Following up with last week’s story about harness racing stallion Western Terror (Western Hanover), many in the United States might be surprised to learn that he was responsible for one of the best New Zealand trotting
wonders to ever set hoof to the track in the southern hemisphere.
After thoroughly dissection Western Terror’s pedigree, it only made sense to peer into that Ohio-standing stallion’s global impact, and low and behold, in the “Land of the Long White Cloud,” we discovered this little-known (at least to the American harness community) treasure that is Terror To Love p, 1:51 ($2,377125). This Kiwi phenom faced the starter 76 times during his career with 31 victories and 16 second and 7 third-place finishes. He won 30 races in New Zealand from 62 starts and one in Australia from 14 starts.
Bred by Terry McDonald of Christchurch, Terror to Love was foaled on October 21, 2007, and is out of the unraced Live Or Die p, 2, 1:51.4 ($728,264) mare Love To Live, who was named New Zealand Trotting Broodmare of the Year in 2014. Foaled in 1998, Love To Live sports a classic pedigree, with Die Laughing p, 1:51.1f ($2,164,386), Meadow Skipper p, 3, 1:55.1 ($428,057), Temujin p, 3, 1:54.3h $(633,284), and Romeo Hanover p, 3, 1:56.1f ($658,505) on her sire’s side; and Albatross p, 4, 1:54.3 ($1,201,470), Billy Direct p, 4T, 1:55 ($12,040), Adios p, T1:57½ ($33,329) and Billy Direct p, 4T1:55 ($12,040) on her maternal side. That’s some wickedly old bloodlines but combined with the longevity of Western Terror’s success and progeny, it makes sense that this coupling would prove fortuitous.
Terror To Love began his career as a 2-year-old early in 2010, for trainers, the father and son team, of Graham and Paul Court. He started six times that season, winning the Group 3 Sapling Stakes at Ashburton, and was runner-up in the Kindergarten Stakes Wyndham and in a NZ Sires Stakes division at Forbury Park, earning $28,738 for his connections, before a mild injury curtailed his conquests for that year.
The following season Terror To Love captured the Canterbury Classic before taking the New Zealand Trotting Cup for the first time, besting rival Smoken Up and three-quarters of a length. He went on to win the Taylor Mile at Alexandra Park and the Emerald Jewells at Cambridge, and also finished second in the Auckland Pacing and Easter Cups in 2011, scoring eight wins total that year. For the 2011-2012 season he added another $528,828 to his coffers, with a record of p, 3, 1:55.1. Driver Jim Curtin had been in the sulky behind the pacer throughout all of his starts to date, with the exception of two during his freshman campaign.
In 2012 Terror To Love won his first start out, taking the New Brighton Cup impressively, and following that up with neck second in the Canterbury Classic before posting a victory in the Ashburton Flying Stakes. He then captured the New Zealand Trotting Cup for the second consecutive season, again winning by three-quarters of a length, and thus added another $631,699 to his bankroll, in addition to having added driver Ricky May to his script of success.
At age five, Terror To Love was even stronger—as he won his first three starts, including an Interdominion heat at Auckland, before finishing fourth in the final at Menangle, and then second in the Auckland Pacing Cup. He then took the Easter and Emerald Cups easily and was second in the Miracle Mile Pace, the Avon City Ford Cup, and the Canterbury Classic. He captured the Ashburton Flying Stakes in dominant fashion, winning by three lengths just a few weeks before his third try in the New Zealand Trotting Cup.
Leaving from post five (of the traditional standing start), the indomitable pacer made an uncharacteristic break, losing some 15 lengths to the field before he recovered, pacing in last place. With driver May at the lines, Terror To Love ate up ground three-wide before finally grabbing the lead with a little more than half a mile to go in the race. Pacing strongly to the wire, he held off a late challenge by rival Fly Like An Eagle, to win by a neck, and thus capture his third straight New Zealand Cup.
Terror To Love thus became only the third horse in New Zealand harness racing history to accomplish that feat, joining the ranks of Indianapolis (1934, 1935, 1936) and False Step (1958, 1959, 1960), and in doing so was named New Zealand Harness Horse of the Year. That triumph also gave driver May his seventh career victory in the classic, and made Terror To Love one of just nine 4-year-olds to win the New Zealand Trotting Classic. At the end of that 2013-2014 season, his purse account had garnered another $624,366.
In 2014, Terror To Love won the Auckland Pacing Cup, the Avon City Ford Cup and Canterbury Class (for the second time), before finishing a disappointing fourth in the New Zealand Trotting Cup. In December, the mighty pacer ventured to Australia, taking the A$100,000 Cranbourne Cup in Victoria, and besting heated rival Christen Me (and his driver Dexter Dunn). His final career start, in April 2015, Terror To Love finished third behind that same pacer-driver combo in the Group One $100,000 Easter Cup at Addington. That final start was appropriate for both the pacer and his numerous fans, as Terror To Love had won 16 of 32 starts at Addington.
One month later Terror To Love was given a well-deserved send off into stallion duty on May 15, 2015, at Addington, retiring with eight Group 1 wins and eight placings in that elite conglomerate. He also scored six Group 2 triumphs and eight Group 3 victories and had been named New Zealand Pacer of the Year (2012, 2013, 2014) and 4-Year-old Pacer of the Year (2012, 2013, 2014) three times each, as well as Aged Pacer of the Year twice (2012, 2014), and twice New Zealand Harness Horse of the Year (2013, 2014).
He was entered into stallion duty soon after, standing at Graham Court and Rise Hanley’s Penelea Farm in Christchurch. As a sire, Terror To Love has not disappointed, producing Total Diva p, 3, 1:51.2 ($200,098), Lavazza p, 3, 1:54.7 ($104,678), and Yoha p, 3, 1:52 ($98,154) from his first crop, among others. Another top performer is 2022 Methven Cup winner Smiffy’s Terror p, 4, 1:52.8 ($150,206).
by Kimberly Rinker, for Harnesslink