This is always an exciting time of year as the first two year old winners come along. It is an opportunity to see if your picks from last years yearling sales are proving out as well as finding out if the best, including the homebreds, are "matched". Based on the top two year olds, colt or filly, trot or pace, it looks like so far so good.
The top winner to date is the homebred Modern Connection by Ontario sire Modern Art from a mare by Cambest. This pacing filly has just what it takes for success by Modern Art. That sire, like other sires with No Nukes dams, can be expected to favour mares with a Volomite line maternally. In this case there are two, one through the dam of Cambest and another through her second dam by Direct Scooter. Modern Art has a double Meadow Skipper dam and that connects well here too since the third dam is by Meadow Skipper making the filly a double to both Most Happy Fella and Meadow Skipper maternally. She is also a double to Helen Hanover and an outcross on sire line. .
The top pacing colt to date is Wink N Atcha by Dragon Again from an Artsplace mare. This is an outcross on sire line and inbred to both Abercrombie and Most Happy Fella. The dam is inbred to both Meadow Skipper and Good Time.
Jezzy, by Credit Winner from the great Muscles Yankee mare Ladylind, leads the filly trotters to date. Like a lot of the best fillies she is inbred maternally to Margaret Parrish, as is her dam. She too is outcrossed on sire line while being inbred maternally to Speedy Crown and Stars Pride. Speedy Crown is also doubled up maternally in the filly's dam in addition to Noble Victory. A classic recipe for top performance as was the case for Ladylind.
The highest earning trot colt so far is Leader Of The Gang by Muscles Yankee from a mare by Angus Hall. The colt is a great fit to the profile of Muscles Yankee who has done very well with mares that have no Speedy Crown maternally. This is a typical situation for other sires with Speedy Crown dams as well as Muscles Yankee. The colt is, needless to say, outcrossed on sire line and is double inbred to Noble Victory. The dam has a typical good Angus Hall pedigree that is inbred maternally to both Arnie Almahurst and Super Bowl. The second, third and fourth dams are all doubles to Margaret Parrish so there was plenty of buildup of maternal strength to produce something special.
