Breeding powerhouse Woodlands Stud have this week announced the launch of a six-heat short distance series for fillies and mares dubbed the ‘Lather Up Speed Series’ to be run across New Zealand.
The idea was initiated as a movement to start targeting two major issues faced in the industry – a lack of opportunities for fillies and mares and furthermore a lack of opportunity for those fillies and mares to become black type. While it is not going to solve all of the issues, it is a step in the right direction.
“We wanted to create a series to help fillies and mares have more opportunities. At the moment we are losing a lot of our fillies and mares to the strong export market, this is a big concern for the future of breeding in New Zealand.
“Now’s the time when we all need to band together to start and futureproof our breeding industry. This won’t fix it, but if we can all build on it together then maybe we can start to make a difference,” Stacey White NZ Marketing and Sales Manager for Woodlands Stud said.
Being that a majority of the races will be over one mile, it made sense that sire Lather Up was the namesake for the series.
“Lather Up is the fastest 4-year-old and equal fastest overall in harness racing history over a mile so we couldn’t think of a better sire to represent the series. At the completion of the series, we will also be offering the filly or mare in each Island with the fastest mile rate a free service to the Lather Up,” stated White.
A similar series has been run in Australia with success. Woodlands Stud and the North American Connections of Lather Up have boosted the stakes with a cash contribution to each Club. Heats will be run at some of our smaller clubs across the country Cambridge, Manawatu, Ashburton, and Winton so as well as being a boost for owners, breeders and trainers, it is also beneficial for these clubs.
“We wanted to keep it on quick tracks that weren’t necessarily our biggest venues, and we think the four clubs will do a great job in helping to run the series for us. We hope trainers can start to target these races over the next six week with their fillies and mares and we can’t wait so see some sizzling racing,” White exclaimed.
For full conditions at each venue please check the club’s programmes.
Full dates are venues for the series are as follows:
Sunday 14th November 2021 – Winton HRC
Tuesday 16th November 2021 – Manawatu HRC
Thursday 18th November 2021 – Manawatu HRC
Thursday 25th November 2021 – Waikato BOP Harness
Saturday 18th December 2021 – Wairio TC (at Winton)
Thursday 23rd December 2021 – Ashburton TC
For more information on Woodlands Stud, Lather Up or our other stallions please contact:
Australasia: Mark Hughes – +61 451 650 707 – mark@woodlandsstud.co.nz
New Zealand: Stacey White – +64 21 595 492 – stacey@woodlandsstud.co.nz
Cameron Grant – +64 22 096 1897 – cameron@woodlandsstud.co.nz
