BEST IN SHOW
Bettor’s Delight x Put On A Show x Rocknroll Hanover
2016 – BROWN HORSE – 16 HANDS
$672,240 – 1:48.0
- 2019 Meadowlands Pace Winner
- By world champion sire Bettor’s Delight
Out of Hall of Fame mare Put On A Show ($2.4 million) - Half-brother to North America Cup, Little Brown Jug & Canadian Pacing Derby winner It’s My Show ($1.7 million+)
- From four generations of Hall of Fame mares, world champions and million-dollar performers
Direct descendant of Hall of Fame broodmare Stienam’s Place ($1.4 million) - Defeated champion pacers Bettor’s Wish and Captain Crunch
- Dam, Put On A Show has produced major Grand Circuit winners by both Bettor’s Delight and Sweet Lou
When assessing a stallion, race performance opens the door, but pedigree determines his long-term influence on the breed.
Few stallions ever to stand in Australia can match the depth, strength and proven success found within the pedigree of Best In Show.
At the top of his page sits Bettor’s Delight, a stallion widely regarded as the most influential pacing sire ever to stand in Australasia. A breed-shaping stallion, Bettor’s Delight has dominated Australian and New Zealand breeding for more than two decades, producing countless champions, millionaires, Derby winners, Inter Dominion winners and elite sires. His impact on the modern Standardbred is unrivalled.
Yet the strength of Best In Show’s pedigree extends far beyond his sire line.
His dam, Put On A Show, was one of North America’s greatest pacing mares, earning more than $2.4 million and securing her place in the Hall of Fame. As a producer, she has continued to build an extraordinary legacy.
The strength of the family does not stop there. His second dam, Stienam’s Place, was a world champion, Dan Patch and Nova 3-Year-Old Pacing Filly of the Year, earning more than $1.4 million on the racetrack before becoming a Hall of Fame broodmare.
The family traces back through Stienam’s Girl, a successful producer in her own right, to the remarkable Stienam, winner of more than $1.35 million and the 1985 Dan Patch 3-Year-Old Pacing Filly of the Year.
Few families in the Standardbred breed can claim four generations of mares that have contributed so significantly to both the racetrack and breeding barn. This is a maternal family built on performance, durability, and proven production.
Best In Show stamped himself as an elite performer when he captured the prestigious Meadowlands Pace, defeating the likes of Bettors Wish and Captain Crunch – some of the most accomplished pacers of their generation.
The family has continued to strengthen through his half-brother It’s My Show, winner of more than $1.7 million, a 1:46.4 world record performer, and victor of the North America Cup, Little Brown Jug, and Canadian Pacing Derby – three of the most prestigious races in North American harness racing.
Few stallions available to Australasian breeders can boast a direct family containing:
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Bettor’s Delight, the most influential sire ever to stand in Australasia
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Hall of Fame mare Put On A Show ($2.4 million+)
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Hall of Fame broodmare and world champion Stienam’s Place ($1.4 million+)
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Dan Patch 3-Year-Old Pacing Filly of the Year Stienam ($1.35 million+)
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Meadowlands Pace winner Best In Show
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North America Cup winner It’s My Show
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Little Brown Jug winner
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Canadian Pacing Derby winner
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A 1:46.4 world record performer
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Multiple Grand Circuit winners and elite producers
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This is not simply a good pedigree. It is a pedigree built on generations of elite racehorses and proven producers.
Best In Show is everything breeders hope to see when they view a stallion parade. Standing 16 hands high, he is a powerful, athletic and imposing son of Bettor’s Delight, possessing the strength, scope and presence expected of a Meadowlands Pace winner. Despite his size and masculinity, he has an outstanding temperament, combining a kind nature with the intelligence and professionalism that has become a hallmark of this elite family.
For breeders seeking proven bloodlines, commercial appeal, and access to one of the strongest maternal families ever imported to Australia, Best In Show represents a rare opportunity.
BEST IN SHOW is by world champion sire Bettor’s Delight and from one of the most accomplished maternal families in modern harness racing.
While his Meadowlands Pace victory established him as an elite racehorse, the depth and strength of his pedigree is what truly sets him apart. Few stallions available to Australasian breeders can match the proven success found throughout the maternal family of Best In Show.
His dam, Put On A Show p,5,1:47.3 ($2,406,628), was a World Champion, dual Hall of Fame inductee and one of the outstanding pacing mares of her generation. A winner of more than $2.4 million, she captured many of the sport’s most prestigious races including the Breeders Crown, Nadia Lobell and She’s A Great Lady Stakes before becoming an exceptional producer.
As a broodmare, Put On A Show has already produced Meadowlands Pace winner Best In Show and North America Cup, Little Brown Jug and Canadian Pacing Derby winner It’s My Show, proving her ability to leave elite performers by different sire lines.
The strength of the family extends through second dam Stienam’s Place p,3,1:50.4 ($1,402,301), a Hall of Fame mare, four-time Group 1 winner and 3-Year-Old Pacing Filly of the Year. As both a race mare and broodmare she established one of the breed’s most influential maternal families, producing multiple top performers, successful producers and generations of stakes winners.
The family traces back another generation to Stienam, winner of more than $1.35 million and the 1985 Dan Patch 3-Year-Old Pacing Filly of the Year, a mare whose influence is still being felt throughout North American harness racing today.
Across four generations this family has produced Hall of Fame mares, world champions, Dan Patch winners, million-dollar earners, Grand Circuit winners, classic winners and elite producers. Few families in the modern Standardbred breed can match its depth, consistency and longevity.
From Stienam to Stienam’s Place, Put On A Show, Best In Show and It’s My Show, this is a family built on performance, built on production and built to influence generations.
There is an extraordinary symmetry within the pedigree of Best In Show. His sire, Bettor’s Delight, is a son of Meadowlands Pace winner Cam’s Card Shark, while his damsire, Rocknroll Hanover, was himself a Meadowlands Pace winner and one of the sport’s most influential stallions.
Best In Show therefore carries Meadowlands Pace-winning blood on both sides of his pedigree and went on to add his own name to the honour roll with victory in the 2019 Meadowlands Pace.
Few stallions can claim direct descent from multiple Meadowlands Pace winners and then go on to win the race themselves, further strengthening an already exceptional pedigree.
p,3,1:48.0M • $672,240
BEST IN SHOW competed against one of the strongest pacing crops of recent years, racing alongside and defeating the likes of Bettor’s Wish, Captain Crunch, Dancin Lou, Stag Party and Century Farroh.
Lightly raced at two, he won his maiden in 1:54.1 and paced home in 26.1, defeating future Grand Circuit performer Dancin Lou.
At three, BEST IN SHOW quickly established himself among the leading pacers of his generation. He was stakes placed in the Dream Maker, finished third in North America Cup company and was a winner in the Ontario Sires Stakes, defeating Stag Party in 1:50.3.
He continued his rise through the major stakes season with strong performances in the North America Cup, Ontario Sires Stakes and Meadowlands Pace series, regularly matching strides with Bettor’s Wish and Captain Crunch.
His career-defining performance came in the $700,000 Meadowlands Pace Final where he defeated Bettor’s Wish and Captain Crunch in 1:48.0, securing one of the sport’s most prestigious titles for three-year-old pacers.
Throughout the remainder of his three-year-old season he remained highly competitive at Grand Circuit level, recording placings in the Simcoe Stakes, Simpson Stakes, Ontario Sires Stakes Gold events and Breeders Crown eliminations.
Career Highlights
- Winner of the 2019 Meadowlands Pace (1:48.0)
- Defeated Bettor’s Wish and Captain Crunch
- Ontario Sires Stakes Gold winner
- North America Cup elimination placegetter
- Breeders Crown elimination placegetter
- Career earnings of $672,240
- Career mark of p,3,1:48.0M
- 11 career victories
BEST IN SHOW combines the proven Bettor’s Delight sire line with the exceptional Put On A Show and Stienam’s Place maternal family, offering breeders access to one of the most accomplished and productive pacing families in the modern breed.
His pedigree suggests he is ideally suited to mares carrying the blood of:
- Art Major
- Western Ideal
- Western Hanover
- Somebeachsomewhere
- Sweet Lou
- Christian Cullen
- In The Pocket
- No Nukes
These sire lines have consistently proven compatible with Bettor’s Delight blood and offer breeders an opportunity to balance the speed, toughness and durability already present within BEST IN SHOW’s pedigree.
Particularly interesting is the inclusion of Sweet Lou-line mares. The versatility of the family has already been demonstrated through Hall of Fame mare Put On A Show, who produced both Meadowlands Pace winner BEST IN SHOW by Bettor’s Delight and North America Cup, Little Brown Jug and Canadian Pacing Derby winner IT’S MY SHOW by Sweet Lou.
These results highlight the strength of the maternal family and demonstrate that both Bettor’s Delight and Sweet Lou bloodlines have crossed successfully with the Rocknroll Hanover influence carried through Put On A Show.
As the son of Hall of Fame mare Put On A Show, BEST IN SHOW offers breeders access to the influential Rocknroll Hanover line through his dam, creating opportunities for both proven outcrosses and carefully planned linebreeding programs.
Breeders seeking commercial appeal should pay particular attention to mares from the Art Major, Western Ideal, Somebeachsomewhere and Sweet Lou sire lines, while Christian Cullen and In The Pocket mares offer proven international compatibility with the Bettor’s Delight line.