JIM Gallaway has always been as astute a breeder of greyhounds as anyone.
It was he who insisted on the mating of Amerigo Man-Tenthill Flyer which would include Hall of Famer Flying Amy.
So when it came to breeding with Joan's Embrace, a daughter of Awesome Assassin
and from the famed I'm Blessed damline, he looked around for a match "made in heaven".
"I wanted to get a Rasmussen Factor in the pedigree of the pups," said Jim.
The Rasmussen Factor is a theory first found by Leon Rasmussen an American who wrote a weekly thoroughbred breeding column for the Daily Racing Form. He found
that thoroughbreds who carried in-breeding within the first five generations to a famous broodmare through different progeny could outperform their immediate pedigree.
Jim and partner Julie King went looking through stud dogs for an ideal mate for Joan's
Embrace.
The bitch had been a pretty smart galloper herself winning six races and running 13
placings, often chasing home top class galloper Happy Chappy around the Gold
Coast.
She had won on the old Gold Coast track's grass surface in a flying 25.48, ideal
broodbitch potential. She struggled to run 520m and was placed just once at Albion Parkin five starts.
"I stumbled across Robust Character," said Jim. "The more I looked at him, the more
I liked him. He had won in sub 30 seconds on city tracks in three states.
"How many dogs do that?" And Robust Character could stretch his speed to 600m to win a Canberra Cup.
The fact a mating between Robust Character and Joan's Embrace would introduce a Rasmussen Factor close up in the resultant pups' pedigree was the bonus.
In fact, Robust Character is out of Tranquil Scene, a full sister to Awesome Assassin, sire of Joan's Embrace.The resultant litter includes Pink Character, winner on debut of the timehonoured Grafton Maiden, and recently a Young Guns victor up the straight at
Capalaba where he has been an outstanding galloper.
The Young Guns was the fifth final Pink Character has contested. In four of them he
has been fastest heat winner and drawn box five in the final.
Gallaway and King were starting to wonder if he would overcome that hoodoo.
The Young Guns victory was the last for Gallaway and King as Queenslanders. They
have bought a 12-acre property at Ellengowan in northern NSW.
Unfortunately Joan's Embrace was killed in an accident at the Gallaway property some
time ago.
|