delight (4 wins), now owned by Graham Beirne’s Small Car World, has a Confederate weanling filly on the ground and has been served by Downbytheseaside. Full sister Delightful Glory, unraced, has been served by Pebble Beach after missing to American Ideal.

Third foal Built For Glory, also trained by the Telfers, won seven races and $120k before injury curtailed his racing career.

Following on behind Ride The Waves are colts by Downbytheseaside and Bettor’s Delight, while the mare has again been served by Downbytheseaside in the latest breeding round.

Fight For Glory was by Art Major from Cournane’s good mare Breath Of Life (7 wins, $109k), with the latter leaving seven winners and a qualifier from 10 live foals.

Tattica shaping as a classic filly

In another good result for the Stonewall team, and at just her fourth career start, Tattica repaid some of her yearling sale price in good fashion, with the promise of much more to come.

The Tactical Landing three-year-old, from Love Ya Doosie (Love You – Sheezadoosie), has the breeding to support a successful race career.

Older half siblings Kyvalley Chief (14 wins, $161k), Kyvalley Hotspur (16 wins, $309k) and Lovemeto (8 wins, $193k) have all done a fine job.

And of course second dam Sheezadoosie (7 wins) left the mighty I Can Doosit (36 wins, $1.45M) and full brother Sno’s Big Boy (15 wins, $215k), both standout sons of Muscles Yankee.

No doubt Tattica will become a welcome addition to the Stonewall broodmare band in years to come with such a blue-blood pedigree.

In the meantime, she looks a genuine contender for some of the major 3YO filly features later in the season.

Wat family continues to fire

Studholme Bloodstock mastermind Brian West had firepower running in both islands over the weekend, but elected to watch Wat Fun win her 2YO assignment at Addington in the capable hands of Olivia Thornley.

The Bettor’s Delight – Wat A Woman filly was having just her second start after debuting behind stablemate I’m The Boss in the Group 3 Leonard Memorial.

West secured Wat A Woman (Mach Three – Tricky Woman) from breeder Vicky Purdon, and she has proven a prolific source of success.

Yuko won 16 races, while Manhattan was a very smart mare for Bob Butt, winning 11 races and going sub-1:50 in Australia.

No Matter Wat won five from only 13 starts, including the Group 1 NZ Oaks, and now in the breeding barn has a yearling filly by Bettor’s Delight on the ground and has been served again by that champion sire.

Wat Next, by Art Major, has won once from nine starts, but that success came in the Listed Harness Millions 2YO Fillies event and her earnings already exceed $100k.

The success of this family is hardly surprising when one notes that Tricky Woman is a half sister to Scuse Me (8 wins), who established arguably the most commercial family in modern harness racing history.

Brian West heads to Auckland this coming weekend to watch his outstanding filly Secret Wish, hoping for better luck after a badly timed break proved costly in the Northern Oaks behind Cath.

Rock Lobster rewarding patience

Those that know will tell you it takes a great deal of patience to make a good trotter, and many of the 400 syndicate members who own a “hair” of Rock Lobster would agree.

It has taken plenty of work from the Diamond Racing team to organise the 5YO mare by Majestic Son from Kenny’s Commando, but those early struggles appear well behind her now after overcoming a 20m handicap in the hands of Riley Harrison to record her eighth win and edge closer to the $100k mark.

Bred by North Otago’s Bev Williamson, “The Lobster” is the first foal of her unraced dam, who in turn is a daughter of Nice One Kenny (2 wins), making her a close relation to some very smart trotters.

Nice One Kenny also left Queen Kenny, dam of millionaire trotter Queen Elida, Royal Kenny, dam of Aroha Kenny ($142k), and Princess Kenny (13 wins, 1:55), along with several other winning daughters now being bred from.

This all traces back to Frances Jay Bee (6 wins), by the George Shand-trained Pointer Hanover, whose first two foals were One Kenny (19 wins) and One Under Kenny (11 wins).

Following on behind Rock Lobster, Shred N Burn (by Creatine) is a qualified 3YO in the Herlihy stable, while third foal Mount Juliet (by What The Hill) has been exported to Australia.

There are also yearlings and weanlings by What The Hill and Tactical Landing respectively coming through.

Radha adds to prolific family

Radha has always shown above average ability for the Edmonds training partnership, but time has been his friend and his record now stands at five wins from 20 starts over three seasons.

If he can stay healthy, that record looks set to improve further.

His dam Reklaw (Christian Cullen – Enchanter Franco) won one of only two starts, but her broodmare career began in outstanding fashion.

First foal Rishi quickly found his way to Australia, winning 15 races and $254k, while full brother Our Corelli did even better with 38 wins and $532k. Both recorded 1:50 winning MRs.

Third foal Turnstile, also by Bettor’s Delight, was unraced but at stud her first foal Fear The Pain (by Fear The Dragon) has already won nine races.

Radha is foal number six and one of five winners from eight foals of racing age.

Full sister to Reklaw, Adore To Our Dreams has left millionaire pacer Akuta, while their dam Enchanter Franco (Badlands Hanover – Emily Franco) is from one of Spreydon Lodge’s most successful families.

Adore Me still making headlines

Adore Me (Bettor’s Delight – Scuse Me) was a champion mare on the track, no question.

Twenty-six wins and seven placings from just 36 starts, $1.68M in stakes and a best winning time of 1:47.7 tells that story clearly enough.

Often mares of that calibre can struggle to leave one as good as themselves, but while there are no millionaires amongst her progeny yet, she has still done a grand job at stud.

At Rangiora on Sunday, Cherish Me set a track record for 3YO fillies over the mobile 2000m at just her second start and in doing so became Adore Me’s sixth winner from her first six foals to race.

Those six foals have won 34 races between them, all Group winners with sub-1:56 winning MRs, including two $230k-plus earners and another two over $100k.

And remember, Cherish Me has had only two starts.

Three of those six winners, all fillies, were produced via embryo transfer. There is also a Captaintreacherous 2YO in the Stonewall team and another yearling by that sire named Black River Whistler, the first of her foals not to carry “Me” in the name.

Adore Me missed to Captaintreacherous in 2025 but has since been served by Sweet Lou.

Time does not stand still and the great mare is now 16, but judging by the manner of Cherish Me’s Rangiora victory, she looks set to remain in the headlines for some time yet.

Tattica, posts first win at Alexandra Park