Trotters by Muscles Yankee flexed their muscles recently in the Dutch Classics for three-year-olds.
The Dutch Derby, over 2,600 meters (about 1.7 miles), went to the unbeaten filly Yucca Boko, driven by Hugo Langeweg, Jr. for his father's powerful stable. The daughter of Muscles Yankee defeated Yco Wollem and Yendi Boko, becoming one of the few fillies ever to win the big prize for three-year-olds. Her first-place cheque was worth 58,500 Euros or about $93,610.
(The Dutch three year olds all have names beginning with the letter "Y" as that is part of the registry requirements in Holland and in some other European countries. This always strikes me as strange to see an entire field of horses whose names all begin with the same letter, but Europeans are quite accustomed to it. The Dutch know, for example, that if a horse's name begins with "Y" it is a foal of 2005.)
The winner's pedigree should be of interest to Canadians as her fourth dam is the vaunted Armbro Flight, a Hall of Famer and one of the most respected trotting mares in the history of the sport.
Yucca Boko is out of Ottey Boko by Sugarcane Hanover and the second dam is Hail Mary Boko by Meadow Road. Then it's back to the Speedy Scot mare Armbro Regina, a heat winner in the 1976 Hambletonian.
A Dutch friend told me that horsemen once believed that Muscles Yankee was not the type of stallion that would sire good trotters for Europe, but that theory certainly came undone during the Dutch Derby weekend.
The consolation for the Dutch Derby was taken in an easy victory by Yankee Rapida, a son of Muscles Yankee from the Sierra Kosmos mare Flash Hanover. He traces in his maternal line to the Yankeeland Farm stalwart mare Yankee Sunset.
When Yucca Boko skipped the filly Oaks in Holland, she left it open for Yalisa Limbrugia, from the first small crop by Incredible Hulk (Muscles Yankee-Gingerly-Sierra Kosmos).
Her dam is Forbidden Pleasure by Super Bowl and the next dam is Cher Lobell by Speedy Crown. Go back two more generations and you find Canny Imp and one more generation back to her mother, the beloved champion Impish.
Muscles Yankee is the leading trotting sire in North America now, thanks in large measure to the accomplishments of his son Deweycheatumnhowe, but it's apparent that Muscles Yankee is making an impact on trotting in the tiny country of Holland, too.
Dean Hoffman, one of North America's most prolific harness racing journalists and member of the U.S. Harness Racing Hall of Fame, offers SC website readers his weekly look at international standardbred racing through his eyes.