Salute (Smart Little Lena - D)

"Smart Little Lena is the cornerstone of the cutting industry in the USA and Australia now has the ability to play a bit of catch up." - Richard Bull
 

Salute is an exact genetic copy of the world’s most influential performance horse sire ‘Smart Little Lena’.

‘Salute’ is the first ever cloned horse to enter the country and stand at stud. We purchased the stallion at the Western Bloodstock Annual NCHA Futurity Sale in Fort Worth, Texas in December 2010, and imported ‘Salute’ into Australia earlier this year.

We are allowing Australia first generation access to the most influential stallion to ever exist in the performance horse industry in North America.

Smart Little Lena, who died in September 2010 at the age of 31, was the first horse to ever win cutting’s prestigious Triple Crown in the United States with life time earnings of $743,275 in only eight shows. His progeny have impressive earnings of more than US$39.3 million and he has grand progeny earnings of more than US$80 million. With 550 money earning offspring, Smart Little Lena sired 17 World Champions, 11 Reserve Champions and 110 Register of Merit. At the height of his career he stood at US$25,000.

The introduction of Smart Little Lena’s superior genetics to Australia via the importation of ‘Salute’ (who is one of five clones of Smart Little Lena), offers tremendous breeding opportunities for the Australian performance horse industry, particularly to upgrade broodmare strengths.

The cloning was undertaken to preserve Smart Little Lena’s genetics for the future because of his dominance in the cutting horse industry. Whether we agree with cloning or not, Smart Little Lena had already been cloned and the chance to have this horse here in Australia was too great of an opportunity to be missed.

Smart Little Lena was always my hero horse and bringing his exact genetics to Australia is a dream come true.

‘Salute’ was purchased to pass on Smart Little Lena’s genetics and will not be trained or shown. Whilst he is not identical in appearance to Smart Little Lena his genetic material is exactly the same and his offspring will therefore be equivalent. A male clone breeds identically to the original copy.
 

To watch the ABC's Landline segment "Chip Off The Old Block", aired on Sunday 5 June, click here.

To watch tributes to the legendary Smart Little Lena on YouTube click here and here.