Taipo terrific but only second best 

By Peter Wharton 

Former North Island six-year-old Taipo made an auspicious debut on Australian soil at Menangle 11 February, coming from three deep on the marker pegs to surge past his rivals in the run home in a career-best 1:51.8. 

It was the American Ideal gelding’s eighth success and lifted his lifetime bankroll to just shy of $100,000.  

However, Taipo is not the best horse ever bred by Palmerston North dairy farmers and hobby standardbred breeders Kevin and Shirley Farrier in their long association with the sport.

Taipo – surging to victory at Menangle

That honour belongs to Taipo’s older half-brother by Bettor’s Delight in Te Kawau. 

“We’ve bred or raced more than 60 winners and Te Kawau is definitely the best. Taipo is our second or third best,” Kevin said.  

Te Kawau won 12 races in NZ including the Cambridge Futurity, Manawatu Cup and Palmerstonian Classic before being sold to North American interests. He won a further 18 races in USA and Canada and finished up with a stake tally of $492,322. He set his lifetime mark of 1:49.4 as an eight-year-old at Pocono Down’s five-eighths mile oval. 

Farrier said that Taipo is “a talented pacer and a very good sprinter”. 

Te Kawau and Taipo are both out of the well-bred Christian Cullen mare Haylin Express. 

“Haylin Express won two races and ran fourth in the Jewels in 1:57.3 before we retired her as a four-year-old,” he said. 

At the stud Haylin Express has produced eight foals of racing age for five winners – three inside 2:00 – and two placegetters and they have amassed $676,188 in stake earnings between them. Others from her were last season’s Addington three-year-old winner Bri Express (1:58) and Janron and Milner, who both won three. 

“She has left a yearling colt by Lather Up named Manavue but failed to get into foal to Captain Crunch last season,” Kevin said. 

They are currently breeding from a lightly raced daughter of Haylin Express in CD Express (by Bettor’s Delight) and the thrice winning trotting mare Sweetcheeks (by Pegasus Spur). 

Haylin Express is out of the unraced Holmes Hanover mare Haylin Magpie, whom the Farrier couple bought a half share from friend Don Haydock about 20 years ago. She left only three foals and all were successful – Haylin Hurricane (6 wins), Haylin Armbro (2 wins) and Haylin Express. 

Haylin Magpie was out of Haylin Lass, an Armbro Hurricane mare from Aspen Lass, by Scottish Hanover from Aspen, by Grand John (son of Light Brigade) from Blizzard, by Quite Sure from the Great Northern Derby winner Snowflake. 

This is the family which produced Agua Caliente ($413,027), a NZ Free-for-all and Messenger winner, Hard On The Pocket (1:50), Morano Magic (WA Golden Nugget), Take Aim (Manawatu Cup) and the Queensland Premier’s Cup victor Shuttle Drive and Cup winning trotters in Realmein and Hi Jinks.