Googoo Gaagaa -- new "working-class hero" among trotters

[second_glance]

Nice story by Bill Finley.

http://espn.go.com/horse-racing/stor...day-seabiscuit

[drjohnh]

Nice story by Bill Finley.

http://espn.go.com/horse-racing/stor...day-seabiscuit

wow, that's a great story. and very interesting about the pacer/trotter breeding ideas

[serenassong]

Indeed, very interesting. The name is a little too cutesey for a horse that trot/pace like that one can.

[Miss Woodford]

He really does have the most flawless gait of any trotter I've ever seen. He just flies.

[katewerk]

Given the complaining about the current state of TB racing, you'd think cases like this might encourage top TB breeders to move out of their comfort zone once in a while with some good mares, to see if they can uncover a new nick.

[violabella]

The big surprise is just the pacer-trotter combination. Pedigree wise, each parent definitely has some big pluses!

Cam's Rocket earned $234,164 on the track and had a mark of p,3,1:52 which is solid. His sire Cam's Card Shark is one of the leading sires of the past ten years. His dam, Queen of Rock, however, is older (a foal of 1983) by the great Meadow Skipper who himself was a foal of 1960! Her broodmare sire was Steady Star who was out of a trotting mare. Having an "older" pedigree would lend her a bit more likely to have trotting blood up close (pacers essentially all trace back to trotters as Hambletonian, the father of the breed, was a trotter. Some just trace back sooner rather than later). Queen of Rock produced at least 6 earners of 100K or more that I can find on a quick look up. That's nothing to sneeze at.

As for his dam, Kora's Trotter, despite her less than stellar career, she is a full sister to to Rovasreadytorumble who earned over $200K and has a mark of 1:54.2. This is a premier Michigan trotting family- just beautifully gaited horses with big chests. His broodmare sire, Veeba Rova, was underrated nationwide and produced some fantastic gaited trotters. I vividly remember his daughter Jenny Rova winning the 2yo Filly division of Wolverine Futurity in 2002 and setting a track record that still stands and hasn't even been threatened. She just floated over the track and wasn't even asked. Googoo Gaagaa's second dam, Misty Tickles, is by former World Champion and super Michigan sire Jurgy Hanover and is a half sister to Misty Banker who earned over $240K.

I wouldn't expect to see this instantly become a big trend. Although it's interesting to note that the trend in the 70s-90s was much more to turn trotters (usually unsuccessful ones) into pacers but in the last twenty years, I've seen many more pacing bred horses become excellent trotters (Hitchhiker and Six Day War come to mind).

[serenassong]

Wow, Cam's Card Shark and Meadow Skipper, some fantastic harness horses there!

[islandgirl45]

That's a curious name. How did his connections come up with Googoo Gaagaa?

[drjohnh]

just saw his race, he broke twice and finished last