The talented Bettor’s Delight trotting gelding Drop The Hammer will always hold a special place in the hearts of Southern Tablelands duo Dean and Rikki Cernovskis and Rikki’s parents John and Lesley O’Sullivan.
“We bred and sold him at the Australian Pacing Gold sale in 2016. He was the first yearling we ever took to the sales,” Rikki stated.
“We got $105,000 for him and we thought, geez this is alright.”
Drop The Hammer totted up 26 wins and $305,000 in stakes including the Group 2 Franco Australian Trotters Cup and the Group 3 NSW Foundation Trot at three and four.
The Cernovskis family will be represented by four superbly bred lots at the 2026 APG Sydney Yearling Sale at Warwick Farm on Sunday spearheaded by a colt out of a half-sister to Drop The Hammer.
Lot 217, the colt is by the world champion and exciting, young sire Lather Up and is the only colt by the Bettor’s Delight line horse at this year’s round of yearling sales in Australia.
Match Point Serena, the Somebeachsomewhere dam of the colt, ranks as the mother of last season’s juvenile winner Mira Domina and the promising Swinging Queen, a placegetter at her first start at Newcastle last Friday.
The next dam, Daniela Hantuchova NZ, won four races at Menangle and has left four 2:00 winners from five foals of racing age.
“He’s probably the pick of our draft this year,” Rikki said.
The other colt, Lot 209, which is being offered by Rikki and her brother-in-law Steve Moore, is by the fast Captaintreacherous import Catch The Fire out of the Group 3 Victorian winner Macey Jayde.
A $120,000 earner, Macey Jayde is a half-sister to the exported Chumlee ($465,000), a winner of numerous races at Menangle, and the Group 1 APG 3YO Final winner Maywyn Jasper.
“He’s a racy type of colt,” Rikki stated.
She is also prepping two fillies for the sale.
“They are both big, strong girls,” she said.
Lot 269, a product of the champion colonial sire For A Reason, is a sister to the Menangle winner Ellas Reason 1:51.8 ($155,000), now racing successfully in North America, and a half-sister to the prolific Albion Park victor Lulu Mae 1:51.4 ($130,000).
“She’s a beautiful filly. She’s the best type this mare has thrown to date,” Rikki said.
Rikki and her parents are also offering a lovely McWicked filly as Lot 275.
She’s the seventh foal of the Listed winner Far Too Rusty NZ, a Bettor’s Delight mare who left four individual winners in 2024 and was subsequently named the NSW Broodmare of the Year. The winner of $129,000 herself, Far Too Rusty has produced three winners with earnings in excess of $130,000 in Infinity Beach, He Said She Said and Don Arthur.
For further details of these or any other lots in the Sydney Yearling Sale then please check out the Online Catalogue or Register as a Buyer today!
