A friendship forged almost 50 years ago between Goulburn Valley identities Geoff and Lorraine Barnes and breeder-studmaster Ross Simpson paved the way for the breeding of Zoe Ella, the brave, fighting winner of the $30,000 Tasmanian Sweepstakes at Hobart last Saturday.

“When Ross decided to go back to NZ he left several mares with us,” Lorraine, the 2020 Pearl Kelly Award winner, said. “One of them was Karamea Dreamin who we got into foal to Lis Mara and Miss Dreamin was the result.

“As a weanling Miss Dreamin was sent to an Alabar sale but we didn’t get a bid on her. We brought her home and got her broken in and then Ross decided that he wanted to lease her. But nobody wanted her.

“We always had very good faith in her,” she said.

Eventually, Geoff and Lorraine bought the mare and entrusted her to Bendigo horseman Paul Campbell.

“Paul told us initially that he thought she was not going to make it, but after removing her headcheck she really began to show him something.

“She won a trial by 25 metres one night and came out and won her first start in 1:59.2 and showed a lot of heart,” Geoff said. “At her third start she took her lifetime mark of 1:54.3 at Bendigo.”

Miss Dreamin later won a heat of the Vicbred Platinum Metropolitan Series at Melton and finished runner-up in the Final and was a terrific third in the $115,000 Vicbred Super Series Final. 

In all, she won five races with eight placings from 23 starts for $53,703 in stakes.

Retired to stud, Miss Dreamin produced Zoe Ella (by Stay Hungry) as her second foal.

Zoe Ella was knocked down to Victorian owner Marcus Panton and a Tasmanian associate Keith Wells for $14,000 at the Australian Pacing Gold Melbourne sale last year. She was broken in by Albert Davis and trained originally by Bec Bartley, who sent her to Launceston horseman Rohan Hillier for a tilt at the Tasmanian classics.

She is expected to return to Bartley for the Vicbred Super Series.

Miss Dreamin has a three-year-old McWicked half-brother to Zoe Ella who has been broken in and is now spelling.

“Hopefully he will be back in work in about a month,” Lorraine said. “We’ve not bred from Miss Dreamin since she produced Zoe Ella but we plan to breed her this season.”

Based at Balmain Lodge stud, Tatura, the Barnes’s have a distinguished record in Victorian harness racing dating back nearly five decades.

Lorraine was the longtime secretary and a committee member of the Victorian Standardbred Studmasters’ Association and served on the committee of the Breeders and Studmasters’ Association, while Geoff was a committee member of the Breeders and Studmasters and the Victorian Standardbred Owners’ Association, secretary of the Metropolitan and Country Trotting Association, a member of the HRV Advisory Council and one of the driving forces of the Breeders Crown.

The couple have also enjoyed great success as breeders and owners.

“We’ve won a race at every track in Victoria including the Melbourne Showgrounds. I don’t think too many have achieved that,” Geoff stated.

Sahara Breeze, Yambukian and Oliver Dan, the first three placegetters in the Free-for-all at Melton last Saturday, were all born and raised at Benstud Standardbreds

The Always B Miki three-year-old filly Joyride, a winner at Addington, NZ last weekend, was bred by Alabar Bloodstock and sold at the Nutrien Equine Sydney sale in 2023

Bruce and Rhonda Morrison, whose team carry the ‘Island’ prefix, have unearthed another smart type in the two-year-old Island Yankee, a winner at the Bendigo midweek meeting