There is always a touch of sadness and loss when a champion of the track retires from racing.
The Muscle Hill mare Dance Craze tr,1:55.6 won 24 of her 50 starts including three victories at Group One level and stakes of $551,780 and her racetrack brilliance was recognized with Australian Aged Trotting Mare of the Year honours in 2019 and 2020.
There is always a touch of happiness when a champion mare has her first foal enter a sale ring and the 2024 Nutrien Melbourne Yearling Sale will see Dance Craze’s first foal, a filly by the outstanding French trotter Bold Eagle, offered by Pat Driscoll’s Yabby Dam Farms.
Dance Craze’s dam La Coocaracha tr,1:58.5 $428,911 was voted Australian Trotter of the Year and New Zealand Trotter of the Year in 2002 after brilliant performances on both sides of the ditch.
Since her retirement from racing La Coocaracha has produced 10 winners from 13 foals of racing age including the 2022 Australian 2yo Colt/Gelding Trotter of the Year The Locomotive tr,2,1:58.4 $223,398 which was sold at the inaugural Nutrien Melbourne Yearling Sale.
La Coocaracha’s efforts as a broodmare resulted in her being named Australian Broodmare of the Year in 2020.
Yabby Dam Farms bred Dance Craze and Pat Driscoll is well-known for his support of the trotting side of the Standardbred industry. Yabby Dam Farms will offer 29 yearlings in Melbourne but the filly from Dance Craze will be the jewel in the crown.
Bold Eagle may not yet be a household name in Australian Standardbred breeding circles but he was a champion racehorse taking a record of 1:50.0 and amassing stakes of $7,655,514 including a remarkable 24 at Group One level and a US Breeders Crown when he crossed the Atlantic.
A 12yo stallion, with his oldest progeny 7yos, Bold Eagle is already the sire of 45 individual $100,000 earners in Europe including the colt Aetos Kronos tr,1:52.6 $1,384,226 and the filly Green Grass tr,1:54.6 $1,201,216.
Yabby Dam Farms equalled an Australian Record at Maryborough on Monday afternoon when they bred five winners at the meeting which featured 11 heats of the trotters section of the Vicbred Super Series across 2yos and 3yos.
The previous record of five winners at a meeting for a breeder was achieved by PJ & L R Medhurst at Mount Gambier in South Australia on 17th January 2014.
For the record the five winners bred by Yabby Dam Farms at Maryborough on Monday were Preferred Love (2yo Fillies), The Locomotive (3yo Colts & Geldings), Stevie Gee (3yo Colts & Geldings), Valtino (2yo Colts & Geldings) and Rapid Return (3yo Fillies).