Scuse me

Time to set the record straight - Scuse Me

Charles Roberts (pic) - the owner of broodmare gem Scuse Me who passed away last week

Over the last two or three years in several harness racing magazines and on several web sites, we have seen a host of articles concerning the freakish "Broodmare of the Year," Scuse Me, who passed away last week.
With the way Scuse Me has single handedly changed the breed in Australasia that interest is to be expected but one thing that has been sadly missing from these articles has been the most important - the facts.
So we thought it was time to set the record straight once and for all now that Scuse Me has passed away.
Scuse Me became hot property in April 1998 when she won the Noel Taylor Mile at Alexandra Park in a brilliant 1:53.5 a New Zealand record that stood for many years.
That time of 1:53.5 immediately got the attention of several trainers in North America including the ex-pat Kiwi, Kelvin Harrison.
Kelvin, who buys all his horses in New Zealand from JC International contacted John Curtin to see if the mare might be for sale.
As a result of that approach, a deal was put together between the owners of Scuse Me in Vicki Purdon and Jim Dalgety and the purchaser Joe Alfen who is one of Kelvin's biggest owners.
Not long after the mare landed at Kelvins in North America, a major problem developed with Scuse Me in that she bled from both nostrils during fast work.


Treated and given time to get over the bleed, Scuse Me was to bleed once again when next tried and was immediately retired as a racehorse.
As you can imagine, the recriminations over Scuse Me's sale started from there and in an attempt to sort the problems out, John Curtin was asked to try to resell Scuse Me back to New Zealand as a broodmare.
The list of prominent breeders and studs that were offered the mare reads like a who's who of New Zealand breeding but no one really was that keen.
Now Charlie Roberts had only got into the standardbred industry a few years before with the launch of Woodlands Stud by standing the sire of Scuse Me, BG's Bunny and having come from a thoroughbred background, he took a completely different view of the potential of Scuse Me in the broodmare paddock and it wasn't long before Charlie became the new owner.
When you look at all the costs involved in buying this mare and shipping her home, this was not a cheap investment and so Charlie Roberts deserved every success with Scuse Me and her progeny as he was the only person that John Curtin approached that could see the potential of Scuse Me as a broodmare.
Scuse Me is the only mare in history that has produced two in sub 1:48. Her 10th foal is Adore Me 1:47.7 and her 12th foal is Have Faith In Me 1:47.5 and they are the fastest two horses ever bred in New Zealand or Australia. She is probably the only mare in the world to have achieved that feat. (To be confirmed).
Scuse Me also left Megabucks that went 1:49.3 in the USA, so that gives her three progeny that have paced in faster than 1:50, a remarkable record for any mare.
As we said Scuse Me was by one of the greatest broodmare sires in history BG's Bunny (by Albatross from Bret's Romance). BG's Bunny is the broodmare sire of over $100,000,000 in earnings and is the broodmare sire for sires like Cams Card Shark , Precious Bunny and Armbro Operative.
Cam's Card Shark is the sire of many influential standouts including the greatest of all Bettor's Delight.
BG's Bunny was imported to New Zealand by John Curtin on behalf of the late John Geiger.
John Curtin said "We could not find a stud to stand BG's Bunny so we were in a bit of trouble back then. On talking to my vet at that time, Andrew Grierson and telling him the problem, he suggested to go and see his partner in the veterinary business Charlie Roberts who had the old "Harness World" stud Farm. Charlie had purchased this farm a few years earlier at a mortgagee sale for a runoff his dairying Business. So I went and saw Charlie and asked him if he would stand BG's Bunny and he said yes." The rest is history. BG's Bunny was the first stallion to stand at Woodlands Stud.
This is how Woodlands Stud was born and with Scuse Me and all her progeny and Bettor's Delight thrown into the mix Woodlands Stud has become a real force to be reckoned with in the standardbred world today.
Harnesslink Media.

http://www.harnesslink.com/New-Zeala...ght---Scuse-Me

Great story Greg