F ormer Racing NSW chairman Tony Hartnell vividly recalls the day he bought a mare in foal for what he considered to be "a bargain". "I saw a mare by the name of Shady Stream in the Inglis catalogue and I wanted to buy her," Hartnell said this week. "I couldn't get to the sale so I had my [Meringo] Stud manager there. I ended up buying her for about $8000 in foal to Celtic Swing but I would have gone a lot higher."

Shady Stream is a potential goldmine for Hartnell, who wasn't to know at the time of purchase that the resulting foal would be world champion sprinter Takeover Target.

And, three foals later, Takeover Target's half-brother Predatory Pricer will make his long-awaited racetrack debut for Hartnell and a syndicate of owners at Canterbury on Saturday.

"I only bought Shady Stream because it is out of a mare called Merry Shade and I loved Merry Shade as a sprinter when she was racing and I also loved her sire, Spectacular Spy," Hartnell said. "The fact that she was in foal to Celtic Swing was even better, as I had seen him race as a two-year-old in England and it had won a good race very brilliantly. From that day I have kept and still own Shady Stream and, thanks to the deeds of Takeover Target, she is very valuable."

Hartnell had planned to race Takeover Target with several other owners but, given the gelding's history of early leg problems, mounting veterinary bills resulted in his sale as a tried horse to trainer Joe Janiak for a paltry $1250.

"I had partners in Takeover Target and one of the owners, who has since died, was getting sick of paying the vet bills," Hartnell said. "He wanted the horse sold, so that was the end of that."

Hartnell continued to breed with Shady Stream and she produced two fillies by the stallion Mr Henrysee - Shady Henrietta and Saskarla, which were both winners and are now broodmares at Meringo Stud.

"After that we had a bit of trouble with Shady Stream," Hartnell said. "She was quite a difficult breeder, which I think we have corrected by surgery, but at the same time we weren't really sure. She went a couple of years without producing a live foal and then missed before I sent her to Street Cry. He is a stallion that I really liked. The big worry was whether or not she would hold the foal and she did, with the result being Predatory Pricer."

Given the colt is a half-brother to a world champion sprinter and has already shown ability on the track with a barrier-trial success at his home track of Kembla Grange, Predatory Pricer has attracted "big offers" for a potential sale.

"I put a number of mares to Street Cry the season Shady Stream went there and that included the dam of Sarthemare, which won this year's Black Opal Stakes at Canberra," he said. "We have had and continue to get a number of offers for the horse and we could have put him in any yearling sale, given his pedigree, but we instead decided to race him ourselves. Hopefully it will make up for selling Takeover Target."

While he describes himself as a "breeder and owner", Hartnell is also part of the city law firm Atanaskovic Hartnell. "That keeps me very busy but my passion is for horses," he explained.

"I have been lucky to breed a number of stakes winners and have been involved in the breeding of four group 1 winners. Takeover Target was one of them, Mr Innocent was another and there was also Victory Vein, which was a champion two-year-old. The other one was Mahtoum, which won a Sydney Cup.

"Apart from them I've bred the smart sprinter Natural Destiny as well as Verdict Declared, which Barbara Joseph trained and was an above-average mare."

Hartnell said reports from Predatory Pricer's trainer Paul Murray had been "very encouraging" and he was looking forward to this weekend's debut.

"On his trial performances he has ability and right from the start Paul has said he has impressed him," he said.

The Stargazer Handicap at Canterbury, in which Predatory Pricer debuts, may be one of the last two-year-olds' events of its juvenile season but that hasn't stopped it from attracting a cast of potential stars.

The Gary Portelli-trained, $900,000 Redoute's Choice youngster Lighthorseman will also debut, while Gai Waterhouse has first starter Regimental Hero in the race.

"We will get some sort of a guide on how good he is," Hartnell said. "Hopefully the future is good for him and Shady Stream as well."