Buckle Up Rose
AS Tassie star Buckle Up Rose gets her chance at Group 1 glory in the National Sprint at Sandown on Friday night, she will also be out to prove that broodbitch owners can be a fickle lot ... a VERY fickle lot.
Buckle Up Rose, as the name most certainly suggests, is by Tassie superstar Buckle Up Wes. Her dam is Jamila Flex (Dyna Lachlan-Amity Bale by Sonic Flight).
During 2013 and 2014, Buckles Up Wes (Collision-Everlong Bale by Primo Uno) proved himself a superstar.
In 53 starts he won 30 and was placed 13 times for stakes of $551,000.
He won the Group 1 Australian Cup and Topgun.
He was a finalist in the Paws of Thunder, Golden Easter Egg and Winter Carnival Cup. All this and having to come from Ted Medhurst's kennels at Mangalore in Tassie.
He won everywhere he went.
And he was no one-hit wonder. His littermate Buckle Up Mason won 25 races and was placed 43 times for $165,000 in stakes.
Buckle Up Wes is by champion sire Collision.
His dam Everlong Bale won 23 races and was placed in 14 others. She was a Group finalist.
When Buckle Up Wes retired to stud, one would have reasonably thought the dog was destined to be snapped up by a Victorian studmaster and put on the road to greatness.
He had EVERYTHING going for him.
So, what went wrong?
To time of writing, Buckle Up Wes is the sire of just six litters.
Only three of those have got to the racetrack, out of Jamila Flex, Amercia Bale and one offspring from Aisha's Spell.
The Jamila Flex litter is the obvious standout and led by this week's Group 1 finalist Buckle Up Rose.
Buckle Up Wes' damline is that of the famous Wheeler foundation bitch Gail's Beauty.
It was always going to be a "good thing" he would do well when mated to broodbitches that carried this famous Wheeler blood.
That's exactly what happened when Gary and Robyn Johnson of Leith in Tassie mated Jamila Flex to him and whelped in March 2016 the litter that contains Buckle Up Rose.
Jamila Flex has been mated again to Buckle Up Wes, in March this year. She also has a litter by Fernando Bale just starting to race.
Both matings were absolute "specials" to produce winners, and possibly even Group 1 finalists.
Jamila Flex was a fairly handy race bitch winning seven and being placed 28 times. She was a Wentworth Park winner.
She came from a litter that was very special. It included Schroder Bale who Graeme Bate once told me was on the verge of greatness when he broke a hock in a Group 1 final at Wentworth Park.
Also in the litter was Group 1 class Langi Bale. Her mating to Fernando bale has produced NZ Group 1 stars Allen Ablett, Dirk Bale and Avenger Bale.
Jamila Flex, you see, is hugely in bred. She carries a cross of the genetic sisters Monalee Bale (West Cape-Hot Lace) and Dior Bale (Amerigo Man-Hot Lace).
West Cape and Amerigo Man, of course, are litter brothers. They combined in champion Surf Lorian, now a hugely successful broodbitch sire.
But when Jamila Flex was mated to Buckle Up Wes, whose direct damline is that of Gail's Beauty, it again brought in a powerful 5x5 cross of Wheeler-bred litter sisters.
These were Scarlet Bale and Luana Bale (World Acclaim-Mercia Bale).
Check out the pedigree of Crystin Bale, the dam of Dyna Double One, and you will find she is in-bred to litter sisters Luana Bale and Sarah Bale.
Jamila Flex's litter contained four Group class offspring.
Even though she was no superstar, it was always on the cards that Jamila Flex "could" produce if mated correctly.
Putting her to Buckle Up Wes, a champion of his time and certainly the equal of and better than most who get a chance at stud, was almost certain to produce results.
It's a pity so many other broodbitch owners have not had such foresight.
Buckle Up Wes, with a great pedigree, from a great litter, with undoubted racetrack class, deserves more support.
He's already the sire of a Group 1 finalist from just a handful of progeny to race. Some stud dogs, serving far greater numbers, never get to boast even that.
