Frozen Semen

HERE'S an exercise for potential breeders ... how many of you know the stud dog Advantage Johnny?

None?

That's probably the answer one could expect, but Advantage Johnny is a son of Larkhill Jo-Lughill Angel who made four Group 1 finals in Ireland, was twice second in the Easter Cup, third in the Champion Stakes and fourth in the Irish Derby way back in the 2008-09 years.

He was from a wonderful litter which included three other Group performers.

And, there is still frozen semen available in Australia for Advantage Johnny.

I recently was sent a list of stud dogs for which there is frozen semen sitting waiting for broodbitch owners to come along and produce the "litter of the century".

The list makes for fabulous reading.

Yes, all the superstars of today are there, and some from yesteryear, semen is available for stud dogs from all over the world. Most will never get used, the influence or popularity of many of them questionable even when they were just retired to stud.

But, it was fascinating reading still.

For instance, there is still frozen semen available for Awesome Assassin the legend son of Light Of Fire-Tranquil Flame who was whelped in 1994. He is now back four, five and six generations in the pedigree of today's race dogs.

There is also still frozen available for former world record holder Bearability. You will remember him today as the sire of the fourth dam of Fabregas.

The brothers Big Ginger Boy and Black Shiraz still have "active and available for market use" semen sitting in a tank somewhere around the country.

Those famous litter brothers are combining together these days, albeit back about the fourth or fifth generation, in successful pedigrees. The former star sprinter Smart Missile, now based in Ireland at stud, is bred on this cross.

Bitability Bale (Bearability-Jindara Bale) is still available if breeders want to use him.

He is, of course, a half brother to legend broodbitch Gold Rush Bale and a bitch called Dyna Beauty.

When Gold Rush Bale and Dyna Beauty were combined by their breeder Paul Wheeler in a pedigree it produced G1 Topgun winner David Bale now famous even more as the sire of champion Fanta Bale.

Legends like Brett Lee, Bombastic Shiraz and Big Daddy Cool are still out there in their frozen world just waiting for breeders with deep pockets to come along and use them.

Exceptional, the close relation to both Brett Lee and Big Daddy Cool, still has semen available.

A few Irish superstars like Cool Performance and Daleys Denis can be bought still.

All the Droopys stars like Agassi, Cahill, Kewell, Maldini, Marco, Noel, Puzzle, Scholes, Scolari, Shearer, Vieri and Woods are still floating around in frozen tanks ... somewhere.

So is the US superstars EA's Itzaboy and legend EJ's Douglas. A number of Paul Wheeler's stars carry EJ's Douglas in their pedigree. Aussie stud dogs Bobby Boucheau and Hooksy both have him in their pedigrees.

With the Easter Egg timely at the moment, former Egg victor, Queensland speed star Faithful Hawk can still be used at stud. He was Credibility-Angel's Faith and whelped in 1996.

Fancy a bit of US bloodlines in your bitch. There is still frozen semen available in this country for legend sire Flying Penske, Fortified Rush and his sire Fortified Speed.

The daddy of them all, Head Honcho, six-times leading sire in Victoria, a driving force throughout the world for chase is still available if you happen to have somewhere in the region of $10,000 for the purchase of the litter amount of semen still floating about for him.

His son Top Honcho was arguably an even better stud dog than his own father.

Head Honcho is a real source of "chase" within this industry.

I remember way back in the early 1990's a great mate of mine in Queensland was part of the push for the introduction of the use of frozen semen into the greyhound industry in this country.

The first trials of frozen semen use involved the Pat Dalton-bred Iron Rail (For Real-Merry Tasse). The results of those experiments might not have been superstar race dogs, but Iron Rail opened the way in Australia for the frozen semen industry to gain a foothold.

Few stud dogs today serve naturally.

There is STILL semen available for Iron Rail to be used in this country.

Superstar sires like KC And All, SH Avatar and Kinloch Brae are still available here, so is Knocka Norris, and Fernando Bale's sire Kelsos Fusileer still has semen here.

What about that legend of Irish racing, Late Late Show the son of Spiral Nikita. There is semen available for BOTH of them in Australia.

You can still access Placard, Over Flo, Premier County and his champion son Premier Fantasy, the great sire Primo Uno, superstar race dog and influential broodbitch sire Pure Octane.

Incestuously in-bred US stud dog Scott Free is still available. Have a look at his pedigree and you will be amazed.

Roanokee, the Aussie sprint star who went to Ireland to build a successful stud career and has recently come to the fore via a Wheeler-bred litter now winning city races in Melbourne, is also on the frozen semen list.

Royal Assassin, the National Dingaan damline dog who is found in many of the best progeny sired by Oaks Road, is also available.

Split The Bill, the son of champion Highly Blessed and another to do well in Ireland, can also be bought. So can top sire Solve The Puzzle. He is found duplicated in the pedigree of record breakers Unlawful Entry and Punch One Out.

Legend of the English Derby, twice winner Westmead Hawk is another who can be accessed in this country.

And what about English raced, but Irish-based stud success Staplers Jo ... you can still use him as well. His champion son Larkhill Jo is still available in Australia.

Which brings us right back to Larkhill Jo's own son Advantage Johnny. He had one litter only in Australia, a mating in 2010 to a Nobody's Fool bitch that had four named pups, of which only one raced.

There is still semen available for Nobody's Fool ... by the way.

Advantage Johnny might not have set the world on fire with his one litter in OZ. But he did sire Blackband Scamp who was second in a Group 1 in England. Blackband Scamp's dam carried Head Honcho, Spiral Nikita and Staplers Jo ... all of who are still available to breeders in this country.

Maybe there is a recipe for one enterprising breeders.