THE STANDARDBRED AND TROTTING HORSE

ASSOCIATION OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND

THE STANDARDBRED NEWS Issue 20 APRIL / MAY 2004

website: www.standardbred.org

Stallions can be advertised on STAGBI website for £15 per year other adverts including banners etc are subject to agreement. Don't neglect this effective method of advertising which is available 24 hours everyday, and every day of the week. Please also remember we would like to hear from anyone who has a story about Standardbreds - the most versatile breed in the world.

A. G. M.

At the AGM on 10th December 2003 Colin Dalby was elected President of STAGBI with Maureen Lloyd President Elect. Unfortunately due to pressure of work and other commitments Colin resigned both as President and a director in January 2004. He has also relinquished the stallion services administration work which he has been doing on STAGBI's behalf since the beginning.

Colin has worked tirelessly for the Standardbred horse in Great Britain and it is thanks to his efforts that the breed has moved forward and STAGBI has been acknowledged as the breed society for the promotion and protection of all elements of Standardbred ownership in Britain. We wish him good luck in all his current projects and sincerely thank him for all his work for STAGBI.

Passports

As surely every horse owner knows European legislation means that every horse, mule donkey etc has to have a passport. At the moment there has been a postponement of the date in which it has to be implemented in Britain. 30th June is now the date that DEFRA has set and so STAGBI hope to be able to bring all their passports into line by that date. The last six months have been particularly difficult for all passport issuing organisations with changes in requirements sometimes occurring weekly.

The directors decided in December that as a new passport had to be designed it was sensible to combine the production of the passport with the upkeep of a database to record all Standardbreds in the country. All the details of a new horse when the owner applies for registration will be entered on to the database and the passport automatically produced from that data. The data which STAGBI has to send to DEFRA as part of the 2003 Passport Order will again be easily transmitted for entry on the National Equine Database (NED). This system should not only make the job of producing passports less onerous but should also eliminate some of the potential for human error when re-typing data.

At present the new passport is only being produced by the passport office at Forest Inn but hopefully within a few days the BHRC office will also be producing the new passport.

There has been some feedback that the present passports are not standing up to everyday use and so a more durable document has been suggested. It has been decided that a stapled passport will stand more wear and tear than the glued version. Since passports are likely to have more use than previously, as they must accompany a horse on any journey the directors feel that the new design should greatly reduce the number of disintegrating passports in circulation.

Fees for passports, transfers and updates

Fee for new passport - £20

Fee for transfer of ownership - £20

Fee for update of passport to make it DEFRA compliant - £10 with discount for multiple updates

Membership - £5 per year or £25 for 6 years

Everyone needs to be a member of STAGBI when applying for a new passport, an update or a transfer of ownership.

Service Certificates

The present system of the issue of service certificates is being slightly altered. All stallion owners will have a monthly form for the record of stallion coverings. When the form is returned with the named mares service certificates can be issued for each mare this should help improve integrity of the breeding stock, as each service certificate will be for a specific covering. The number of the service certificate is already being incorporated into the lifetime number of new registrations so this further step will add security to the system.

D. N. A.

At the recent director's meeting a proposal was put forward for a D.N.A. verification system which would introduce integrity within the breed in Britain. STAGBI are writing to all the racing authorities concerned for their opinions on the matter and individuals are welcome to send their comments to the newsletter.

A veterinary officer would mark up a foal while it is on the dam (DEFRA regulations) at the same time he/she would insert a microchip in the foal and take a hair sample from the mare (having checked her against her papers) and take a hair sample from the foal. STAGBI would pay for the hair sample of the mare to be processed and would file the hair from the foal or it can be processed at the owners expense if he or she so wishes.

Some advantages of this system are: a professional marking up the foal, taking the hair samples and sealing them. A microchip inserted at time of identification will ensure recognition, without relying solely on markings on a foal's coat which notoriously change, the microchip number will then be part of the passport, and these horses will need microchips in any case when they begin to race.

Stud book

As many of you will know Elisabeth Blazak was working on the stud-book alongside her other duties producing passports, membership secretary, even keeping the accounts. Despite her illness she has made very good progress on the stud-book and with the help of her assistant Bernadette Bolderstone the database for the production of the passport is being updated. Thanks to all the people who have helped with checking horses entered on three different databases. Those people will now probably have some idea of the huge task which Elisabeth has faced. It should not be too long before the foalings between 1990 and 2000 are up to date.

STANDARDBRED SALE

A sale of Standardbreds will be added to the Brightwells sale at Malvern on Tuesday May 18th. This is the first ever spring sale especially aimed at horses in training.

A TROTTING LEGEND RETIRES IN FRANCE

The 1994 bay trotter stallion 'General Du Pommeau' retired from the track in January with career winnings of around £2.5 million pounds. He was hailed as 'the greatest winner of the 'Prix d'Amerique' after his 2000 victory in the 2,700 metres classic (about 1.7 miles). In this same race, he went on to be third in 2001, second in 2002, fourth last year and fifth, at 10 years old, as an outsider in his last race this January. The Sebrazac bred stallion has, in his career, held record times at distances from three quarters of a mile, with his career peak the extraordinary 3 minute, 15.08 seconds time over 2,700 metres. This is the equivalent of 1 minute, 12.6 seconds per kilometre!

His record time was only equalled this year by the, £2m record sale price, Prix d'Amerique winner 'Kesaco Phedo', a first French victor for three years.

The small bay horse has been winning since the start of his career and also been placed many times. In France he has a devoted fan club after his dozens of victories in France and the neighbouring countries. Particularly well known are his duels with the Italian champion 'Varenne'. Trotting is, of course, televised widely in France, with a screen in many ordinary bars & coffee shops! Measuring only 1.59 metres, this puts 'General du Pommeau' at a height of just over 15 hands 2", and explains the 'little general' tag! Throughout his trotting career, he has been driven by Jules Lepenntier, who's helmet colours were worn by the French fans of his horse!

This is also the General's fourth year standing at the national Tierceville stud, where his live foal fee amounts to around £4,900, before tax,for qualified mares. In 2003 his top priced yearling, 'Or Smiling', made the equivalent of £82,000 and three others also were sold for high prices.

A second 'Sebrazac' bay son 'Gerbazac', with 28 race track wins (about £63,000), is also in the national stud programme in the Normandy region where the Trotteur Francais breed originated. His stud fee is under £1,700, which might well be a bargain.

His fans in France now look forward to seeing the first 'General du Pommeau' progeny on the trotting track!

John Main