The $90,000 Golden Gait for 2yo trotters at Auckland on Friday December 20 was a triumph for the Cantab Hall stallion Father Patrick when his only three starters in the race filled the placings.
The Father Patrick trifecta was headed by the gelding Meant To Be which took his 2yo record to six wins in nine starts this season and the $50,000 first prize lifted his season’s earnings to $247,596.
Father Patrick had a good season in Australia in 2024 with eight individual 2yo winners of 12 races top have him placed in second place behind another son of Cantab Hall in Volstead.
His eight 2yo winners in Australia this year include the gelding Zarski which has won three of his four starts including a heat of the Vicbred Super Series.
His only defeat came in the $100,000 Group One final of the Vicbred Super Series when he finished third behind another son of Father Patrick in Commodus and Vytis.
Gary Donaldson’s Garian will offer a half-brother to Zarski as Lot 110 in the 2025 Nutrien Sydney Yearling Sale.
This colt is by What The Hill which makes him a full brother to the 4yo Salski which has won seven races and just short of $50,000 and those seven wins included the Vicbred Super Series Silver at Melton in September.
What The Hill, whose oldest Southern Hemisphere progeny are 4yos in 2024, is now the sire of 58 Southern Hemisphere winners headed by Bet N Win which won a pair of Group Three races in New Zealand in successive starts in October.
Bet N Win which has now won nine of 17 career starts and six of seven in 2024 including the Listed Stellar Square at Albion Park at Albion Park back in July this year.
What The Hill has an almost unassailable lead on the 2024 4yo Trotters Sires List in New Zealand with his 20 individual 4yo winners amassing 44 wins and $683,978 to lead Majestic Son by more than $180,000.