DETAILED ANALYSIS OF ACT NOW AS A STALLION PROSPECT by Ken Mackay, PREMIER PEDIGREES

Act Now ( Somebeachsomewhere – Mollys Ideal, by American Ideal ) first came to our attention as a wonderful future homebred stallion prospect on the eve of his Victoria Derby (GR1 ) win, something which was quickly reaffirmed by his smart win the following month in the Australasian Breeders Crown 3yo Colts and Geldings Final ( GR1 ), the latter seeing him go one placing better than his runner-up spot in the Australasian Breeders Crown 2yo Colts and Geldings Final ( GR1 ) a year earlier as a juvenile pacer.

The 2021 Australasian Breeders Crown series proved a clean sweep and “a coming of age” for horses from the Direct Scooter sireline in the Southern Hemisphere.

It also signalled the beginning of a “changing of the guard” from the previously sustained dominance enjoyed by the all-conquering Bettor’s Delight ( Cam Fella sireline ).

Whilst this may have come as a sudden surprise to many breeders, it was a phenomena that developed with a building groundswell that has now translated into a sudden explosion with no stopping anytime soon.

The Sudden Rise Of The Direct Scooter Sireline:

A leading reason for this was how it impacted on existing bloodlines particularly in the Southern Hemisphere.

Stallions from the Direct Scooter sireline introduced attributes that advanced the Standardbred as a breed especially relating to gait and speed.

Direct Scooter line stallions brought enhanced and refined gait which in turn allowed greater pacing efficiency and greater levels of energy conservation. These features facilitated new levels of speed in the breed. New higher levels of speed now came with the ability to sustain such speed over far greater distance also which paved the way for a sudden lowering of race times and a plethora of new track records. Without doubt this Direct Scooter bloodline invasion played a key part in the evolution of the breed in the Southern Hemisphere which continues even more strongly today.

The introduction of In The Pocket into New Zealand in the 90’s followed by his mighty sons such as Christian Cullen and Courage Under Fire transitioned a dominance away from the Meadow Skipper and Adios stirps of the Hal Dale sireline but it was always going to be a case that Direct Scooter’s greatest racetrack creation Matt’s Scooter was going to be the one to take things to an even greater level.

With a plethora of young mares hitting breeding barns in the last decade by a select group of Commercial stallions the likes of Bettor’s Delight ( Cam Fella sireline ), American Ideal ( Western Hanover sireline ) and Art Major ( Artsplace/Abercrombie sireline ) it was to come as no surprise that stallion’s from the Direct Scooter paternal sireline were always going to be favourably placed to capitalise on this unfolding situation.

The introduction of Matt’s Scooter’s best son Mach Three, he remains in North America’s Top Ten List of Best-Gaited Pacers of all time, to stand in both New Zealand and then Australia spear-headed the momentum for Direct Scooter after In The Pocket and Stoneridge Scooter primarily had done the hard yards breaking the ice over Meadow Skipper and Adios bloodline dominance.

Whilst some sons of Mach Three are currently at Stud the likes of Auckland Reactor, Fly Like An Eagle and Be Happy Mach to name just a handful, Mach Three’s best son Somebeachsomewhere has reigned supreme, so much so that he has never shuttled to Australia or New Zealand, being available only by frozen semen.

But this has not deterred what now looks like an unstoppable dominance in this new era of Southern Hemisphere standardbred evolution.

Homegrown sons have popped up the likes of Poster Boy and Goodtime Sammy and now we have the exciting Act Now joining this category whilst others shuttling include leading sire Downbytheseaside with others including the likes of Huntsville and Stay Hungry remain available by frozen semen.

Clearly Somebeachsomewhere’s best racetrack son has been Captaintreacherous, a stallion David James ( Empire Stallions principal ) has claimed will be the successor to the incomparable Bettor’s Delight.

Like his illustrious but prematurely ill-fated sire, Captaintreacherous has also been considered too valuable to shuttle downunder so being available by frozen semen only will always control his numbers and therefore he is unlikely to aspire to the lofty heights of Bettor’s Delight as a stallion but there is an interesting development here.

On a greater propensity than Bettor’s Delight sons we are witnessing sons of Captaintreacherous shuttling out in greater numbers the likes of Captain Crunch, Capt Midnight, Captain Ahab, Catch The Fire with some of these taking up permanent residency whilst others the likes of Captain Trevor and Captain Kirk wait in the wings in North America and as others continue to emerge. The thirst for the blood of Captaintreacherous continues to soar.

Act Now As A Future Breeding Prospect:

As a breeder, if you are big on a stallion possessing the three P’s ( Pedigree, Performance and Potency ) then Act Now offers it all and for Australian breeders he will be available by fresh-chilled semen ex Victoria standing at the Durham Park property ( near Ballarat ) of his breeders Bruce and Vicki Edward.

Demonstrating natural precocity as well as racetrack longevity over 6 seasons of racing, Act Now retires as displaying a full gambit of racetrack attributes. From 51 starts and winning every season except his last where he had just the two races, Act Now had 22 wins and 12 minor placings ( either 2^nd or 3^rd ) amassing $910,885 in earnings including 3 x Gr1 victories ( including the Victoria Cup defeating Leap To Fame and Catch A Wave ), 4 x Gr2 wins, 3 x Gr3 wins and 1 x Listed Stakes winner so an impressive 11 times Black Type winner. Recording a 1:53.2 mile credit as a juvenile pacer, Act Now went on to acquire a personal best One Mile time of 1:52.6.

Act Now is not a son of Captaintreacherous but rather a son of Somebeachsomewhere who has left a great legacy as a stallion making sire.

It is always favourable if a potential stallion prospect traces to a recognised source of stallion production and Act Now fully meets this criteria through being from the family of Minnehaha. And better than this, Act Now actually descends directly through Tillie Thompson ( one half of the famed Thompson sisters ) with the “the matriarch of all standardbreds” the hugely influential Spinster featuring as his 10^th dam via her daughter Lady Scotland ( 9^th dam of Act Now ).

One of the great strengths of Act Now’s pedigree is that it is particularly well-balanced. His is a pedigree which features all of the four contemporary modern day sirelines that so ably complement one another with their own individual qualities and attributes.

He carries the speed and gait attributes of Direct Scooter ( Quartiles 1 & 3 ), the unrelenting stamina, gait and soundness qualities of Artsplace/Abercrombie ( Quartiles 1, 3 & 4 ), the precocity and natural athleticism of Western Hanover ( Quartile 3 ) and the stamina depths and inherent toughness of Cam Fella ( Quartiles 2 & 4 ).

Breeding buffs will also appreciate that he possesses favourable sex-balanced linebreeding to Matt’s Scooter at 3×4, Cam Fella at 4×5, Abercrombie at 4x5x6x5 with under-pinning to the complementary Meadow Skipper sons Most Happy Fella ( stamina and toughness ) at 5x5x7x6x7 and Albatross ( speed and gait ) at 6x5x7x6x6 all of whom are desirably cross-duplicated ( contributed by both sire and dam ) with only the exception of Albatross.

Going forward, it may be hard to find another stallion with the potency promise of the damsire line of Act Now, especially mares with lines of Spinster, and also with relevance to the sireline genepool that will be carried by the large bulk of the breeding mare population both now and into the near future.

This will be one of the great strengths that Act Now has to offer giving him a distinct edge over many of his competing stallions including those from his own sireline.

It will also allow breeders the ability to breed many successful racehorses via the same reverse-sexing techniques adopted by breeders in the 90’s when a vast array of Meadow Skipper line mares were bred to In The Pocket resulting in horses of the calibre of Christian Cullen, Courage Under Fire, Tupelo Rose and Under Cover Lover all being bred on reverse-sex crosses to Meadow Skipper thus allowing them to all carry an important breeding core ( fusing the pedigree match ) and also presenting each with a likely “engine room”. And what an engine room each possessed!

Act Now’s illustrious damsire line up commences with American Ideal and then passes through Bettor’s Delight, Artsplace, Big Towner, Meadow Skipper, Airliner and on to Tar Heel.

The vast majority of these present reverse-sexing opportunities for broodmare owners and it would be difficult to name another stallion in the Southern Hemisphere that can offer a damsire line as impressive as that of Act Now.

We will now delve a little more deeply into some of these opportunities for today’s breeders.

Act Now is out of an American Ideal mare. This presents breeders with American Ideal mares the opportunity to reverse-female cross to American Ideal at 3×2. Admittedly, this is the outer edge of inbreeding ( Factor 5 ) but it has a highly proven precedent.

One only has to look at the 2004 North American Horse Of The Year ( also 3YO Filly Of The Year ) Rainbow Blue ( won 30 of her 32 starts ) bred on a 3×2 reverse-female cross to On The Road Again as a successful example of how this type of breeding can work and at the back of our mind we must always remember that inbreeding can be a very effective practice in enhancing speed in the resultant offspring. The key here being that you do this to a targeted ancestor ( male or female ) in this case American Ideal factoring in that he has no major negative traits or attributes.

To provide those breeders possessing American Ideal mares with further confidence, it is interesting to note that fellow Somebeachsomewhere stallion Captaintreacherous currently carries mares by Western Ideal ( sire of American Ideal ) as his leading cross in North America spearheaded by $2 million plus earner Lyons Sentinel ( recently eclipsed as top earner by Allywag Hanover by The Panderosa hence from the same Western Hanover sireline ).

And a little further down the track mares by sons of American Ideal the likes of He’s Watching, Heston Blue Chip, Bling It On, My Hard Copy and Soho Tribeca will provide reverse-sexed linebreeding opportunities to American Ideal at 3×3.

Act Now’s grand damsire is Bettor’s Delight.

What an opportunity here for breeders with Bettor’s Delight mares to breed foals that are by a son of Somebeachsomewhere and carry a 4×2 ( Factor 6 or what is known as the first stage of linebreeding in standardbred breeding ) reverse-female cross to Bettor’s Delight hence producing a foal with Bettor’s Delight at the very heart of it’s breeding core.

The Somebeachsomewhere / Bettor’s Delight relationship also provides a strong element of genetic connection as Somebeachsomewhere’s grandsire Matt’s Scooter and Bettor’s Delight share the same tail female line of descent back to the influential matriarch Aida. Former top shelf New Zealand sire Holmes Hanover was bred on this same 4×2 pattern to the noted large heart progenitor Tar Heel.

It is interesting to note that there are now a number of sons by Bettor’s Delight hitting the breeding barns of Australia and New Zealand the likes of Highview Tommy, Gold Ace, Betterthancheddar, Tiger Tara, Lazarus, Betting Line, Ultimate Machete, Ultimate Sniper, Bettor’s Wish and Tall Dark Stranger to name just a few of what is likely to be a growing list.

Daughters of any of these, where bred to Act Now, will provide 4×3 reverse-sexing opportunities for their foals to the prepotent Bettor’s Delight whilst daughters of Bettor’s Delight’s grandson Lather Up will feature the great stallion in the highly potent 4×4 reverse-sexed position in their foal’s pedigree.

Act Now’s great damsire is Artsplace.

There remain a number of Artsplace mares around still actively breeding thanks to this stallion’s frozen semen stocks lasting so long.

Artsplace mares bred to Act Now will see the resultant foal carrying a 5×2 reverse-female cross to Artsplace but there are a number of Artsplace sons that have been at Sud for a considerable period of time the likes of Dream Away, Artiscape, Partywiththebigdog, Grinfromeartoear, Modern Art, Stonebridge Regal, Sportswriter and not forgetting perhaps his most influential son of all in the Southern Hemisphere in Art Major.

Mares by any of these stallions will realise a foal bred on a 5×3 reverse-sex cross to Artsplace making mares by Art Major in particular a highly desirable breeding target for Act Now.

Also entering calculations are mares by grandsons of Artsplace who will see Act Now foals’ bred on a 5×4 reverse-sex cross to Artsplace. Examples here are mares by Artiscape’s son Artesian, Yankee Cruiser’s son Sweet Lou, Grinfromeartoear’s sons Mister Big, Smiling Shard and Mr Feelgood, Real Artist’s son Dali and the growing list of sons by Art Major including the likes of Santanna Blue Chip, Major In Art, Art Official, Sky Major, Vincent, Follow The Stars, For A Reason, Renaissance Man and Ride High.

There are bound to be some others too that we have not listed.

Act Now’s fourth damsire is Big Towner, a valued influence in any pedigree not only because he represents an outcross blood injection but also for his racing attributes being a bold front running pacer who also paced free-legged, avid testimony to his own excellent gait.

Whilst there may be a rather long-toothed daughter of his sons Stature and Towner’s Big Guy still about that could produce foal’s on a reverse-sex cross to Big Towner these opportunities would now be rather remote and almost certainly so for daughters of other sons of Big Towner the likes of Ludell Hanover, Sandman Hanover, Explorador and Walton Hanover so at best any mares with these male presences are more likely to provide sex-balanced linebreeding opportunities with Act Now.

And the latter would now certainly be the case for Act Now’s 5^th, 6^th and 7^th damsires namely Meadow Skipper, Airliner and Tar Heel where mares carrying male lines of any of these male ancestors would provide at the very least sex-balancing opportunities to them when bred to Act Now.

We have made numerous references above to sex-balancing opportunities without mentioning it’s benefits. As with thoroughbred breeding  the practice of sex-balancing to a targeted ancestor is recognised as the best way of maximising any likely gene inheritance from that ancestor be it traits, attributes or any other desirable characteristics.

Summation:

Act Now may just be the home grown stallion that can mix it with the North American  stallion invasion amid growing calls to produce stallion’s locally and off the racetrack on a similar template to the Australian thoroughbred stallion industry.

The difference here being that there is no Artificial Insemination in the thoroughbred industry to compete with, just shuttling of stallions from the Northern Hemisphere.

This does offer an advantage to homegrown stallions in the standardbred industry as a domestic stallion offers fresh chilled semen opportunities as opposed to frozen semen which can be a distinct advantage to a mare who may struggle with fertility issues when it comes to getting in foal.

Then there are State bred bonus race series that can also give a domestically produced stallion a “leg up” but in our view Act Now has the quality pedigree credentials offering high bloodline compatibility for most mares’ so others influences may not matter too much for him.

A highly valued breeding opportunity for both Commercial breeders seeking value and those who prefer simply breeding to race themselves.

Ken Mackay

Premier Pedigrees

www.premierpedigrees.com

mackayken54@gmail.com

May 2025.