May Vicbred Wednesday Winner
If April was broodmare La Machane’s month then surely May was owned by Presidential Ball mare and 2016 Victorian Pacing Broodmare of the Year, Celebrity Ball! Fittingly, our May Wednesday Winner is her Art Major son, Major Celebrity.
The Vicbred-eligible colt, bred by member Richard Camilleri, was foaled just before Christmas in 2019 and was sent by Camilleri’s Alpha Stud to the inaugural Nutrien Standardbred Yearling Sale in Melbourne. He brought $40,000 and eventually reached the track in the care of Tonkin Stewart stable. His $7,000 Vicbred First Win Bonus was collected by connections on May 13 at Maryborough, and before the end of the month, followed it with a second victory in the TAB Sapling Stakes (2YO C&G) at Melton.
His dam, Celebrity Ball (Presidential Ball, bred by and from members Bruce & Craig Cameron and Peter Gleeson) had a reasonably short career, with just 15 starts from which she secured four wins, including a 2YO APG & Gold Tiara heats and a 3YO Breeders Crown heat. Major Celebrity boosted her May stocks with her descendants earning over $41,800 in stakes in the month. Other wins from her own progeny came from Runaway Celebrity (A Rocknroll Dance) and placings from My Celebrity (Always A Virgin).
The stakes were topped up by the progeny of her daughters, themselves starting to further cement the credentials of this great producing family. Go Dancing (a son of Celebrity Guest) secured a win in May, while Celebrity Chef (from Celebrity Lass) and Always Fast (All The Magic) took placings.
Being by Art Major makes Major Celebrity a full brother to Celebrity Lass ($30,000, seven wins), as well as Dashing Major ($26,000, five wins), Celebrity Lass and Starburst Girl ($143,000, 14 wins). So far, Starburst Girl is a 100% producer, with two of her foals to race recording wins (Star Rocker by A Rocknroll Dance and Star Burst Boy by Somebeachsomewhere).
Art Major has also crossed very successfully with Major Celebrity’s sisters. This list is topped of course by son of his half-sister All The Magic – Ride High (Art Major, $289,000, 1:49.0). Her other Art Major foal, All A Breeze, was an eight-time winner with $38,000 in stakes. A sister to Ride High and All A Breeze, Rocknroll Magic (Rocknroll Hanover), has had one foal to the races – a three-time winner by Art major, Littlebitofmagic.
Another sister to Major Celebrity, Miss Celebrity (A Rocknroll Dance), was mated with Art Major in her debut season in the barn, resulting in a 2021 colt.
The cross with Celebrity Ball being successful should come as no surprise. Average earnings of Art Major horses from Presidential Ball mares is over $64,000, and their total bank at well over $2.6M. The most successful of these is Group One winner, Out To Play ($363,000).
Only a handful of broodmare sires have a better average (min 10 starters) when crossed with Art Major, the leading one being Vanston Hanover, by virtue of the top US performer, Lettucerockthem ($1.042,000); he is followed by D M Dillinger, with average stakes at $84,000.
Out To Play presents a useful example of the successful cross within this same family, his granddam Secret Life (Safely Kept) a half-sister to Celebrity Ball. Both mares were from the famous producing Windshield Wiper mare, Larrakeyah Lady. A successful racehorse ($78,000 including the Vicbred 4YO Mares Final and Moonee Valley 3YO Stakes), Larrakeyah Lady is the matriarch of a significant bloodline in 2022 Australian harness racing, many of whom managed by the Cameron-Gleeson partnership.
Another successful Art Major in this family is Major Secret ($464,000), a son of Secret Life. He now stands at stud in South Australia’s Allenby Lodge, and the first of his 2019 drop to reach the track is 2YO filly Majorholeinmypocket, who, fittingly, debuted at the end of May (4th in the GR2 SA Silver Salver).
Celebrity Ball’s outstanding efforts, including Major Celebrity, have contributed to the total stakes of Larrakeyah Lady’s descendants in May 2022 of over $179,000. Some illustrious names appear on that list of horses to earn stakes last month – Treachery, The Pantheist and Fantasy Beach.
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