Flavour Of The Month

FLAVOUR of the month, be it the latest pop star, recycled political leader, app for a mobile phone... you name it.

We are all influenced by the latest of trends.

The greyhound world is not one to sit back and analyse just what it is getting.

Rather, owners, trainers and especially breeders are all quick to jump on the latest "in thing".

I remember reading an interview with a famous US greyhound breeder some years ago.

It was his thought that most in the greyhound breeding world were tempted to use a hot young dog off the racetrack.

But his reasoning was that he would rather use that hot young dog's own sire for his broodbitches - proven, proven, proven.

Why use the hot young dog when his stud worth is the glorious unknown, when his sire is proven to be able to sire "a hot young dog".

It makes sense.

Studmasters with the hot young dog will disagree, naturally. "How can a young dog become proven if he doesn't get patronage" is the cry and that too is right.

Which brings me to the purpose of this column - Turanza Bale.

Only a few months ago I was standing at Albion Park watching Xylia Allen put up an amazing performance to win a heat of the Qld Futurity.

She has since gone on and won a Group 1 at Wentworth Park and last week ran a mighty third to Glen Gallon in the Winter Carnival Cup also at Albion Park.

A mate starting singing the praises of Xylia Allen, rightly so, so much so that he went out and bought two frozen semen vials to her sire Turanza Bale.

Only last week I had an inquiry from a broodbitch owner about recommendations for a bitch she had been given for a litter. "I've got a straw to Turanza Bale and the owner of the bitch wants me to use it on this bitch," said the breeder.

Flavour of the month!

Turanza Bale has produced two outstanding race dogs, Xylia Allen and Gregioreva Bale, from two different bitches. Both those are Group 1 winners.

Naturally, broodbitch owners were made to sit up and take notice. And naturally, many wanted to immediately use Turanza Bale at stud.

But should they?

Now, I am not for one moment denigrating Turanza Bale. I believe, mated correctly, he can provide high quality offspring as he has already shown.

But that's the case with many stud dogs.

What I find with most greyhound breeders is that they instantly give all the credit to a stud dog without actually looking closely at what makes up the overall pedigree.

I have said before, Xylia Allen and Gregioreva Bale are heavily in-bred to Paul Wheeler's famous female family.

Is this the reason Turanza Bale appears to be a super young sire?

If that is correct, then only those breeders with Wheeler line bitches should be rushing to use the "flavor of the month".

That's not to say Turanza Bale can't work with other lines. Each mating requires study.

If Turanza Bale was the answer to everyone's prayers, then Paul Wheeler would have put every bitch he has on his Young property to him. He has not.

As I said, I am not in the business of denigrating Turanza Bale. From just a handful of litters he has sired two Group 1 winners.

What I am trying to say to broodbitch owners is…think more about what your mating is trying to achieve, look closely at what a stud dog like Turanza Bale, Magic Sprite, Fear Zafonic, Bartrim Bale and of course the greats like Collision, Bombastic Shiraz, Where's Pedro, Surf Lorian etc have worked best with.

BENJASON (Shining Chariot-Tabmaray) was a very good race dog back in the 1990s.

He went to stud and was a handy sire with his best offspring being Bonjase and True Type who were litter brothers.

Their dam was intensely in-bred to the famous Secretly.

Benjason himself had an extremely in-bred pedigree carrying a 3x3 duplication and balance of the great speed influence Satan's Legend.

Satan's Legend (Temlee-Cyclone Liz) was also hugely in-bred with four crosses of the famous Brenda Gay. He had a number of brother-sister crosses in his make-up.

So when Benjason was whelped, he was saturated with some very strong bloodlines.

Let's take a quick look at his pedigree.

Dam Tabmaray was by Satan's Shroud-Busy Stroller. The second dam Tivoli Stroller was by Tivoli Chief and out of a daughter of Gold Grotto.

Satan's Legend (second sire of Tabmaray) was by Temlee (the SON of Tivoli Chief) and also out of a daughter of Gold Grotto.

It was no lucky break that Tabmaray could gallop and certainly no surprise she became a quality producer.

By putting Tabmaray to Shining Chariot it duplicated and balanced Satan's Legend.

But it also brought in a 4x4 balance to Benjamin John.

So, if we look at the four grandparents of Benjason, Chariot Supreme, Shining Light, Satan's Shroud and Busy Stroller, we find all of them have very strong common ancestors and all of them balanced.

I've said often before that such intensely in-bred dogs like Benjason can crop up to influence a latter day pedigree.

I've noticed just lately a few pedigrees that carry a duplication of Benjason.

The smart city winner Cruz Kelton (Talks Cheap-Maddalyn Rose) is a particular one. He has Benjason 5x4 and in one of the most powerful positions one could possible find him.

Another is Far West Leader (Magic Sprite-Bellbird Park) who has Benjason 6x5. She is a highly promising young bitch and from an extremely good litter bred by Dennis Reid.

She will make a stayer of the future.

WHICH also brings me to the pedigrees of a few recent winners that are interesting to say the least.

SHERWOOD FLEX

By Where's Pedro from a daughter of Pure Octane.

Sherwood Flex is a very smart Wentworth Park winner from the Bale line but who is in-bred 1x2 to the half brothers Where's Pedro and Pure Octane.

Elusive Rebel, dam of both Where's Pedro and Pure Octane, has Handsomelee (Temlee-Gail's Antic) as the sire of her third dam. This is the Wheeler line.

GO HANNAH GO

(Reign Over Me-Venice Fantasy)

A smart Sydney stayer she has as intently an in-bred pedigree as I have seen.

Sire Reign Over Me is by Bond who is a half brother to Magic Grove the third dam of Go Hannah Go.

The pedigree also shows a 3x3 duplication via daughters of Token Prince.

And then there is also a 4x4 duplication via daughters of Light Of Fire.

There is also a link between Riviera Tiger and his genetic sister Zimbabwe in the tail female line on both sides.

For anyone interested, I suggest you jump onto the "net" and call up both Sherwood Flex and Go Hannah Go on Greyhound Data and check out their pedigrees.