AN interesting aspect of the Group 1 Maturity final at The Meadows on Saturday night is the pedigree of winner Follow The Band and the unplaced King Owen

Both are by Bernardo and their damline is the very same, tracing back to that famed foundation bitch Dark Debutante.

Follow The Band (Bernardo-Shore’s Girl by Fabregas) had already been a finalist in the G1 Harrison Dawson before winning the Maturity.

He is bred on the same Bernardo/Fabregas cross as G1 Hobart 1000 winner Aussie Secret.

It brings in a 3x3 of Farloe Oyster and Larkhill Jo and this pair was mated back in England to produce a G1 class litter that included Farloe Hurricane and Farloe Niall, the former the winner of the Gymcrack Stakes.

But, Follow The Band’s direct damline traces to Dark Debutante (his 7 th dam).

Dark Debutante won 20 races and was runner-up in a Sandown Cup. She became the dam of staying star Dark Harlequin, but also the star sprinter Val Matese who also became a broodbitch great.

This is the damline of McInerney, Velocette, Born Ali, Modern Assassin, Honcho Classic, Poetic Reward, Golden Currency, Modern Express, Benali, Barcali, Malawi Law and many, many more.

It is also the direct damline of legend Temlee.

King Owen (Bernardo-Saint Maddie by Peter Rocket) is also a direct descendant of this family. His 3 rd dam, Born On Lava, is a litter sister to Born Ali (G1 WA Galaxy, dam of McInerney).

Bernardo is a very good stud dog. No one can doubt that. He is by US sire KC And All who did so very, very well in Australia. His damsire Fear Zafonic was a great sprinter and had an intense pedigree. The direct damline of Bernardo is that of the great Qld broodbitch Queen Size.

It is my belief Bernardo is a fine stud dog because his diverse pedigree is allowing the very best Aussie broodbitch lines to dominate.

THE scorching win by Boston Banner (Blue Moon Rising-Lilly Banner by Dyna Double One) at Wenty on Saturday night further enhanced the value of the litter put together by breeder Barry Gibbons.

It also includes G1 Peter Mosman Opal winner Tulsi Banner.

Their dam, G1 Peter Mosman Opal winner Lilly Banner, is hugely in-bred and balanced to Spiral Nikita 4x4. I have for some time recommended daughters of Magic Sprite for Dyna Double One based almost entirely on this cross.

Lilly Banner is just one example of this.

There are other aspects that make the combination of Dyna Double One and Magic Sprite one to savour.

Examples of this cross working include G1 Vic Peters winner Gatlin, the very classy NZ stayer Centurion, the very smart Qld bitch Cyndie’s Cyndie and many others.

When Barry Gibbons mated Lilly Banner to Blue Moon Rising he also brought in a3x3 of Cosmic Rumble (damsire of Blue Moon Rising) and Magic Sprite and they are both bred on the Brett Lee/Magic Sprite cross … but in reverse.

Dyna Double One has also done extremely well when mating daughters of Cosmic Rumble. Examples of this are NZ G1 Silver Collar winner Goldstar Carlito and that fabulous SA sprinter Shadow Mist a finalist in the MDChase.

OVER in NZ, they are raving about the ability of their newest sprint star, He’s All Go (Aston Dee Bee-Big Time Izzy by Fernando Bale).

He has started 24 times for 21 wins and $136,000.

But, he has won FIVE Group 1s in 2024, the St Ledger, Derby, Waterloo Cup, Futurity and Hatrick Classic.

He is bred on that Aston Dee Bee/Fernando Bale cross now proving more and more successful around the country.

But, He’s All Go also has a double and balance of Bombastic Shiraz and this too is a highly proven cross especially with Aston Dee Bee (think Vice Grip etc).

He’s All Go is from the famed Stresa (his 4 th dam) female family.

This is the same family as that G1 bitch Daydream, she the dam of Hay Fergus who is the damsire of those G1 sensations Flying Zulu and Alpha Zulu (Orson Allen-Cyclone Jebel by Hay Fergus).

It is a pity a dog as good as He’s All Go is not given his chance to chase riches in Australia. The Million Dollar Chase would be right up his alley.