Zack Monelli
THAT age old belief that stayers don’t make it at stud has copped a little bit of a bashing in recent times with the success of progeny sired by Zack Monelli.
You remember Zack Monelli.
He is the son of Barcia Bale-Penny Monelli by Magic Sprite who the G1 WA Galaxy and the G3 The Miata over the 700m at Cannington. He also was a finalist over distance in the G1 Sale Cup, G1 Zoom Top, G1 Super Stayers and G1 Sandown Cup.
The difference with Zack Monelli, and what also made him appealing for broodbitch owners, is that he could also sprint with the best of them as evidenced by his Mandurah sprint track record and runner-up in the G1 Perth Cup.
Dave Hobby always told me Zack Monelli was a fine stayer, but not a true stayer. By that he meant, if he got to the front, led clearly, he could hang on to win distance events.
Watch his replays and that will be evident.
Zack Monelli has emerged as s promising young sire.
Hobby used him, of course, in the early days of his retirement and was rewarded with Columbus Monelli (15 wins, $103,000), Meteor Monelli (8 wins, $79,000), Harley Monelli (12wins, $69,000) etc.
Marty Hallinan has used him and got some promising youngsters.
And, last Friday the WA star Molfetta Cruise (Zack Monelli-Juniper Twedo by Fernando Bale) added to his sire’s reputation by winning the G2 Mandurah Cup.
It was his 19th win in 54 starts and he has now won $175,000.
Molfetta Cruise’s pedigree is quite simply “perfect”.
Let’s have a look at it.
First, his sire Zack Monelli is a blend of both stamina and pace. His sire Barcia Bale was a sprinter, but Barcia’s dam Princess Bale was a stayer and that’s where those stamina influenced offspring by Barcia Bale got their strength.
Zack Monelli is out of a daughter of Magic Sprite and he has been a great source of chase and pace, not always size and stamina. The damline of Zack Monelli is the famed Qld bloodlines of Another Fool and it has ALWAYS been a sprint line.
Molfetta Cruise’s dam, Juniper Twedo is by Fernando Bale-Saving Bundles by High Earner … mostly pace which is obviously why Molfetta Cruise is a sprinter.
This is the direct damline of Billy Northfield’s grand race bitch and producer Brindle County the fifth dam of Molfetta Cruise.
When Dave and Christine Robartson decided to head back home to WA from their long stint in Qld, they took with them a very nice 600m bitch called Egg On Legs.
She produced the very, very good bitch Saving Bundles the 2 nd dam of Molfetta Cruise.
Dave Hobby’s Columbus Monelli and his littermates are in-bred to the famous Another Fool damline.
Molfetta Cruise is bred on similar lines to that great sprinter and much underrated stud dog Paw Licking, by Elite State-Kingsbrae Di by Solve The Puzzle.
Elite State, of course, is from the same Another Fool Damline as Zack Monelli.
And, Paw Licking’s damline traces to Brindle County (Molfetta Cruise’s 5 th dam).
Interestingly, Paw Licking’s dam Kingsbrae Di is bred on the very same Solve The Puzzle/Brindle County cross as Egg On Legs the 3 rd dam of Molfetta Cruise.
Broodbitch owners NEVER need to be worried about using stud dogs that could get distance.
They only need to be judicious when planning their matings.
There is no doubt in my mind dogs like Feral Franky etc would have made super stayers. The number of stud dogs over the years with that same boast but never tested over a staying course for fear of ruining a stud career, is endless.
