Breeders know key elements to success

INTELLIGENCE and hard work appear to be key elements in the quest for success in any harness racing endeavour.

The Jessica Francis and Jake Stockton partnership is showing signs they understand these elements well.

From Alfredtown – a rural community about five kilometres north of Ladysmith and 14 kilometres east of Wagga Wagga in New South Wales, Francis and Stockton have been producing winners from the very first Lot ever entrusted with Australian Pacing Gold.

That initial Lot is better-known as Eye Carly – a winner of 13 races.

What’s also so pleasing is that the couple’s son Jack is just crazy about harness racing and wouldn’t it be delightful to see him and his sister Molly continuing on this tradition of producing magnificent yearlings in the years to come.

Jake was so excited by the recent APG announcement that will see the 2022 crop of yearlings compete for a massive $3million in races and bonuses, that he was straight on the phone the very next morning securing spots for 100 per cent of his yearlings.

Jake went on to say: “Talk had been getting out that APG were working on a game changing announcement with a massive sponsorship deal and they had reached out to breeders like Jackie Gibson on the best way for that money to flow onto as many people as possible.

“We would like to congratulate APG and NEDS for providing this wonderful boost to the sport. The financial commitment of $3million is massive and will benefit all participants in the harness racing industry.

“The vendor bonus initiative  is a brilliant idea and will be well received. We also believe it’s the best thing for the sport for all owners and breeders looking to sell in 2022 to come home to our only industry owned, not for profit yearling sales company, Neds-APG, and enter their lots before August 16.

“As a family we are so confident that the Neds-APG multiyear deal will be game changing and we will be joining our largest ever band of 16 broodmares this season”.

Jessica and Jake will be selling 100 per cent of their yearlings through the Neds-APG 2022 yearling sales and splitting their very exciting draft across both the Melbourne and Sydney sales.

The family would also like to acknowledge Adrian Short who’s assistance at the sales weekends is enormous.

In 2020 the team from Alfredtown set the record as the highest priced Courage Under Fire Lot ever sold, the $122,500 colt out of Crown Defender and purchased by Ted Caruana, which won on debut at Maryborough last week.

The 2022 draft will be getting serious attention from many leading buyers, and the headline act could be the last ever colt by Mach Three.

He just happens to be a brother to the 1:52.7 Be Happy Mach, which has a record of 10 wins and a third from 12 starts for $344,935 in earnings, so it’s no surprise he is now standing at stud.

Jake also has high expectations for his filly by Sweet Lou out of Sabrina Bromac . This very special mare has ninw winners amassing a tick under $1.7million in prizemoney and a colossal 173 wins.

Thanks to the amazing support of our new partner, Neds, APG has been able to put together a truly incredible sales and race series offering for 2022 and beyond that we genuinely believe this represents the greatest offering in the history of harness racing.

The bottom line is that APG’s 2022 offering will see graduates compete for the most prizemoney in APG’s history, whilst vendors will face lower costs and be eligible for more benefits than ever before.

Be like Jessica and Jake and click the link below to take secure your place in history.

ENTER YOUR YEARLING FOR APG’S 2022 SALES

To be eligible for FREE ENTRY (NSW and Victoria) and vendor bonuses, entries must be received by the August 16.

Please phone Linda Graham – 0428 955 998 or e-mail her at linda@apgold.com.au and she’ll be pleased to assist you with your online yearling sale entries & enquiries.

• DEAN BARING