Trans-Tasman success for Father Patrick
The progeny of Father Patrick enjoyed stakes success on both sides of the Tasman over the weekend, with Meant To Be taking out the Group 1 Sires Stakes Series 2YO Championship at Addington on Friday and Mufasa Metro the Group 2 Australian Trotting Grand Prix at Melton on Saturday night.
The pair won in contrasting styles, with the Barry Purdon and Scott Phelan trained Meant To Be settling near the tail of the field before looming up wide late with a well-timed run to score by a head, whereas the John Justice trained Mufasa Metro led from start to finish for a dominant three length win.
Meant To Be has now won four of his seven starts to date, including the Listed Harness Million 2YO Trot, and has earned $135,096 in stakes, while the 2023 Inter Dominion Championship and Great Southern Star runner-up Mufasa Metro notched up his 14th career win and took his earnings to $448,141.
Both horses are out of Group 1 winning mares – Meant To Be the Muscle Hill mare Luby Lou and Mufasa Metro the Safely Kept mare Paris Metro.
Father Patrick is enjoying a terrific season down-under, in particular in New Zealand where he is currently the leading sire of both 2-year-old and 3-year-old trotters and second on the All Age Trotting Sires List.
In Australia he is second to fellow Cantab Hall stallion, Volstead, on the 2-year-old Trotting Sires Premiership and fourth on both the 3YO and All Age Trotting Sires Tables.