Lot 145 in the upcoming Nutrien Equine Sydney yearling sale combines the genes of a classic Australasian family with young North American siring superstar Captaintreacherous. From talented Art Major mare My Major Rocket (1.51.6), he is a classy colt, nurtured from conception by Craig Judd and his expert team at Benstud NSW.
NZ Broodmare of the year award in 1997/1998 was a no-contest. Pleasant Franco’s first foal Kate's First had been the top 2- and 3-year-old filly of her year and carried on as a 4-year-old mare to beat up the older boys in the 1997 Auckland Cup. By then, however, anything she did on the track - or for that matter any other horse racing - was eclipsed by the amazing deeds of her younger brother Christian Cullen, named after the All Black winger who had dazzled rugby spectators with his skill and blistering speed.
The equine Christian Cullen proved to be well-named. His beauty and blistering speed are the stuff of harness racing legend. Cullen's genes are now widespread in the Australian and New Zealand gene pool and are now starting to infiltrate the North American gene pool through his grandson Lazarus.
Pleasant Franco's first foal Kate's First was an exemplar of the toughness that the best progeny of her sire Holmes Hanover displayed. Her second foal Christian Cullen came from the first NZ crop of In The Pocket, one of the first shuttle stallions that allowed breeders to go directly to the very best young North American stallions, starting the transformation in the downunder breed from tough stayers into the consistently internationally competitive speed machines we see today.
Pleasant Franco’s dynasty has continued steadily over the years. A current example is Sooner The Better, who nearly snared the $200,00 race on 17 Feb 2023, just being caught on the post by his stablemate Merlin. Sooner The Better looks to be following the family tradition of outshining the deeds of an illustrious older sibling, in this case More The Better, a former star 2- and 3-year-old of the Mark Purdon/Rasmussen stable who earned over $600,000 in NZ before going on to the USA to take a mark of 1.49.1.
Captaintreacherous' genes combined with genes derived from Pleasant Franco have produced stunning results in the form of the golden Captaintreacherous/Christian Cullen cross, Miracle Mile aspirant Catch A Wave ($573,120) being one example. Lot 145 represents a different take on this genetic combination, bringing the genes of Christian Cullen’s family to ‘The Captain’ through the bottom line of his pedigree.
Lot 145 is bred on the Captaintreacherous x Art Major cross, which in Australia has produced top-line horses Tough Tilly ($590,883) and Jewel Melody ($317,494).
My Major Rocket’s first foal was bred in New Zealand by embryo transfer in New Zealand after finishing her 3-year-old racing season in New Zealand where she had been good enough to make the Harness Jewels final. After the embryo was transferred My Major Rocket re-entered training and travelled to Australia to take her 1.51.6 record under the guidance of Shane Tritton. The ET filly was foaled in Canterbury New Zealand and was retained by breeder Dougal Steel. Named Younggiftedandblack, she showed enough early 2-year-old training to encourage Dougal to send her over to the stable of Sandra Smith and Antony Butt to chase the Vicbred and Australian Breeders Crown series. She raced with credit in heats of the Vicbred and Breeders Crown as a 2- and 3-year-old filly but was a touch below the best fillies in the tough juvenile racing scene in Victoria. She is now doing a good job racing as a 4-year-old mare.
My Major Rocket’s next foal is a 2-year-old filly by Lazarus named Stylish Lazarus. She looks certain to carry on the family tradition of outshining her older sibling. Her trainer Jack Trainor is happy to be quoted as saying “She is really nice filly”, and she will start racing soon. Stylish Lazarus’ pedigree is interesting, bringing in a double-up of the Pleasant Franco genes by adding in Lazarus’ damsire Christian Cullen. Stylish Lazarus slipped through buyers’ radars in last year’s APG sale, selling for $17,000. A disappointing result for the vendor, but when Dougal puts one in the Sales he accepts that is up to the buyers to determine the price.
Dougal will do the same with Lot 145, My Major Rocket’s 3rd foal. Whether this well-built boy makes his Mum proud by making it 3 from 3 and rewards his purchaser in the process remains to be seen. But you would think that the combination of the genes of Captaintreacherous with this speedy mare from the family of Australasian champions would give him a better-than-even shot.
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