Watching Villagem win the Chariots Of Fire last night immediately made me think of what may have been with Cody Maverick who tragically broke a leg in the 2yo Breeders Crown final in 2008 and was put down.
Just to give a quick background on Cody Maverick, he actually got beaten at his first 3 starts at places like Scottsdale and St Marys but anybody could see that there was a huge motor there when he put it all together. And put it together he did, he won his next 9 starts including the semi final of the Breeders Crown where he beat Captain Joy and Garnet River (who actually ran the quinella in the final when Cody crashed to the track).
Villagem and Cody Maverick have a remarkable similarity in a lot of ways, they were both bred at the same property at Beaconsfield by Fred Barker, their dams were actually mother and daughter (which made Cody an "uncle" to Villagem in human terms despite being the same age), they met 3 times on the racetrack with Cody winning all 3 but Villagem ran the quinella twice and was 3rd in the other race and they both currently have a brother by Art Major who will be turning 2 this year so watch out for the names of Big Zee and Majorama in the new season.
I also just looked at the results of the Dandy Patch (the premier race for 2yo colts and geldings in Tasmania) in 2008 and the first four over the line were Cody Maverick, Villagem, Make A Memory and Babyitsu so it really was a stellar 2yo crop that year and the similarities still persist to this day. Both Make A Memory and Babyitsu were formerly trained by Neville Webberly who has since been disqualified but Make A Memory is now trained by Lisa and David Miles (who train Villagem) and Babyitsu was purchased by Wayne and Gaye Rattray last year who were the owners of Cody Maverick.
It really has been a great family and I really think that a 2yo filly currently racing in Codie Karalta (a half sister to Villagem) has a huge future as exudes a lot of the traits of Cody Maverick in that she has tons of ability but is still her own worst enemy currently but she will be very good once this racing caper clicks with her.
He is a seriously good horse Villagem but I cannot help thinking about Cody Maverick whenever I see him go around as to whether he could be matching the deeds of his "nephew".
Whilst I am touching upon the deeds of Tasmanian Harness families, it would be remiss of me not to make mention of the undisputed queen of Tasmanian breeding in Barrington Lass who has thrown an unbelievable 15 individual winners which I believe ties her for the Australian record. The most impressive part with her though is in addition to the quantity of the winners there has been undoubted quality. Offspring include Bar Ron (16 wins), Barrington Belle (33 wins 1.51.6), Alby Albert (19 wins), Alla Breve (11 wins) and thats just to name a few.
Her daughters are also keeping the family name alive too with Bar Ron having had 7 foals and all incredibly have won a race including Bar Ron Boy (33 wins 1.51.8), Chip And Gale (61 wins 1.52.6) and Biggernbettermax was super impressive winning at Launceston last week. Gorse Bush has had 6 foals and all 6 have won races including Death And Taxes (15 wins 1.58.1). I am absolutely amazed just looking this stuff up I must admit.
Any potential breeders out there looking for a great maternal line to start breeding from could do far worse than a mare from this family.
