Beaudiene Babe: The Southland matriarch building a dynasty

When Dave Kennedy stood at the podium during the NZ Standardbred Breeders Cup Eve Function, holding the Broodmare of Excellence trophy for Beaudiene Babe (In The Pocket), it felt like the sort of moment that comes only once in a breeding lifetime. For a man who has quietly, diligently, and often stubbornly bred under the Beaudiene banner for nearly half a century, the acknowledgement hit deep.

Dave would later describe the moment with a simplicity that belied its weight. “I believe it’s the pinnacle of breeding,” he told me. “This is what you strive for. You just hope one day you get a mare good enough to be acknowledged… and I was absolutely elated to get the award. I’ve strived for it for a long time. I honestly thought we might’ve missed our flip with Babe… but then Jumal came on the scene and Beaudiene Bad Babe was leaving Bad To The Bone and the others. Her daughters are breeding on. She’s set up a bit of a dynasty, hasn’t she?”

Dynasty isn’t a word Dave uses lightly. Not in breeding; not in Southland; and not for a mare whose own racing career was the opposite of headline-worthy. A dynasty is something earned across generations. Something that endures. Something built patiently and quietly, without shortcuts and without the need to chase the fashionable cross of the moment. And that — at its heart — is Beaudiene Babe. A mare who didn’t want to be a racehorse, yet became the architect of one of Southland’s great modern families.

Her beginning, though, lay with a mare who Dave still speaks of with fondness and lingering what-ifs.

“Beaudiene Debtor was a lovely filly,” he says of the daughter of Cadillac. “We never saw the best of her. She ran second in the New Zealand Oaks — a super run — and she only won two races, but she did real well.”

Her broodmare career, however, was heartbreakingly brief. “When she came home from stud… God, she came off the truck and I thought she was gonna die. She looked bloody awful,” Dave remembers. She held the foal — a miracle in itself — but faded quickly. She left just two daughters: Beaudiene Babe and her sister Beaudiene Ladylike by Falcon Seelster.

Most breeders would have written off the family right there. Two foals from a dying mare is a fragile place to build from. Dave thought the Ladylike branch was the one that would fire. “I actually thought at the time Beaudiene Bird — that line — would be the one to take off,” he admits. But breeding is unpredictable. The door opened instead for the younger sister — and for a filly who simply didn’t want to be a racehorse.

Beaudiene Babe was stunning on type. The kind of filly that made horsemen stop. “Tony Barron said to me, ‘God, what a bloody magnificent looking filly,’” Dave recalls. But in training, she was infuriating. “She just didn’t want to do it,” he says bluntly. It wasn’t that she couldn’t. She simply wouldn’t.

She was tried with different trainers. Tried with Dave jogging her up himself for two months. Tried with leases and new environments. Nothing stuck. “Every trainer came back and said the same thing — she just doesn’t want to do it.”

Sometimes the breeding gods hide their best mares behind the most uncooperative temperaments. Thankfully, Dave — stubborn in the best Southland way — didn’t give up on her. He bred from her instead.

And that decision set an entire family in motion.

Her first foal was Beaudiene Bad Babe by Badlands Hanover. The choice of sire was classic Dave: not fashionable, not expensive, but a cross he’d researched relentlessly.

“I looked up the cross — Highview Badlands, Washakie — they were all nearly winners. The American books said the nick was good, and that Crosses of Gold thing is bloody gold,” he says. “I thought, bugger it, I’ll send her there.”

It worked instantly.

Beaudiene Bad Babe won 28 races, $404,898, and became a dual Group One winner — the 4YO Diamond and Christian Cullen 2YO Emerald — along with the Southland Oaks and Premier Mares Championship (twice). She was a household name in Southland, beloved by locals, and good enough to beat the best fillies of her era.

Her story delivered both triumph and heartbreak. Dave remembers the day neighbour Peter Ryan came to look at the yearlings.

“He just pointed at her and said, ‘I’m gonna buy that one.’”

Dave had put a $20,000 reserve on her. “He asked me if she’d make $100,000. I said, shit no, Peter.” She sold for exactly the reserve.

Peter saw her first win — and the last race he’d ever attend. Dave drove him from Invercargill to Gore for the race. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a happier man,” Dave says softly. A week later, Peter passed away. His daughters Catherine and Liz — “good-looking girls, eloquent, could speak beautifully” — carried the colours with pride.

“We went to the Jewels when she won it. Unreal. They involved us the whole way — drinks, parties, celebrations… they loved it. Absolutely ecstatic.”

Babe’s second foal was Guns N Roses by D M Dilinger, another stallion chosen not for fashion but function. “I liked his speed… always liked the Cam Fella line,” Dave says. The gelding was talented but hot. “Pretty nervy sort of horse… on his day he had unbelievable speed, but he could break or do things wrong.” Still, he won 13 races, over $100,000, and took out the Listed Winter Championship Final.

Then came Beaudiene Maja Babe by Art Major. “She should’ve won her first start,” Dave says. “She shied at the bloody cameraman and shot sideways.” She finished fourth, showed a bit of ability, but never made it to where they thought she might. Still, she became a valuable broodmare, leaving Beaudiene Beach Babe (6 wins) and The Masked Crusader (5 wins, 1:53.8).

Beaudiene Beaut Babe followed, another daughter of Art Major. “She’s 100%. I’ve still got her. She always leaves a nice one,” Dave says. Her progeny include Beaudiene Hustler, Beaudiene Quick Step, McKendrick, and Tweedy — a branch of the family steadily producing winners year after year.

Then came the big one.

Beaudiene Boaz, again by Badlands Hanover, was a million-dollar star who rewrote the record books in Western Australia. He won the WA Golden Slipper, WA 4YO Championship, WA Golden Nugget, West Australian Derby, Fremantle Cup, Western Gateway, and more.

Gary Hall Snr — the man behind Im Themightyquinn — paid Dave the highest compliment imaginable:
“He told me Boaz was as good as Quinny. Said if he hadn’t gone wrong, he could’ve done what Quinny did.”

But Boaz’s story ended in tragedy. “They sold him as a stallion… three months later he’s bitten by a bloody snake in the paddock,” Dave says. “You wouldn’t read about it.”

After Boaz came more winners — Beaudiene Beaufighta (8 wins), Beaudiene Delightful (2 wins), and her foals The Matriarch and Beaudiene Always B — and then Beaudiene Western by Well Said. “Wee fella… unreal speed,” Dave says. He made the Jewels and earned $65,893.

Then came the moment the family turned again.

Beaudiene Blinkz by Badlands Hanover earned just $500 — but only because fate intervened. Ray Green trialled her and was excited. Then a horse in front stopped dead. Blinkz crashed into the sulky. The damage was serious: a stress fracture and a suspensory injury. Dave was devastated.

But the vet’s words changed everything.

“He said to me, ‘I think you’ve got another Group One winner here.’ So I said, right, if that’s the case… she’s in the paddock.”

That decision — preserving the injured filly — would shape the family for decades.

Blinkz’s first foals were Jilliby Illuminate and Beaudiene Hunter. Good horses. Honest horses. But her third foal… her third foal was something else.

Jumal by Downbytheseaside has become the juvenile star of 2025.

Dave knew he was special early. He had two Seasides that year — one out of Galleons Pleasure, the other Blinkz’s colt — and everyone assumed the other one was the better pedigree. But Dave’s eye never failed him.

“I told two or three people — this is the smoky. This is the one.”

When Steven Reid bought him, he told Dave why:
“He looks like Boaz. Same cut, just a bigger model.”

Jumal proved them right on New Zealand Cup Day.

Sent out a $1.20 favourite in the Group 1 Sires Stakes Final, he sat parked, did all the work, and still fought like a tiger to finish third. It was the run of a horse with a deep well of both speed and fight.

“At this stage he’s probably the best I’ve bred,” Dave says. “What he did on Tuesday… most horses can’t do that. He fought like a caged tiger.”

Steven Reid agreed.
“He’s such a professional… you can do anything with him.”

And the story gets better — there’s a full brother heading to the sales this year. Dave smiles.
“I normally don’t insure horses, but this fellow… this fellow’s worth insuring.”

The family didn’t stop there. Beaudiene Brittanie (1 win), Beaudiene Rocknroll (8 wins), Miss Whatever (unraced, injured), and a growing army of grand-progeny have entrenched Beaudiene Babe as one of the most influential Southland broodmares of the modern era.

And at home? The queen still rules the paddock at 26.

“She looks amazing. She’s the boss — no one goes near her feed bowl. If you shampooed her and scrubbed her up, you could take her to a show. She’s never lost her shape.”

Before we ended the interview, I asked Dave what advice he’d give young breeders hoping to replicate a line like his. His answer was the distillation of a lifetime:

“Look outside the box. You can breed to the fashionable stallion, get good money for a couple of years… then your mare falls away because the nick doesn’t suit. Do your homework. Work out what crosses click. Breed to suit your mare — not the sales.”

Few breeders in this country have lived that mantra more faithfully.

Beaudiene Babe never wanted to be a racehorse. Instead, she became something infinitely rarer — a matriarch whose family is still gathering momentum. The Southland mare who built a dynasty. And thanks to Jumal and the ones still coming behind him, the best chapters may still lie ahead.

BEAUDIENE BABE | PRODUCTION RECORD

• Beaudiene Bad Babe (Badlands Hanover) – 28 wins, 5 feature wins, $404,898, MR 1:55.7
• Bad To The Bone (Bettor's Delight) – 16 wins, $344,334, MR 1:50.2
• With Grace (Bettor's Delight) – 1 win, $49,309, MR 1:59.2
• Five Bangles (Bettor's Delight) – 8 wins, $65,916, MR 1:55.9
• Midnight Babe (Bettor's Delight) – 4 wins, $38,576, MR 1:58.5
• Guns N Roses (D M Dilinger) – 13 wins, 1 feature win, $103,445, MR 1:52.4
• Beaudiene Maja Babe (Art Major) – 1 win, $2,931, MR 2:00.5
• Beaudiene Beach Babe (Somebeachsomewhere) – 6 wins, $61,774, MR 1:56.8
• The Masked Crusader (Bettor's Delight) – 5 wins, $47,642, MR 1:53.8
• Beaudiene Beaut Babe (Art Major) – 1 win, $5,803, MR 2:06.3
• Beaudiene Hustle (A Rocknroll Dance) – 2 wins, $25,938, MR 1:59.4
• Beaudiene Quick Step (A Rocknroll Dance) – 6 wins, $67,016, MR 1:59.3
• McKendrick (Sweet Lou) – 3 wins, $68,431, MR 1:57.3
• Tweedy (Bettor's Delight) – 1 win, $10,343, MR 2:02.3
• Beaudiene Boaz (Badlands Hanover) – 25 wins, 12 feature wins, $1,256,587, MR 1:52.9
• Beaudiene Beaufighta (Bettor's Delight) – 8 wins, $56,302, MR 1:54.1
• Beaudiene Delightful (Bettor's Delight) – 2 wins, $8,680, MR 2:00.9
• The Matriarch (Captaintreacherous) – 4 wins, $35,309, MR 1:55.9
• Beaudiene Always B (Always B Miki) – 1 win, $12,768, MR 2:00.0
• Beaudiene Western (Well Said) – 4 wins, $65,893, MR 1:57.0
• Beaudiene Blinkz (Badlands Hanover) – 0 wins, $500
• Jilliby Illuminate (Sweet Lou) – 5 wins, $46,585, MR 1:55.8
• Beaudiene Hunter (Stay Hungry) – 2 wins, $22,396, MR 1:57.0
• Jumal (Downbytheseaside) – 6 wins, 2 feature wins, $211,760, MR 1:56.0
• Beaudiene Brittanie (Bettor's Delight) – 1 win, $6,201, MR 2:01.3
• Beaudiene Rocknroll (A Rocknroll Dance) – 8 wins, $44,412, MR 1:58.6
• Miss Whatever (Always B Miki) – 0 wins
• Unnamed (Always B Miki) – 0 wins
• Totals: 161 wins, 20 feature wins, $3,063,749

GROUP & LISTED RACE RECORD

Beaudiene Bad Babe
– G1 4YO Diamond
– G2 Macca Lodge / Nevele R Southland Oaks Final
– Listed Caduceus Club of Southland 2YO Fillies Classic
– G2 Premier Mares Championship (twice)
– G1 Christian Cullen 2YO Emerald Mobile Pace

Beaudiene Boaz
– G1 WA Golden Slipper
– G1 WA 4YO Championship
– G1 WA Golden Nugget
– G1 West Australia Derby
– G1 Fremantle Cup
– G2 Western Gateway
– G2 Village Kid Sprint (twice)
– G3 Bunbury Cup
– G3 WA Caduceus Club Classic
– G3 WA Navy Cup

Guns N Roses
– Listed SEW Winter Championship Final

Jumal
– Listed NZB Standardbred Harness Millions 2YO Final
– G1 Diamond Creek Farm Classic