September Vicbred Wednesday Winner
Our Vicbred Weekday Winner for this month, selected from member-bred horses who claimed their Vicbred First Win Bonus in September, is Bond Girl, a Union Guy filly bred by member Peter Lynch, and with links to some impressive winners…
The family of Bond Girl is a terrific example against the notion that you need big money sires to breed big money racehorses. This filly is by Union Guy (who stood for $1,650) from Albert Albert mare, Sheer Magnifique and is one of eight live foals from her dam. Of those five have raced (two are yet to debut) and four of those now are winners. Her most successful sibling to date is the $61,000-earning Roll The Seven (Roll With Joe) who won a Vicbred Country Series Final, while Archie McInnes (Sealed N Delivered) and Ski Skipper (Jet Laag) also recorded wins.
With her Western Ideal line through Union Guy, she is quite different to her most successful brother. Where she has a 4x4x4 cross to Albatross, Roll The Seven only has a 4x4 plus a 4x3 to Abercromie to Bond Girl’s single line, with the Cam Fella line replacing the Western Hanover paternal sire line of Union Guy. Back further in her pedigree we find duplicates of Tar Heel, Most Happy Fella, Best of All, and four lines to Meadow Skipper.
The most successful cross of Union Guy in Australia, by percentage of winners (for a crop larger than two) is with Albert Albert mares – of 12 foals by the sire from these mares, nine have started and all have won, recording average earnings of $68,000 and the best to date being Bluecollar Tigerpie ($212,000).
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Union Guy, now deceased, stood in Victoria and to date has had 159 starters for 104 winners of more than $3.73M in stakes. His most successful stock were Mr Yankee ($377,000, from a Falcon Seelster mare) and Sapphire Swayze ($251,000, from a Digger Almahurst mare). Locally trained Ruby Wingate ($95,000) is, like Bond Girl, from an Albert Albert mare, as was Union Belle ($76,000).
Sheer Magnifique’s record as a brood mare is building and with a 2021 Art Major filly (left) and 2020 Vincent colt on the ground, looks to have every chance of joining her star broodmare sister, Sheer Finesse (Torado Hanover) in having a stellar record in the barn. Sheer Finesse is the dam of millionaire Hectorjayjay (by Dream Away, who stood at $3,750), De Santa Anna ($84,000; by Santanna Blue Chip, who stood for $4,400) and Teejay Fella ($64,000; by Pacific Fella, who stood for $2,500).
The mares are matching their brothers’ success on the track. Sheer Magnifique is a half-sister to US export, Country Duke (1:54.0, $270,000, Grand Prix; by Vintner, who stood at $1,250) and Country Dream (1:59.7, $92,000; Vintner). Collectively, the three generations of 43 race starters have earnt over $2.06M, with an average of $46,950 each!
Bond Girl’s second dam was the 17 time winner, Sheer Lace (Keystone Scotch out of Yankee Ada (Sly Yankee)). Foaled in 1984, she won multiple heats of the Victorian Sires Stakes and competed at metropolitan level as an aged mare with her best win being in the Golden Wattle Cup where she dead heated with Brad’s Lass. Sheer Lace turned into a broodmare of some renown being the dam of Country Duke and Country Dream along with other multiple winners Sheer Blossom and Sheer Heights.
Sheer Lace was bred 3x3 (in the middle of the pedigree) to the great Tar Heel, and with Country Duke and Country Dream being by Vintner, her two best progeny were 3x3 (in the middle of the pedigree) to Most Happy Fella. Both Keystone Scotch and Napa Valley (dam of Vintner) were bred on the Most Happy Fella x Tar Heel broodmare cross. When you also note that Adamae (grandam of Sheer Lace) is bred 3x3 to prominent early New Zealand imported sire Rey de Oro, you see the ongoing doubling up of high quality genetic material throughout the history of this family.
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