Oscar Bonavena the 2023 Trotter of the Year, will combine racing and stud work this spring as his connections look to the future. He already has several bookings and Mark thinks the idea fits very well with his battle plan.
“Realistically this is probably his last year racing. There are breeding incentives in place now to aid him and we have set his fee at a reasonable $2500 at this stage”
The only colt son of the amazing Majestic Son to win the Dominion Handicap,the premier New Zealand trotting feature, Oscar, who is free of Sundon blood and has an impressive merge of American,European and local bloodlines, had one outstanding racing feature one that must impress all breeders-sheer speed.
It was common knowledge and often quoted among Mark,Natalie and All Stars staff backed by eye witness accounts that Oscar Bonavena in peak form was faster than a number of well known stable pacers down the straight track at Rolleston,a rare enough achievement for any trotter at any time.
“His speed was quite phenomenal and he had the ideal action to get it going. I think he was as fast as many of the American horses who we see out here. Anyone who has driven him has always remarked on his acceleration. He compared favourably with many of our pacers” Mark added.
Oscar has also been durable fighting his way back from injury time after time and not appearing to lose much of the great speed he showed as a youngster .As an eight year old last year he was being 3-3-1 from 9 starts including also the G1 NZ Trotting Free for All. Those are the two races he is currently aimed at winning again and because setbacks mean he has not been overraced, he is a leading candidate.
“He seems to be coming up as good as ever and is certainly training well. He has done some good work on the grass up here already’ Mark said
“I am looking at the end of September for racing and I am hoping to get a couple of races up here for him before heading down maybe through Kaikoura to Addington later.He is going to have to run off long marks up here but its the racing he will need. I am looking forward to it.”
Mark reports solid interest from breeders so far in his first solo venture standing a stallion.
“I am quite pleased because it is a low key start for him.Equibreed up here are handling the semen and he is available for physical services”
Both Oscar Bonavena’s first and second dams have won national breeding awards and horses like Take a Moment and Now’s the Moment did some great things on the track so given his strong pedigree with some suitable outcross appeal Oscar only has to produce replicas of his own ability to more than make his mark at stud -with maybe with a lot more to come on the track before then