The four-year-old mare with John Morrison in the cart could not overcome the lead early on Iron Heart despite two attempts and remained parked for most of the 1980 meters. Iron Heart had a small lead down the straight, but Scotlynn Crunch fought hard and won by a head.
SCOTLYNN CRUNCH REPEAT
“She’s gotten better and better as she’s raced a little bit. Most of that race has been pretty damn tough,” Dean said.
Scotlynn Crunch qualified as a three-year-old at Ashburton in June 2024 and when she debuted at Addington ten months later she came third.
“She was a standout filly in the paddock when she was a foal, with big, long legs. I broke her in quite early. Then I got very sick and she had pretty much 12 months off. I think that’s what caused her.”
Since her debut, she has had eleven starts for two wins and three seconds, plus a third.
Scotlynn Crunch goes back to the Franco strain developed by Wayne Francis. Dean and his wife Lesley met Francis early in their lives.
“We bought our property from Wayne’s father George. And Wayne was like the guy around the corner. He was great to us.”
It was Lesley who negotiated to borrow one of Wayne’s mares.
“He lent me Tenisha on empty and I brought her pregnant to OK Bye. She was at the stud until the foal (Scotlynn Bye) was a few months old, then the mare and foal came here,” Lesley said.
Dean trained Scotlynn Bye to win one of her three starts.
Tenisha, a BB mare by Nero, won two of her nine starts for northern rider Mike Stormont. She left behind 16 foals at stud, including The Perfect Storm (18 wins) and Rider On The Storm (13 wins), both by Live Or Die.
Scotlynn Bye was Tenisha’s seventh foal.
“I still have her and I haven’t bred her since she was 19. We kept her because she has been so good to us and because she is a pet,” Lesley said.
Dean and Lesley have had great success with members of this extended family; thirty-eight horses bear the prefix Scotlynn. The best to have raced alone in New Zealand are Scotlynn Hamish (5 wins), Scotlynn Justis (5) and Scotlynn Mach (5).
They have also sold a number of Scotlynn horses to Australia where they have raced successfully. Among them are Scotlynn Jiggs (22 wins), Scotlynn Beach (16), Scotlynn Jack (9) and Scotlynn Fire (7).
“Those guys who bought some of those horses came back and bought other horses from us. We got really good money for those horses and bought a car, a horse cart and a truck (laughter),” Dean said.
Lesley has continued to support the sons of Somebeach such as Stay Hungry and Captain Crunch.
“That line seems to suit my breed. I think Captain Crunch is doing fantastic, but they are not early horses,” says Lesley.
Not all Scotlynn horses come from the Tenisha line.
“Scotlynn Hamish would have been the roughest and strongest horse I ever owned. My grandfather (Alex Purdon) trained horses for Charlie Blakely who lived in Hororata. He had horses like Superfortress (7), Highland Fortress (8) and Double Cross (9). Scotlynn Hamish comes from that family,” Dean said.
Dean thought he had sold Scotlynn Hamish for $100,000, but the sale never went through.
“I took him to the trials, he straightened up, backed up and smashed his head. That was a big kick in the ass, but he could really run.”
Taylor trained the gelding to win five of his seven starts.
So where does the name come from?
“Dean’s grandfather is Alex Purdon and they are Scottish. We couldn’t call them Scottish this and Scottish that, so we just put Lynn behind Scottish to make it Scotlynn.”
The Taylors further breed from Scotlynn Jan, the mother of Scotlynn Crunch, and have a Stay Hungry yearling filly from this mare.
“She (Scotlynn Jan) never raced, but she ran a half in 59 as a yearling. She hit a crossfire when I eased her up and she went right back into the back of her tendon. She could really run.”
The Taylors are rightly proud to continue with the breed and Scotlynn Crunch looks set to continue the great Franco legacy.
For full race results, click here.
Through Bruce Stewartfor Harnesslink
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