For more than half a century New Zealand bred and raised pacers and trotters have been plundering the riches of Australian racing.

And, despite increased transport and registration fees, the trend of NZ horses crossing the Tasman is showing little sign of slowing down. In 2022 alone more than 450 Kiwi breds were cleared to Australia - the majority for racing purposes.

However, a two-year-old gelding named We Walk By Faith, who was bred in NSW by the Victorian-owned Benstud Standardbreds, is bucking the trend as far as trans-Tasman horse traffic goes.

The Bettor’s Delight youngster was offered at the inaugural Nutrien Equine sale in Sydney last year and bought by clients of the Mark and Nathan Purdon stable near Christchurch for $70,000.

“He was a stunning individual,” Benstud Standardbreds’ general manager Craig Judd said.

Having only his sixth start, We Walk By Faith beat many of the best NZ two-year-olds in commission in the Group 1 $110,000 Ace Of Spades at the Grand Prix meeting at Addington recently.

It was his third success and lifted his stake tally to $113,752.

“We have since sold his mother too as part of our new business model,” Judd explained.

“The plan is to keep the colts for the yearling sales, retain a filly out of our mares and then move the mares on while there’s still value in them for the next owner.

“This way we are keeping our broodmare stocks at a younger age.

“Last year we bought back one of We Walk By Faith’s siblings called Petes American Gal to breed from.”

Benstud will be offering a full sister to We Walk By Faith as Lot 113 at the Nutrien Equine sale in Sydney on March 9 and 10.

“She’s a typical Bettor’s type - a nuggety, smaller filly,” Craig said.

The filly is one of six Benstud Standardbreds and clients’ horses being sold at the sales in Melbourne and Sydney next year that are NZ Sires Stakes eligible. There’s two Bettor’s Delight colts from Shannon Nixon including one out of Carlas Pixel and four from the Benstud draft.

Major Major, a four-year-old bred by Ballarat breeders Bruce and Vicki Edward, is the latest horse to enter the 1:50 list at Menangle. The Art Major gelding clocked 1:49.8.

Kimcando, a heat winner of the Alabar Vicbred Platinum Home Grown 2YO Classic at Melton, is an American Ideal filly out of the Victoria Ladyship Cup winner Jazzam. She was bred by former Victorian Breeder of the Year Greg Fusinato.

The Father Patrick three-year-old Maori Franklin, a smart winner at Charlton recently, is another member of the famed Maori Miss tribe. The gelding was bred by Fred Crews and is closely related to Maori Time and Maori Law.

 

The opinions expressed in The Forum are those of the author and may not be attributed to or represent policies of Harness Racing Victoria, which is the state authority and owner of thetrots.com.au.