The World According To Dean: It’s not really news. It’s Super News in Norway.

Published: February 28, 2009 12:51 am EST

The sun rose in the East today and taxes go up instead of down. And Super News was the leading stallion in Norway last year

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None of those developments are really news. Certainly not Super News. He’s been the leading stallion in Norway since 2000---yes, that’s nine years straight. I recently wrote about the death of Diamond Way, who was the champion sire in Germany for 17 straight years at the time of his death. I don’t know if Super News can match that, but his string of success is quite remarkable.

Super News is a son of Super Bowl from the Speedy Count mare Norva Hanover and his second dam Norabel Hanover is a sister to Scott Frost, the first trotting Triple Crown winner (1955).

His accomplishments on the track in 1986-87 were quite modest. He won four of his 22 starts and earned just $45,140 and took a 1:59.2 mark as a sophomore in a qualifier at Vernon Downs.

He was just another face in the crowd in the 1980s trotting scene, one of those trotters who never quite lived up to his pedigree and got himself a trip across the Atlantic when his racing days were done. But Super News surely made good as a stallion in Norway.

Last year his offspring earned 7.3 million Norwegian kronor or about C$1.3 million.

Norwegian breeding has been dominated by a few stallions over the years. The Speedy Somolli stallion Speedy Tomali was the champion sire from 1993-97 and Fiction, a son of Speedy Scot, was the leading sire there from 1988-91.

Another four-time Norwegian stallion champ was Saint Protector, an American stallion sired by Protector and foaled in 1936. He was the champion sire in Norway from 1965-68. He was quite aged by then, but trotters in Norway tend to race a long time.

Norwegian stats include the earnings of stallions standing in other countries if their foals race in Norway, so the stallions immediately behind Super News in the 2008 leading sires list were all foreigners. Finished second was Super Arnie (Sweden), third was Coktail Jet (France), and fourth was Diamond Way (Germany).

One factor boosting Super News to the throne is that he’s been a very fertile horse and has many sons and daughters at the track to represent him.

Dell Ridge Image, the well-remembered son of Balanced Image from a Brisco Hanover mare, fell from fifth place in 2007 to 12th place last year.

Other familiar names among the leading sires in Norway last year are Sjs Photo, Dream Vacation, Deliberate Speed, JR Broline, Alf Palema, Rockaroundtheclock, Muscles Yankee, Armbro Plush, and Tagliabue. Many of these stallions, of course, have never seen Norway, but their offspring have found success on the track there.


Please note: With this column, The World According To Dean will trot off the track and my comments will emerge on my blog on the Standardbred Canada web site. In my blog, I will not be limited to comments on international racing, although I certainly won’t ignore it. But I will also be commenting on racing and breeding news in North America and elsewhere in the world of trotting. I hope you’ll check the blog regularly. And thanks to the many readers who have told me how much they enjoy reading international news each Saturday.

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