Breeding matriarch has elite record

RESPECTED breeder Helen Head has been breeding pacers for more than 40 years and has produced a series of elite performers in Victoria.

Head's all-American broodmare gem Spirited Storm is the dam of former top juvenile and now promising sire The Storm Inside (1.50.7, $311K), which won his first 11 starts, including the $150,000 APG Final for two-year-old colts and geldings in 2016.

She also produced tough campaigner Firestorm Red (1.52, $300K).

Other outstanding performers bred by Head include Tasmanian Derby winner Garnet River (1.50, $555K), dual Vicbred Final winner Tell Me Tales (1.49.3, $360K), speedy gelding The Fortunate Son (1.49.5, $122K) and Seymour Nursery runner-up Detroit Dan (1.56.8, $118K).

Without a doubt the jewel in the crown of the four-decade breeding program is Grand Circuit campaigner Safari (1.55.7, $535K), which became a country cups specialist in the mid-2000s, winning the Group One Ballarat Cup along with the Bendigo, Horsham and Geelong Cups.

The first of Head’s yearlings in the 2025 APG Melbourne Yearling Sale on February 2 hails from the Safari family, a bloodline that Head has continued for four generations.

Lot 35 is a Bettor’s Wish colt from a half-sister to Safari, Our Star Dust (1.54.2, $70K), which has already produced Vicbred Three-Year-Old Fillies' Final placegetter Eureka Jo (1.54.5, $118K).

This colt’s grandam, Star Chaser, was an absolute star in the breeding barn.

Safari was her first foal and she followed with three more $100,000 earners, including Astronaut (1.53.6, $264K), Major Frank (1.52.8, $119K) and Vicbred Two-Year-Old Fillies' Final winner Our Maid Marianne (1.57.9, $110K).

Head’s second colt, Lot 46, is by Fear The Dragon from unraced Art Major mare Shes Offlimits, the dam of three-time 2024 three-year-old winner Letsgetrowdy (1.58.7, $10K).

The cross of Fear The Dragon over an Art Major mare has produced the stallion’s top earner in Australia, Two-Year-Old NSW Breeders' Challenge Blue runner-up Double Fear (1.52, $89K) and Home Grown Final winner Komodo (1.56, $56K).

Shes Offlimits is a half-sister to four winners, including star filly Tell Me Tales which won 20 of her 32 starts.

Her grandam, Smooth Performer (1.58.9, $191K) was 1991 New Zealand Three-Year-Old Filly of theYyear and produced Australian Derby winner Franco Sequel (1.51, $353K).

For full details of Head's entries and all yearlings in the 2025 Melbourne Yearling Sale visit our Online Sales Catalogue by clicking here.

• APG Media