Picking up trotters for Down Under
November 5, 2009,by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications
Ken Weingartner Harrisburg, PA —
McPherson bought the Andover Hall filly Gaia Nourrir for Aldebaran Park, a breeding farm he runs with his wife, Lyn, and Chris and Sharon Lang in Victoria. He also assisted in the purchases of the Chocolatier colt Chakolotto and the Chocolatier filly Oaklea Truffle.
“We targeted what we wanted to target from Down Under, specifically to pick up a Chocolatier and an Andover Hall,” McPherson said. “We’ve achieved our objectives. This is our first year up here. We’ll do our homework again next year and we look forward to coming back and enjoying the hospitality that’s been provided to us.”
Chakolotto, out of the Garland Lobell mare Duo Val Car, was purchased for $100,000 and is a half brother to Valvec ($521,319; 1:53.3s), Twocarlane ($272,942; 1:55.3f) and Pinetucky ($192,560; 1:53.2).
Gaia Nourrir brought $55,000. She is the first foal out of the Muscles Yankee mare Miss Wisconsin, whose stakes wins included the 2005 Merrie Annabelle and American-National. McPherson expects the filly to race in Australia late in her 2-year-old season.
“The problem we’ve got in Australia is a lack of quality bloodlines related back to here (the U.S.),” McPherson said. “Our farm has been concentrating on aggregation of good quality blood to the point where we’ve got Lindy Lane broodmares, Muscles Yankee broodmares, Windsong’s Legacy fillies in racing, Revenue fillies in racing, and Muscles Yankee fillies in racing.
“To complement all that, we felt we needed a well-bred Andover Hall filly. We’re delighted. It’s been very well received back in Australia.”
Oaklea Truffle, out of Chippies Victory, was purchased for $30,000 and is a half sister to Oaklea Omega ($396,217; 1:55.1s). She was turned over to trainer Bobby Myers in Delaware.
“A very keen group of Australians will watch her progress,” McPherson said.