Bombastic Shiraz Wins Stud Dog Honours Again
Whilst we admired and had infinite conversations about the emergence of Australia's on-track superstars of 2013, our sensational stud dogs battled it out for top honours in the breeding barn, with legendary sire Bombastic Shiraz prevailing once again.
Sires receive points based on the performance of their offspring in Group races on a sliding scale from first to eighth position. Bombastic Shiraz blew his rivals away scoring 1384 points, with the ever consistent Where's Pedro finishing second on 1297 points and Collision third with 790 points.
Unfortunately the greyhound world mourned the passing of Bombastic Shiraz back in October at 12 years of age, with owner-trainer Darren Cairns left with a lifetime of memories on and off the track.
‘Bailey' sired an astonishing seven Group One winners, three Group Two winners and three Group Three victors for 2013. Bombastic Shiraz's biggest win of the year came when Spud Regis, trained by Andrea Daily, saluted in the Group One Australian Cup worth an immense $250,000.
There were plenty of newcomers to the achievers list for 2013, with Ashom Bale (14th) making the biggest impression, largely thanks to his exiting son Dyna Nalin (x Tally Bale). Trained by Miata's mentor Paul Stuart. This talented youngster collected two of the biggest races in Australia, the Group One Topgun and Group One Perth Cup.
Other new entrants on the list included: Lochinvar Marlow (22nd) sire of Ernie Bung Arrow, winner of the Group One Adelaide Cup, Group Three South Australian Derby and the Group Three Brian Johnstone Final. Goodesy (26th), sired Group Three Canberra Cup winner Zipping Willow. Droopy's Marco (34th) is the sire of Group One Harrison-Dawson winner Clone Your Own and Vapour Whirl (30th), sired Townsville Cup winner Spirited Flame.
Magic Sprite made an enormous surge up the rankings after finishing the 2012 season in 42nd position. He finished in 12th spot at the end of 2013. The lightly raced sprinter was an incredibly popular sire throughout the year, particularly after the arrival of his superstar son Black Magic Opal (x Awesome Opal). Regarded as Australia's newest sensation, the Jason Thompson trained chaser saluted in the biggest race on the greyhound-racing calendar, claiming the $350,000 Group One Melbourne Cup.
Turanza Bale also had an astonishing 2013, jumping from 37th place to 4th place, being the sire of Group One Golden Easter Egg winner Grigorieva Bale. Turanza Bale is also the sire of superstar chaser Xylia Allen, winner of the Group One Sapphire Crown, Group One Peter Mosman Classic, Group Two Launceston Cup and Group Three Macro Meats Shootout.
For the girls, it was Tayah Bale's year, being a newcomer to the list and finishing in top spot with 46 points. Greys Destiny had another great year jumping from eighth to finish second with 42 points and Princess Bale claimed third spot again for the second year running with 36 points.
Tayah Bale had a stunning year with her daughter Xylia Allen (x Turanza Bale), racking up big points winning two Group One races, a Group Two and Group Three race. Xylia Allen belonged to Tayah Bale's first litter born in April of 2011, with a second litter of eight whelped to boom sire Ashom Bale in December of 2011.
Greys Destiny has been an extremely consistent broodbitch with the rise of Destini Fireball, her most successful offspring for 2013. The son of Where's Pedro took out the; Group One Superstayers, Group One Zoom Top, Group One Gold Cup and Group Two Distance Championship Final. Litter brother General Destini also was successful in the Group Three Perth Cup Consolation. Bred and trained by Norm Rinaldi, Greys Destiny has whelped three litters since then, two by Brett Lee and one to Velocette.