The Breeder Series - Hot Cross and No Need For Buns
Pedigree enthusiasts like to talk about hot crosses in pedigrees and have done so for decades.
In recent years the cross of Bettors Delight over a Christian Cullen mare has been seen as the hottest cross in the Southern Hemisphere but it is being chased down as Art Major impacts the figures when he is put over a Bettors Delight mare.
There are already 42 individual $100,000 earners bred on this cross headed by the New Zealand bred pair of Merlin and Our Princess Tiffany which have each earned more than $1 million.
The leading Australian bred earners bred on this cross are the Group Two WA Dainty’s Daughter Classic winner Slick Artist, this year’s New South Wales Derby winner Soho Spectre and John Singleton’s Eureka slot-holder Don Hugo.
Bred by Queensland entity Cahillio Pty Ltd, Don Hugo sold for $82,500 as a yearling in the 2021 APG Melbourne Yearling Sale to his current owners Kingstead Lodge Pty Ltd.
The first foal from his unraced dam Cinco Amigos, Don Hugo has won 10 of his 36 starts including four from 11 in 2024 and his last start win in the consolation of the Queensland Blacks A Fake lifted his earnings to $244,174.
In March this year he took a 1:49.6 record at Menangle beating Freddy Singh and Sure Thing Captain.
Cinco Amigos is a half-sister to the multiple Stakes winning Mach Three mare Cyclone Kate which is now the dam of smart Western Australian mare Cyclone Charlotte p,1:55.5 $178,744.
Cyclone Kate is also a full-sister to the Group One 2yo Cardigan Bay Stakes winner Cyclone Prince while an Art Major half-sister to Cyclone Kate is the dam of 2024 2yo winner Sanchez which finished third in the inaugural Queensland 2yo slot race The Protostar on July 27.
Don Hugo’s great-grand-dam Erin Brockovich is a full-sister to the star juvenile of the late 1990s in Courage Under Fire which was both the New Zealand 3yo Pacer of the Year and Australian 3yo Pacer of the Year in 1999 as he won his first 24 race starts across the two countries.
Don Hugo