It’s not often motherhood arrives before a trip to the races, but Dieing Art isn’t your everyday standardbred.
The Mark Thompson-trained seven-year-old won the Team Teal Women Can Mares Pace at Echuca last night, her second success in-a-row since making her race-day debut at Swan Hill on January 16, 2024.
“She did a tendon as two-year-old,” Thompson said. “I just put her in the paddock and forgot about her, then I put her in foal and she had a foal.
“Last year I sold a few horses, I had a bit of room, so I put her back into work.”
The path for Dieing Art to make it to the track was filled with uncertainty.
“When I got her in foal, I wasn’t thinking about getting her back to the races,” he said. “I had a chat to my wife about it (getting her back) and we thought we would give her a run, and she has showed no signs of breaking down since.
“I knew she had ability and by the time she had broken down she had showed us a bit.”
To see his girl continue to go from strength to strength is satisfying for the 61-year-old Ballendella horseman.
“It felt good (when she won),” Thompson said.
“She had been in the paddock for four or five years and she was a pretty fat individual. It’s taken her time to get where she is. She could probably still lose a bit of weight yet.”
The future for Dieing Art is looking bright, with Thompson happy to take each day as it comes.
“We will just go along, and I will pick out suitable races for her and we (will) go through the classes, and we will see where she ends up,” he said.