WS News | 500 Winners, Group 1 Success and a World Record

There is less than a week until the shuttle stallions arrive on farm for the upcoming breeding season!

 500 individual winners, Group 1 success and a World Record, was all in last week’s work for our sires!

Easily one of the most successful and popular sires from the last 12 months has been SWEET LOU. Over the weekend he hit his most recent milestone, siring his 500th individual winner in Australasia.

It was a 3-year-old filly called OAKLEY SHARD (Bettor’s Delight dam) who won nicely at the Kurow meeting on Sunday and while picking up her first career win at just her second start, she also secured the feat for her sire. She was bred by Shard Farm and is trained by Brad Mowbray who also shares in her ownership.

Sweet Lou is also really setting some great statistics for himself, from his first four crops (aged 4 to 7) he has sired 358 winners from the 618 live foals, which is a 57.9% strike rate. He is also consistently in the top three on the All Age and many Age Group leaderboards in both hemispheres.

Overall, he had a great week all round last week with another 21 winners, including a treble at Gloucester Park on Friday night and doubles at Albion Park and Menangle on Tuesday, Alexandra Park on Friday and Albion Park and Bunbury on Saturday. He also sired six out of 13 races in North America at the Meadows over the weekend.

Sweet Lou was also in the limelight on Saturday night siring a Group 1 winner at Albion Park when his son BRONSKI ZULU (Fake Left mare) took out the $153,000 QBred Triad Final for 3-year-old males. Bred by the Hunters, it was the gelding’s seventh career victory and took his earnings past $181,000. It was also a career best mile rate time of 1:53.1 in the 2130m feature.


At the same meeting, BETTOR’S DELIGHT also claimed a Group 1 feature win when his 2-year-old son FIRE RAISER (Mach Three dam) downed his rivals in the Group 1 $153,000 QBred Triad for the 2-year-old males. He is bred and raced by Solid Earth Pty Ltd and it was his fourth win and took his career stakes earnings to over $103,000. 

Bettor's Delight also sired a double at Addington Raceway on Friday, including another impressive 2-year-old victory with his son FIVE CROWNS (Mach Three dam) winning nicely for breeders Breckon Farms who still share in the ownership, as well as a double at Gloucester Park on Tuesday and a further Listed level victory at Menangle on Saturday night when the Peter Lewis bred MAX DELIGHT (Art Major dam) picked up his 30th career victory in the Alf Phillis FFA, taking his earnings to over $1.1 million.


In the Northern Hemisphere it was DOWNBYTHESEASIDE who was making headlines with his progeny after he sired the fastest 2-year-old in history on Wednesday when his 2-year-old son SIPPINONSEAROC (Big Bad John dam) broke the World Record after pacing a mile in 1:48.2. Downbytheseaside held this record himself when he paced a mile in 1.49 as a freshman. 

Closer to home, Downbytheseaside had a terrific week in Australia with a handful of good winners. Included in this was a double at Pinjarra when both SEASIDE MAGIC (Jereme’s Jet dam) and ATLANTIC GEM (Bettor’s Delight dam) saluted the judge for connections. Seaside Magic was the sire’s 14th 2-year-old winner in Australasia for 2024. 

Downbytheseaside also sired the first foal to be born at Woodlands Stud for 2024 this week. An athletic colt out of a well-related Bettor’s Delight mare who was born on Wednesday morning.

LATHER UP’S debut crop are continuing to impress across Australasia with more winners saluting the judge last week. The Verna El-Khishin bred CALEXICO (McArdle dam) was impressive when winning at Shepparton on Tuesday in a 1:57.2 mile rate and winning by 13.9 metres on debut. His son SET UP (Ponder dam) also made it two wins from two starts when winning at Penrith on Thursday for his group of breeders.

In New Zealand, Lather Up sired an eye-catching winner at today’s (Wednesday) Rangiora Trials when TACT TEVA (Albert Albert dam) did everything right and won under a nice hold. The colt was bred by the Estate of Bessie Dynes and was sold as a yearling for $60,000 to Stonewall Stud.


AMERICAN IDEAL continues to leave impressive progeny in Australasia, and last week was no exception. He had 14 winners across the week including a double at Kurow on Sunday with the Woodlands Stud bred FOURTH AMENDMENT (Art Major dam) getting her 5th win and the Trevor Clever JIMMYRAY (Sharvid Adios dam) picking up the feature pace of the day and his seventh career win.

His star daughter VERY PRETTY (Live Or Die dam) was back winning at Melton on Saturday night. She set a career best mile rate of 1:50.4 with her ninth victory and took her stakes earnings just shy of $300,000. The filly bred by Peter Gleeson has now had 10 starts for nine wins and a second. 


WHAT THE HILL continues to lead the way on the 4-year-old ranks in New Zealand, but it was his 4-year-old Australian Yabby Dam Farms bred daughter flying his flag last week in with KEAYANG GUCCI (Lindy Lane dam) getting her third win in a row and fourth career win with a 10.4 metre victory at Terang on Wednesday.