Hi there,

Welcome to issue #23 of Insider Access.

Released every 2 weeks, Insider Access showcases insider rumors and commentary in the worldwide harness racing industry.

Each issue includes an in-depth Stallion review not available anywhere else - this week we review Explosive Matter. All previous reviews can now be viewed at www.stallionsphere.com

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Don't Write-off Somebeachsomewhere

One of the things that can really irritate you in this business is the people that we here at Harnesslink refer to as SAE's (Self Appointed Experts).

You hear from them most frequently when it comes to stallions and how they are or are not performing.

Without exception they have an agenda to push either personal or commercial and they either slander a stallion they don't like or put them on a pedestal where they don't belong.

We do countless stallion reviews which affect most of our longtime advertisers and we have never and will never pull any punches in our reviews.

What we are always very careful never to do is write off a stallion completely as it is a very fine line at times between success and failure in the stallion market.

So when we hear stallions being written off well before it is wise to do so, we always find it hard to keep quiet but we do so never the less.

We have found over time that it is always better to let the stallions do the talking first before coming to any fixed position on their worth.

The latest case in point is Somebeachsomewhere's progeny in the southern hemisphere.

Every time he has come up in discussions we have with breeders, studmasters and owners in Australasia in the last few years, the comments made to us have in the main been extremely negative.

In the space of a few weeks recently, one of his sons in Menin Gate has established himself as the best three year old in Australia and in New Zealand, the Australian bred two year old Waikiki Beach made a stunning debut on the weekend and now looks the early favourite for this years Australian Pacing Gold series.

His stock were keenly sought after at the yearling sales at Auckland and Christchurch last week and all of a sudden the knockers are very quiet.

We have always hoped that SAE's would follow the dinosaurs into extinction but if anything they seem to be more of them every year.

The only advice we can offer to breeders and owners is don't rush to judgement too quickly about the merits of a stallion.

Caution is fine but writing a stallion off completely usually comes back to bite you in the butt.

Stories off the beaten path by Bob Carson

This police station looks like a set from The Wire, except there are no gorgeous women officers and everyone wears identical blue uniforms. Nobody has cuffed me or knocked me silly - yet.

I told Sergeant Timbleman, who looks a little like Jerry Seinfeld, the whole story. I’m not sure he believes me. A few other officers stand around a bubbling coffee machine, talking softly and tossing glances in my direction. Terms like “possible collar,” “perp” and “piece of garbage” drift my way. I am none of these things. I just did a favor for a friend. It’s a simple story.

Everyone at the harness racetrack calls him Cheese or Cheesecake. He picked up the nickname forty years ago, when Trotting Downs opened. I don’t know the source of the nickname. Most of the old railbirds who could unlock that mystery are gone. I don’t believe the nickname had anything to do with his appearance.

He looks like a bag of wrinkles beneath a checkered fedora, a pair of eyes that dart around as if he was expecting a summons. Cheese never was much of a talker, a personality trait I like because I don’t talk much myself. Despite the fact that Cheese was leaning hard on eighty and had about forty years one me, we became friends. For the past decade we spent countless evenings watching the horses go around, dragging our money behind them.

“Cheesecake” Charles Cooper is in trouble.

Cheese looks scary but he is a sweet guy. Lately he is more scared than scary because his memory is slipping, not just little slips, but full blown skids. The clincher was a few weeks ago when he bet the number one horse, RacinCajin to win the second race. It wasn’t Racin’s day, he lost the race by a short fifteen lengths.

This was not unusual for Cheese, like me Cheese loses more than he wins, but the new twist was an hour later Cheese tried to bet RacinCajin again. He tried one more time in the twelfth race. We have enough trouble picking winners when the horses are on the racetrack - it gets tougher when they are munching hay in the stall.

Each session at the track became touch and go. One day he would be fine; we would lose money and watch the races like old times. The next day he was not so fine. When I tried to straighten Cheese out, his eyes told me that he was in trouble, real trouble.

Watching Cheese try to bet an invisible horse was awkward. I got a squishy feeling in the pit of my stomach. I didn’t even make any of my usual smart-ass jokes. I didn’t say anything, but I thought about it plenty. I watched Cheese repeat a smorgasbord of similar mental bloopers for a few more days. Then we had a little chat.

Monday, right after the scratchy national anthem finished blaring on the P.A, Cheese brought the subject to the table. He looked right into my eyes, something Cheese had never done in the years we shared our little section of the world.

His voice was a hoarse whisper. “Bip, I’ve been having trouble. You’ve seen it.”

I shrugged. It was the best that I could come up with.

He sighed, shook his ancient head and cast a vacant stare at the little lake behind the infield tote board. “On and Off. My god-dammed brain goes on and off. Like a friggin’ light switch, except I ain’t flipping the switch.” Mercifully, his next words were spoken without his eyes looking my way.

“It’s upsetting Bip, real upsetting. And it’s getting worse. To tell you the truth, my wife, Emmy, she says my days at the track are my best days.”

Having Cheese share these profound thoughts bothered me, frightened me and made me a little proud that he confided in me. If he broke the ice things were serious. Don’t get me wrong, Cheese and I talk, we have enjoyed our little chats for years but we are guys who skate around the surface. Close as we are, we never got around to the secrets of life and shit like that.

Every once in a while, Cheese would drop a personal nugget, because his nuggets were so rare they often startled me, like the time he mentioned he played semi-pro hockey or he had a son who died of a heart defect when the kid was just a baby. Cheese occasionally made little wife jokes, like most guys do, but you could tell the fifty years of matrimony were a bright light in his mysterious life.

Right now, I still wasn’t saying anything. I just sat there, brain swirling. An uncomfortable minute passed as I searched for something to say. For a second I was afraid I caught a touch of what Cheese had, because at the moment my mind was not working properly.

Finally Cheese spoke. His eyes were liquid and his voice was a rasp. “Bip. I wanna ask you a favor”

“Sure,” My voice was the yelp of a dog. I would do anything to help Cheese. Hell, I would do anything to end this conversation.

“Handle my cash. I’m making too many mistakes with the horses, with my money. I keep getting confused. Right now I ain’t no handicapper, I’m just, just, handicapped.”

A short lull allowed me to ponder my pounding heart. I decided to head for shelter in humor.

“Hell Cheese, we bet so bad for so long maybe losing your marbles will be a new system we can try.”

The weak joke brought a weak smile to Cheese.

“Yeah, wouldn’t that be something, just my luck to start picking the right horses when I ain’t here to appreciate it.”

We sat in silence. The crack of the announcer’s voice made me jump. The echoing disembodied bass voice merrily reviewed the changes in the program but I did not take my pen out of my pocket. It got real quiet again.

I swallowed, “Did you talk to Emmy about this?”

Cheese nodded as a string of horses paraded past, prancing without a care in the world.

“I told Emmy that if you were willing to, you know, work with me, that you two should get together.” Cheese handed me a damp piece of paper that had been folded tightly. I folded my hand around the tiny packet and slipped it into my pocket.

I do not know Emmy very well. Cheese brought her to the harness track a few times on special occasions, but the only time Emmy and I really talked was when I sat next to her at the funeral of Bill “Bet-em-all” Gaffney. She seemed like a nice lady, stocky, white hair, quiet. My heart ached for her because a blind man could see she had her world wrapped up in Cheese.

I dialed the number the next morning. Emmy was expecting my call. She said Charles wasn’t home at the moment; he was walking their dog, Buster. This threw me a bit because I was surprised to hear Cheese called Charles and surprised to learn Cheese, Charles and Emmy had a dog named Buster.

Emmy didn’t mess around. She spoke like she was reading from a script that she had carefully written. Bip. Is it all right to call you Bip?” She did not wait for a reply but pushed on like she was afraid of losing her place. “Charles thinks so much of you, going to the racetrack is the biggest thing in his world, he love watching those horses, when that’s gone he……”

Her performance was spoiled because she began to cry. She took a long pause. I did not have my script for this surreal drama so the pause just hung in the air. In my mind’s eye I could see her trembling hand bringing a handkerchief to her eyes. All I could do was fumble a little lie.

“You’re doing just fine. Everything will be okay.” I repeated this feeble lie several times in the next few minutes.

Towards the end of the endless conversation, Emmy ran out of tears and we made a few plans. She would drive Charles to the track because his driving was slipping and she was afraid he might wind up in Argentina. I agreed to be at the track. I said I would be happy to sit with him and that sitting next to Cheese at the racetrack was really no big deviation in my daily routine.

Emmy said she would place fifty dollars in the inside pocket of his sports coat each day. She asked me to ‘take care of the money’ and she said she did not care if he lost every penny every day because “it was well worth it to see him happy.’

I said she could pretty much count on me losing the money because I had years of practice and losing money betting on harness horses is my specialty. Emmy laughed, got quiet and said I was a “nice fellow.” We agreed to talk every few weeks and take things “day to day.”

The door of the police room jerked open, jolting me to attention. Sergeant Timbleman ambled in. He patted me on the shoulder and sat down across from me. The touch of his hand was an apology; he was a good guy, trying to do a good thing.

“Mrs. Cooper corroborated everything. She said you deserve a medal. Said you keep some life in her husband. She said he needs the racetrack, the sights, the sounds, even the smells are the best medicine.”

Timbleman folded his hands and rested his chin on a forefinger. “It just looked so odd, one guy fishing money out of another guys coat pocket, and the old guy just being so, so, submissive, and well...” His voice trailed off.

I jumped in, “No problem. I wasn’t worried. To tell you the truth it’s been interesting, you know, police work and all that.” I winked to show there were no hard feelings, “Just so you guys didn’t try to beat any confessions out of me. I would have admitted to anything; cheating at golf, toilet papering my ninth grade science teacher’s yard, bombing Pearl Harbor, Enron accounting, whatever you wanted.”

He smiled. We stood. He walked me to the door. “How is he…your friend?”

“Cheese? He has good days and bad. Some days he’s the same old Cheese, some days he could be in Zimbabwe watching hyenas and wouldn’t know the difference.”

We shook hands. I tried to smile and squeeze out a little laugh. No luck. It stuck in my throat. I turned and began to walk away. I took three steps, stopped, turned around and looked at Timbleman.

I felt the need to add, to explain. “Cheese was, well he is, a good guy. Most of the time he seems content at the track, the horses seem to help. Hell, last Friday he picked five winners. Somehow, I think he knew.”

Stallion Review - Explosive Matter

Explosive Matter 1:52.3 ($1,528,266). Born 2006

BREEDING

Explosive Matter 1:52.3 ($1,528,266) is by Cantab Hall from Fireworks Hanover by Muscles Yankee from Financial Matters by Sir Taurus from Matched Pearls by Jurgy Hanover from Formal Suite.

SIRE - CANTAB HALL

Without doubt Cantab Hall is from the most influential maternal family of the last 25 years in the trotting ranks. So many top sires from one branch of one family and it doesn't look like the production line is slowing down anytime soon with the brilliant Trixton joining his close relatives at stud this year. The three full brothers Andover Hall, Angus Hall and Conway Hall when joined with Cantab Hall (who is from a full sister in blood to the three elite sires) have amassed just shy of $250,000,000 in earnings at stud to date. It is a superb record and one unlikely to be matched anytime soon.

As a racehorse Cantab Hall was a champion two-year-old who came back as a three-year-old and found one horse who was better than him, Windsongs Legacy. Cantab Hall still tried his heart out and banked over $1,000,000 as a three-year-old which says a lot about his determination to compete. It wasn't all plain sailing as a three-year-old with a couple of setbacks but the manner in which Cantab Hall came back from those and ended his career on a winning note speaks volumes about the horse's attitude and desire.

What can you say about Cantab Hall except that he is one great stallion. Right from his first crop Cantab Hall has shown that ability to leave that special horse which every breeder is aiming for. With six millionaires from his first six crops Cantab Hall is on track to establish new marks in the stallion barn. The fact that his book is full and closed at the $20,000 service fee before the season starts says it all.

Cantab Hall - Overall North American Statistics

Eligible to race - 708

Winners - 359

$1,000,000+ - 6

$750,000+ - 8

$500,000+ - 15

$250,000+ - 45

$100,000+ - 139

Sub 1:53 - 19

Average earnings per starter $101,616

Average earning per eligible horse - $68,462

Total earnings to date $48,470,910

DAM - FIREWORKS HANOVER

The dam of Explosive Matter is the Muscle Yankee mare Fireworks Hanover who only had four lifetime starts, winning two and taking a smart time of 1:55.2 in her brief career.

At stud Fireworks Hanover has had seven foals for two winners. Apart from Explosive Matter she has also left the talented Winning Fireworks 1:54.2 ($349,057) while a full sister to Explosive Matter, Ready To Ignite was placed in 1:54.2 as a two year old last season at Lexington. No daughters of Fireworks Hanover have foals old enough to consider at this point.

The second dam of Explosive Matter is the Sir Taurus mare Financial Matters 1:59 ($47,338). At stud she has left eleven foals for four non-descript winners with the best of those winners being the three quarter sister to Explosive Matter, Finaltab Hanover 1:58.1 ($51,228). Apart from Fireworks Hanover, none of her daughters have done anything at all at stud.

The third dam of Explosive Matter is the Jurgy Hanover mare Matched Pearls 1:59.3 ($143,519). At stud she has left nine foals for six winners including the full sister to Financial Matters, Financial Paige 1:55.1 ($443,139). Financial Paige has left two good winners at stud in Broadway Paige 1:54.2 ($316,063) and Financial Glider 1:56.2 ($104,574). No other winner from Matched Pearls made $100,000 on the track and none of her daughters has left a $100,000 winner to date. One of her grand-daughters Rondelle has left Igottokeeponmoving 1:55.1 ($113,696) but that is it as far as $100,000 winners go.

The fourth dam of Explosive Matter is the Formal Notice mare Formal Suite. At stud she left six foals for three winners with Matched Pearls the best of them with After Eight 1:58.3 ($108,922) the only other six figure winner. A half-sister to Matched Pearls, Embassy Ball is the dam of one six figure winner Babe Babe 2:02.1 ($108,375)

We don't go this far back normally but the pedigree was light so we kept looking. The fifth dam is the Sharpshooter mare Duchess Rose who won $225,207 in the late 1960s and early 1970s so was obviously a smart race mare.

COMMENT

This is as light a pedigree for a top flight trotting stallion that we can remember. In the first four dams there are very few quality trotters and little to suggest that a great racehorse and now sire like Explosive Matter would come from this maternal family. We have seen this before in some great pacing sires and we have coined a term for it in the past as a sire dominated pedigree. By that we mean that the sire looks to have brought all the quality to the mating. In our experience it is a positive as sires bred like this tend to do a great job and cross well with most mares.

EXPLOSIVE MATTER - RACE RECORD

Two-year-old record

Explosive Matter only had the six starts as a two-year-old for five straight wins and a second. He won his first five starts by the combined margin of sixteen and three-quarter lengths.

Explosive Matter had his first stake race at his third start in the $40,963 elimination of The Matron at Dover Downs winning by four and a quarter lengths in 1:55. He won the $245,775 final of The Matron in 1:55.3 by five and a half-lengths.

Explosive Matter started next in the $25,000 elimination of The Breeders Crown at The Meadowlands winning by a length in 1:56.4 with a fast last quarter of 27 seconds flat. In the $700,000 final Explosive Matter suffered his first defeat at the hands of a superstar and freak of nature Muscle Hill 1:50.1 ($3,318,682). When Muscle Hill made a move to the front just after the half, Explosive Matter followed and was forced to sit first-over from that point to the finish in what was a world record performance of 1:53.3. It was a very good run by Explosive Matter that day but he was beaten by a champion that never lost a race in his career other that at his first lifetime start.

Watch - Muscle Hill - two-year-old breeders crown beating Explosive Matter in a world record 1:53.3

Two-year-old record - 6 starts - 5 wins - 1 second, stakes $342,968 - best time 1:55

COMMENT

Explosive Matters did all that was asked of him at two and was unbeaten bar for one meeting with his nemesis, Muscle Hill 1:50.1 ($3,318,682). He did trot under 1:54 when beaten that day so it took an exceptional performance to beat him.

Three-year-old record

Explosive Matter won his first start back as a three-year-old in a $35,855 division of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes at Pocono Downs by an ever widening five lengths in 1:54.2f.

At his third start back Explosive Matter won the $50,366 Dickerson Cup at the Meadowlands in 1:55. He then started in the $185,250 Stanley Dancer at the Meadowlands. He was rushed out the gate from post seven to get the lead but made a break and ended up back last about 15 lengths from the leader at the first quarter mark. The champion Muscle Hill 1:50.1 ($3,318,682) was in the lead at that time so Explosive Matter had little chance to even get back into the race let alone make the huge recovery that he did to finish second, his time 1:53.2 with his last quarter the same as the winners 27.3.

Watch - Muscle Hill - three-year-old Stanley Dancer - Explosive Matter huge run for second after breaking at the start.

Explosive Matter then started in a $70,000 division of The Hambletonian at the Meadowlands winning it easily in 1:52.3. The $1,520,333 Hambletonian was next for Explosive Matter who was facing a tremendous group of three-year-olds including the champion Muscle Hill ($3,318,682), Calchips Brute ($1,082,437), Hot Shot Blue Chip ($1,203,004), Judge Joe ($962,926), Triumphant Caviar ($811,547) and Federal Flex ($840,643). Explosive Matter was given the perfect drive in the pocket behind Muscle Hill the entire trip and was no match in what was a world record 1:50.1 mile. Beaten six-lengths Explosive Matter still run his mile in 1:51.2.

Watch - Hambletonian Elim - 1st

Watch - Hambletonian Final - Explosive Matter was again no match for a second to champion Muscle Hill

Explosive Matter then raced at Chester a five eights track in the $500,000 Colonial Trot winning very easily in 1:53 by two and a half lengths.

Watch - Colonial Trot

Now it was on to the $40,000 elimination of the $1 million Canadian Trotting Classic at Mohawk Racetrack. Explosive Matter was a disappointing fourth to Southern Rocketop ($716,906) in this elimination. In the $1 million final Explosive Matter was a very good second to you guessed it Muscle Hill. A little bit held up on the final bend (or conservatively driven) Explosive Matter flashed home in 28 seconds to be beaten three and a half lengths for second.

Watch - Canadian Trotting Classic - Second to Muscle Hill

Now it was on to Kentucky for Explosive Matter's final three starts in North America. First off at The Red Mile was the $108,000 elimination of the Kentucky Futurity where unfortunately he had to meet his nemeses Muscle Hill. Explosive Matter drew post one and Muscle Hill the outside post but Muscle Hill still made the lead and was never in doubt winning over Explosive Matter by three and three-quarter lengths in 1:52.3 In the $384,000 final Muscle Hill started from post one and Explosive Matter started from post four and got away fifth about eight lengths from Muscle Hill who never raised a sweat winning easily by two and a half lengths in 1:51.1. Explosive Matter did storm home in 26.4 his fastest recorded quarter.

Explosive Matter had his last start in North America in the $102,000 Bluegrass Stakes at the Red Mile winning easily in 1:52.4

Watch - Bluegrass - 1st

Now it was on to Europe, Italy to be precise to race in the $45,000 elimination of the Batteria Mangelli. Explosive Matter won this race easily but was unplaced in the $303,975 final which was his last lifetime start.

Watch - Batteria Mangelli - Explosive Matter 1st

Three-year-old record, 14 starts - 6 wins - 5 seconds - 1 third - Stakes $1,185,298 - Best time 1:52.3

COMMENT

In any other year we would be talking about Explosive Matter as the standout of his crop but he had the misfortune to be born in the same year as the freakish Muscle Hill. Even racing Muscle Hill all season didn't stop Explosive Matter winning over a million that year and he never finished further back than fourth in twenty lifetime starts.

OVERALL RECORD

20 starts - 11 wins - 6 seconds - 1 third - 2 fourths - Stakes $1,528,266 - Best time 1:55f and 1:52.3m

COMMENT

Any way you look at it Explosive Matter was an elite level racehorse right from day one. He just had the misfortune to be part of the same crop as the freakish Muscle Hill who is widely acknowledged as the best two and three year old trotter ever in our sport. Explosive Matter won eleven of twenty life time but was second on six occasions to Muscle Hill which shows how good he was. In our view in any other year Explosive Matter would have been an out and out champion.

STALLION CAREER

Explosive Matter stands at Hanover Shoe Farms at a fee of $7,500 and was fully booked out long before the 2015 breeding season had started. Each season at stud he has served a full book of mares. In 2014 he served 139 mares.

Explosive Matter has made an immediate impact at stud leaving very promising types with the 177 two and three-year-olds racing in 2014.

Explosive Matter's first crop of foals, were born in 2011 and are Pennsylvania bred. He bred 141 mares in 2010 that resulted in 96 live foals born, 54 colts and 42 fillies.

This first crop is headed by the very good filly Struck By Lindy T2, 1:53.1 ($509,125). As a two-year-old Struck By Lindy won a division of the Bluegrass Stakes at the Red Mile and was second in the Breeders Crown Final at Pocono Downs. As a three-year-old Stuck By Lindy was third in the Breeders Crown Final at the Meadowlands.

Next on the list of top horses that Explosive Matter bred in this crop is the real nice gelding Datsyuk 1:53.1f ($445,253). As a three-year-old Datsyuk won a division of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes at the Meadows and at Chester, as well as the Tompkin-Geers Stakes at Tioga Downs. He was second in the Earl Beal Memorial, Old Oaken Bucket, The Reynolds Stakes at The Meadowlands and in the Yonkers Trot Final at Yonkers.

Watch - Datsyuk deafeats Father Patrick

The third best produced in this first crop of Explosive Matter is the gelding Amped Up Hanover 1:54.2 ($251,901). This horse at two, won a division of The Keystone Classic at the Meadows trotting 1:55.4f. At three Amped Up Hanover won a division of the Pennsylvania Stallion Series at Chester and the Townsend Ackerman Stakes division at the Meadowlands.

Watch - Amped Up Hanover

The fourth richest in this first crop is the gelding Outburst T2, 1;53.1 ($251,232). Outburst won a division of the Bluegrass Stakes at the Red Mile, a division of the Kindergarten Classic Series and a division of the Pennsylvania Stallion Series at Pocono Downs.

Eligible to race - 92

Winners - 53

$1,000,000+ - 0

$750,000+ - 0

$500,000+ - 1

$250,000+ - 4

$100,000+ - 9

1:55 or faster - 8

Average earnings per starter $56,346

Average earning per eligible horse - $40,422

Total earnings to date $3,718,857

Explosive Matter's second crop of foals that were born in 2012 and are Pennsylvania bred. He bred 123 mares in 2011 that resulted in 81 live foals born, 31 colts and 50 fillies. They were two-year-olds in 2014.

Explosive Matter's second crop produced the outstanding gelding Pinkman 1:53.2 ($595,835). Pinkman is the winner of USHWA Dan Patch Award for two-year-old Trotting Colts. Pinkman was the winner of the elimination and final of the Breeders Crown at the Meadowlands. Pinkman has only had the eight starts for six wins and one second to date.

Watch - Breeders Crown 2YO Colt Trot Final - Pinkman

Next best in Explosive Matter's second crop is the filly Smexi 1:54.4s ($432,245). This filly won the Goldsmith Maid Final at Woodbine and was third in an elimination of the Breeders Crown at the Meadowlands.

Watch - Smexi

The other horse that won over $100,000 in this second crop was the gelding Explosive Drama 1:56.1f ($108,017). He was a winner of a division of the Arden Downs Stakes at the Meadows, Historic Series at Chester, John Simpson Memorial at Vernon and the Pennsylvania Stallion Series at the Meadows.

Eligible to race - 81

Winners - 24

$1,000,000+ - 0

$750,000+ - 0

$500,000+ - 1

$250,000+ - 2

$100,000+ - 3

1:55 or faster - 2

Average earnings per starter $46,419

Average earning per eligible horse - $25,215

Total earnings to date $2,042,455

EXPLOSIVE MATTER - OVERALL NORTH AMERICAN STATISTICS

Eligible to race - 173

Winners - 77

$1,000,000+ - 0

$750,000+ - 0

$500,000+ - 2

$250,000+ - 6

$100,000+ - 12

1:55 or faster - 10

Average earnings per starter $53,376

Average earning per eligible horse - $33,302

Total earnings to date $5,761,312

COMMENT

Explosive Matter has made a great start to his siring career with both crops doing a great job. He would have topped the two year old charts in 2104 but was just headed off by you guessed it, Muscle Hill. Coupled with a solid fifth on the three year old list, Explosive Matter has really made a statement with those first two crops. One thing we really liked was the fact his second crop looks a touch better than his first which is a good trend to have going.

POSITIVES

From just two crops Explosive Matter is already challenging the established stars of the stallion market in North America. He has produced both quality fillies and colts from his first two crops which is a must do for aspiring elite level sires. At a service fee of just $7500 Explosive Matter is great value for money when lined up against most of his competition.

NEGATIVES

The one negative that people express to us all the time is when is he finally going to beat Muscle Hill at anything as he continues to live in that champions shadow. Explosive Matter came really close on last years two year old sires list and we think it is only a "matter" of time before he gets that monkey off his back.

OVERVIEW

A great two and three-year-old racehorse who was unfortunate to strike an absolute champion in Muscle Hill and he is facing his nemesis yet again in the siring barn. Explosive Matter just about beat him last season with his two-year-olds and it appears only a "matter of time before he does finally gets one over his old foe. At a service fee of $7500, he is great value for money

OVERALL RATING