Harness: Continuing legacy of Rocknroll Hanover

Rocknroll Hanover may have left us at the premature age of 11, but it does appear that the great son of Western Ideal is not only continuing his sire’s legacy of being a “sire of sires” but perhaps on the verge of enhancing it.

Western Ideal accomplished something virtually unprecedented in the annals of harness racing siring performance by accounting for not one but two major stallion sons in his first crop, they being Rocknroll Hanover and American Ideal.

Generally speaking, most great stallions leave one or possibly two of what could be termed line-extender sons over the course of their siring careers. It is virtually unprecedented for a sire to leave two in the same crop as did Western Ideal. This is not to say that great stallions can’t leave siring sons in the same crop, as Adios, Albatross and Western Hanover surely did. It’s just that they were not of the line-extender magnitude.

Actually, Western Ideal has another son in Always A Virgin who in addition to producing the world’s fastest harness horse in Always B Miki, has proven a solid regional sire in Indiana.

Thus far, Rocknroll Hanover is responsible for the following stallion sons: Rock N Roll Heaven, Rockin Image, A Rocknroll Dance, Pet Rock, Foreclosure N, Panther Hanover, Rockin Amedeus World Of Rocknroll and Woodstock.

Of those, Rock N Roll Heaven (Artistic Vision) has become an established sire with last year’s 3-year-old filly champion Sassa Hanover as his headliner. Considered Rocknroll Hanover’s most accomplished racing son, Rock N Roll Heaven, similar to Bettor’s Delight, has performed brilliantly in the Southern hemisphere and is among the leading sires “Down Under”.

Rockin Image catapulted to major league status from his home base in Indiana via his outstanding son the world champion and free-for-aller-Freaky Feet Pete. From the brilliant Kikikatie, Rockin Image is generally considered the leading pacing sire in Indiana. He once again led all Indiana sires in the combined 2 and 3-year-old earnings category last year.

A Rocknroll Dance (Wichita Hanover) managed a very auspicious debut with his first crop last season, highlighted by Metro and Governor’s Cup winner Lost In Time in addition to Kentucky filly champion Band Stand. His colt Spectrum from Somewhereoverarainbow topped all pacing yearlings at the auctions last year bringing $330,000, thus validating A Rocknroll Dance’s commercial status.

Pet Rock (Casual Beauty) was not only the leading sire for freshman earnings in Ohio last year but led all of the first-crop stallions in North America in that category. In that he himself improved dramatically from ages 2 to 3, it’ll be interesting to see if his offspring follow suit. Thus far he seems to have a rather formidable sophomore colt in Sectionline Bigry (Aquatic Yankee), who was rather impressive in last Saturday’s Hackett elimination winning in 1:51 3/5.

Foreclosure N, from the fast Fake Left mare Pleasing Package A, was actually foaled in New Zealand before venturing northward. The Rocknroll Hanover colt raced here prior to standing stud in Ohio for one year, getting 16 starters from just 21 foals in his only season. Of the 16 starters, 3-year-olds of 2017, 15 proved to be winners. One of those, Drunk On Your Love, became the apple of Meadowlands CEO Jason Settlemoir’s eye being the leading money winning Ohio Sires Stakes 3-year-old last year. Foreclosure N has since relocated to Ireland and should prove a popular stallion on that side of the Atlantic pond.

Panther Hanover (Panned Out) sired but four foals in his first two years in New York, but since being moved to Indiana his books have swelled some. As of this writing, the jury is pretty much out on Panther Hanover, but an educated guess is that he’ll do ok in the Hoosier State.

Rockin Amadeus (Kikikatie) will send his first crop to the races this year from his Ohio base. He’s a Breeders Crown 2-year-old winning full brother to Indiana’s stallion leader Rockin Image.

Woodstock, a Rocknroll Hanover from Artsplace’s full sister Gothic Lady, has been around long enough to establish that he’s a respectable regional stallion in the Buckeye State of Ohio.

Similar applies to World Of Rocknroll, the Rocknroll Hanover from Worldly Beauty who left us last year. His offspring seldom ventured to the Eastern raceways but have been noticeable in Ohio sires and fair circuits.

Of course it remains to be seen if any of the major Rocknroll Hanover sons, in particular A Rocknroll Dance and Pet Rock, will approach their sire’s status, though A Rocknroll Dance is at least off to a decent start.

As for American Ideal, his potential line extenders like Heston Blue Chip (Shottogobluechip) and He’s Watching (Baberhood) are just getting started, with Heston offering his initial crop as 2-year-olds this season. It should be noted that Heston Blue Chip is from the same maternal family as Rockin Image with his second dam being a full sister to Kikikatie. That certainly will not hurt his chances. The first crop of He’s Watching will reach the sales this fall.

Stay tuned.