Gippsland breeder Robert Bean has enjoyed a wonderful run with his exceptional Bernardo x Sunset Believer litter, headlined by multiple Group finalist Aussie Secret, the winner of 29 of his 57 starts for champion mentor Jason Thompson.

The litter also includes another Group finalist in Got The Torque (14 wins), Gold Driller (10), Harper’s Girl (9) and Enabler (4 wins), among others.

“I broke them in at 11 and a half months, which I don’t normally do,” Bean told GRV’s Victoria Shaw.

“I normally wait until 12 or 13 months before I start them, but we had the drought here and once I started breaking them in the times they were running, I thought I’ve got something special.

“It turns out the whole litter can run, which doesn’t happen very often.”

“No short cuts. You feed the best and then you start the rearing process and you rear in proper-sized yards in accordance with their age. That’s very critical for the pups’ development through their first 12 months.”

Bean, who’s based at Tinamba, is now hoping lightning strikes twice, with his repeat Bernardo x Sunset Believer mating of five pups, which was whelped in September 2020, about to ramp up their education.

“They’re a tad over 12 months now. I’ll take my time and start breaking them in and hopefully they’re as good as the first litter.”

Bean attributes his breeding success to following a tried and trusted formula, reinforcing the first six months of the pups’ development is the key to any future racetrack success.

“Breeders need to breed from a successful brood bitch and go to a good sire,” Bean said.

“Once they whelp the litter down, the first six months I believe is critical.

“No short cuts. You feed the best and then you start the rearing process and you rear in proper-sized yards in accordance with their age. That’s very critical for the pups’ development through their first 12 months.”

Bean may also have a stud dog on his hands in prolific speedster Aussie Secret, which beat a star-studded line-up, including country cups king Ferdinand Boy, to win the inaugural Pink Diamond Champion Short Course event and is a G1 Silver Chief, G2 Horsham Cup and G2 Ballarat Cup finalist.

“I have been approached by a few people about using him at stud, but as I said to them it’s all up to Jason (Thompson) when he finishes his career and we’ll work it out from there.”

RELATED: ROBERT FEELS THE MAGIC