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Volstead dominate Nutrien Equine trotting heats

Champion breeder Pat Driscoll and the American horse Volstead combined to win half of the six heats of the Nutrien Equine Haras Des Trotteurs Trotters Classic at Bendigo on Wednesday night.

Pic: HRV
Pic: HRV Picture: HRV

Driscoll's Yabby Dam Farms brought out three winners in the two-year-old colt Enchauffour, the three-year-old gelding Derek The Jet and the three-year-old filly We Can Have It All. All three were sired by Volstead.

The Ballarat breeder led in a trifecta in the three-year-old male division with Derek The Jet beating Valtino and Val Thorens, a quinella in the three-year-old fillies' heat with We Can Have it All and Preferred Love and a quinella in the opening heat for two-year-old colts and geldings with Enchauffour and Kyvalley Jagger.

We Can Have It All, a $60,000 buy for American cousins Marc Hanover and Gordon Banks at the 2022 Nutrien Equine Melbourne sale, has now won three of her nine starts and $53,803 in stakes.

Meanwhile, Derek Jet, who was bought by clients of Nathan Jack's Shepparton stable for $37,500 at the same sale, is undefeated in three attempts to date.

Yabby Dam Farms will present 26 youngsters at the Nutrien Equine sale at Oaklands Junction on Sunday.

The other heat for three-year-old fillies was won impressively by Keayang Tweetybird, a filly by Father Patrick out of the Victoria Derby winner Illawong Helios and bred by Alabar Bloodstock.

A half-sister to Keayang Tweetybird by the exciting first crop sire Elite Stride will be offered as Lot 244 on Sunday.

Rainbow Jester, who overcame an early miscue to secure the second heat for two-year-old males, is a product of champion sire Majestic Son, who has six entries at the auction. The colt was bred off John Markham's Rainbow Farms in the NSW Hunter Valley region and fetched $7,000 at the Nutrien Sydney sale in 2022.

Keayang Kurki, the winner of the two-year-old fillies' prelude, is a daughter of the Hambletonian winner Royalty For Life and the Muscle Hill mare Hilary Hill and was bred by Staffordshire Park. She is the first Australian winner by her sire.

Keayang Kurki and Keayang Tweetybird are both raced by prominent western districts horsewoman Marg Lee.

The $75,000 finals of the two-year-old series and the $125,000 finals for three-year-olds will be run over 2150 metres at Melton on Saturday, April 20.