The colonial pedigree has taken quite a hammering in the past decade where the Australasian product has been overlooked in favour of

FASTHORSES

THE WINNING PEDIGREE

All Chatter and his Australian Connections

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The colonial pedigree has taken quite a hammering in the past decade where the Australasian product has been overlooked in favour of the 'fashionable' American or European alternative. How ironic it is then that All Chatter (USA), brings with him a pedigree literally loaded with strains of the wonderful New Zealand bred champion sire Trenton (NZ) (1881)

On the racetrack Trenton had the rare ability of being able to sprint and stay. He showed enough precocious speed to win the CJC Champagne Stakes over 1200 meters and the AuRC Welcome Stakes over 1000 meters while being twice second in the VRC Melbourne Cup over 3200 meters.

Trenton (1881) was a Leading sire in Australia with his fillies being particularly successful both on the racetrack and as matrons. The peerless racemare Wakeful , who is without doubt the best racemare ever foaled in Australia, came from his 1896 crop.

Ironically she was bred as a matron and she spent her first and second seasons in the paddock maturing for her breeding career. When she changed hands she embarked on an extraordinary race career that spanned four seasons and encompassed twenty-five wins, twenty-one of which were at weight for age level.

Other prominent winners sired by Trenton include Bliss (Hopeful Stakes), Etra Weenie (Maribyrnong Plate, VRC Oaks), Lady Trenton (Sydney Cup), Light Artillery (Debutant Stakes, AJC Sires' Produce Stakes), Trenchant (AJC Derby), Auraria (VRC Oaks), Resolute (Oakleigh Plate), Aurum (VRC Sires' Produce Stakes, Ascot Vale Stakes, Champagne Stakes) Symmetry (VRC Oaks), Tremarden (Debutant Stakes). In all his stock had won over 100,000.00. Pounds

Trenton was then taken to England in 1896 and he has achieved lasting influence on the genepool as the second dam sire of the English Triple Crown winning Gainsborough. He also sired Colonial who was taken across the Atlantic to America where she became the grand-dam of Nellie Morse and Bull Lea. The wonderful broodmare Somethingroyal also traces to Coo-ee who was from Trenton's 1899 English crop.

Mirroring his record at stud in Australia, Trenton's daughters were more influential than his sons, although the good stayer son Torpoint became the broodmare sire of the Champion Stakes winning Buchan and the English Derby runner-up St. Germans while his daughter Torpenhow is the fourth dam of Best in Show.

It is hard to imagine that a horse who was foaled late last century would have an impact on modern pedigrees but with ten strains of Trenton, supported in more recent generations by inbreeding to the wonderful mare Nellie Flag and Bull Lea indicates an exciting degree of pre-potency in All Chatter's pedigree.

Trenton was a member of the largest and one of the most successful families of the Australian and New Zealand Stud books, Manto. The family's strength may have been instrumental in Trenton's ability to upgrade mares. Interestingly Strawberry Road is one of the more celebrated recent members of this family.

The family line of All Chatter appears to reflect the importance of Trenton's influence. Although the aptly named Colonial was unraced she produced the reasonably useful Mary Davis who won the Los Angeles Oaks, St Leger Handicap, Claremont Handicap, Yankee Handicap, and the Dixie Handicap.

Colonial although foaled in England was sent to America carrying a service to another great Australian racehorse Abercorn. La Venganza was produced and her pedigree carried a 3 x 4 cross of Goldsborough in her pedigree as he was the broodmare sire of both Abercorn and Trenton.

When this mare was put to the Belmont Stakes winning Luke McLuke something extraordinary happened. Luke McLuke's broodmare sire was non other than than Trenton! Therefore the resulting foal was inbred 3 x 3 to Trenton and more distantly
Goldsborough. What was the result? Nellie Morse who was a tough racefilly who became one of the few fillies to win the coveted Preakness Stakes, which she did from start to finish. She also won the Pimlico Oaks after having a gruelling twenty- two-start career as a two-year-old.

This toughness was a quality echoed by the greatest of all Trenton's daughters Wakeful who according to Tony Arrold in his book Champions "..in 1902, ran on each of the four days of the AJC's autumn meeting and was unbeaten. Her next three starts came over the three days of the AJC's spring meeting and again she was unbeaten"

Nellie Morse's daughter Nellie Flag was a very good two-year-old winning the Selima Stakes and the Matron Stakes. Fascinatingly enough Nellie Flag was put to Bull Lea, whose second dam was Colonial, daughter of Trenton.! This cross is in the dam of the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winning Bold Forbes's who is All Chatter's broodmare sire.

All in All, All Chatter has three lines of Nellie Flag in his pedigree as well as three lines of Bull Lea which combine with Buchan to produce ten lines of the wonderful sire Trenton.

It is rare to find a stallion with such a concentration of an influential family in his pedigree and often these stallions are the most adaptable. All Chatter should suit a wide range of mares and given his inbreeding to this influential family should have a fair chance of upgrading his mares. If you wanted to continue the Trenton theme then American lines include Somethingroyal (Sir Gaylord, Secretariat and Syrian Sea), Bull Lea (Nijinsky, Bluebird, Roberto, King Ivor, Umatilla, Don't Say Halo, Monde Bleu, Chief's Crown, Polish Laughter) and Best in Show.

Australian sources of Trenton are also found in Mighty Avalanche, Redding, Family of Man, Potter McQueen, Spartacus (patience) just to name a few.