From Lifelong Passion to Group One Glory: The Pierson Dream Realised

It is one thing to win a Group One. It is something far deeper to breed one.

For Martin and Maureen Pierson, the Taylor Mile was the moment a lifelong dream was realised. Years of breeding, studying pedigrees, backing judgement and riding out the inevitable disappointments had all led to this.

To finally produce a Group One winner was not just success, it was validation of everything they had put into the sport.

Run at Alexandra Park at a genuine Group One tempo, the race itself was always going to demand something special in a field of such quality.
The speed went on, the field stretched, and from the point the pressure came, it became a true test. When the Bob Butt trained and driven, The Lazarus Effect (Lazarus) rolled forward and kicked clear, the pair left little margin for error.

In having to sustain a winning burst 400m out from G1 glory, co-breeder Martin Pierson felt every stride.

“I always hoped this was the horse that could get a Group One. He’s gone to some enormous races. He ran second to Kingman in the Christian Cullen and second to Republican Party in the Invercargill Cup last year, so he’d already shown he was good enough.

“Probably the race didn’t quite go to plan. I thought Bob might have handed up, but he got on the nickel evidently. When he kicked clear, I thought, ‘geez, it’s a long way from home’. He got a pretty good gap on them, and while they were closing, I think Bob just steadied him up a touch as well.

“No, it was a great thrill. Wonderful for the horse and the connections who have to be patient, but as breeders, Maureen and I, we’re very, very proud.”

That pride sits at the heart of it.

Because while Martin Pierson is well known across the industry through his role as CEO of the NZ Sires’ Stakes Board and anyone who knows him understands how much the industry means to him.
He wears the game on his sleeve and that comes from where it all started.

“My dad and my grandfather, who I’m very proud of, were always going to the races. Dad was on the Greymouth Trotting Club and I think was Treasurer at one stage.

The three of us, when I wasn’t getting carsick, would go to the races every weekend for nine months of the year. The only things that stopped us were snow occasionally and the whitebait season. That’s how it all started. Then you get more involved, go to yearling sales, and you get really keen.

Maureen made the fatal mistake. She bought me a stud book, and I basically immersed myself in it and never put it down. That’s when we really got interested in the breeding side of it.

We bought a couple of yearlings first and had a bit of success, then went to a mixed sale and bought a Soky’s Atom mare, who ended up being the dam of our first winner, Countess Raine. She won at Addington as a two-year-old. So the first horse we bred won a race, and the rest is history really.”

That journey has always been shared, even if it is not always told that way.

“Make sure you mention Maureen. Every time they write a story about our breed they say Martin Pierson, but she is as much of the story as I am in what we have achieved.

She’s been an enormous support, backed the dream the whole way, and for her to get a Group One as well with her background in the thoroughbred game it’s very special.”

That partnership sat behind the decision to invest in Brook Street.

The Art Major mare was impeccably bred and had already been through the sales ring as a $70,000 purchase for Mark Purdon. At the time, her half-brother The Dorchester (Mach Three) was making a serious impression, winning five of his first seven starts, and the family itself, developed by Bruce Carter and tracing back to English Elegance (Camtastic), was full of depth.

Sloane Square (Christian Cullen), Elegant Christian (Christian Cullen) and Major Moment (Art Major) all featured on the page, all reinforcing the strength of the pedigree.

“It was back in the day when I was sort of collecting mares, and it was a lovely family. Cameron Kirkwood from HRNZ actually put me onto it through Facebook. Long story short, we made a few phone calls, went and saw her, and purchased her.

“Funnily enough, she was always going to go to Lazarus. That was the plan. But commercially I’ve had too many black eyes, so I kicked the tyres and booked her to Bettor’s Delight. That’s the boring thing to do, but at the sales that’s what you have to do,” he said.

Ironically, she missed three times to Bettor’s Delight.

“I was on the way to the Westport races on Boxing Day when Nevele R Stud rang me, and I said, ‘well look, I really wanted to go to Lazarus anyway’. That was the year nobody was aware he was really struggling to get mares in foal. The studs didn’t know what was happening either, so I was none the wiser. Anyway, she was served and got in foal first pop to Lazarus.

“Then you go back to the yearling sales 15 or 18 months later and watch a Lazarus go through in Auckland for $200,000 and think, ‘we’re in business, we’re finally going to cash in’.

But the stars never quite lined up. We got $57,500, which was good without being exciting.

But that’s the game when you breed for the sales. You sell them, take what you’re given and the rest plays out on the track.”

The colt always showed enough.

“He was a lovely colt. He was probably a bit later because the mare was served later, and horsemen still get a bit hung up about that. But he was a very nice colt, and I thought he was at least the equal of what we saw in Auckland. It just didn’t play out that way at the sale.

“That’s beside the point though. He’s made the races albeit with a few hiccups along the way. I know Mark Purdon had big wraps on him early, but he had a few issues. What Bob’s done is tremendous, just to keep him right and place him as well as he has. Credit to Bob, and it’s a great result for the horse.”

For Pierson, the result sits alongside a lifetime in the sport that started long before breeding was even a thought.

“Mum and Dad took me out of school for a month to go to Sydney in 1980 for the Inter Dominion. I was pretty young, about 12 or 13.

I remember him saying on the plane, ‘we’re not going to Sydney to sleep’. We were up at six every morning and still going at ten or eleven at night, travelling all over New South Wales.

The only trip I missed was when Dad went to Bankstown, he said I needed a rest, but apart from that I went everywhere. It was a wonderful experience. I probably learned more in that month than I would have in my whole time at school.

In those days kids didn’t travel like they do now. A lot of kids at my school hadn’t even been to Christchurch, and there I was heading off to Sydney for an Inter Dominion.”

When asked what stood out the most about the once in a lifetime experience for the young harness enthusiast, three things sprung to mind for Pierson.

“Koala King won the final, and I was tipped Koala King down in the bookmakers' area by somebody who was drinking whiskey out of a bottle in a brown paper bag.

“I came back and told my father’s mates, and they all asked how I got onto it. In fact they told me that a horse was going to get pulled up in the last round of heats so Koala King could qualify. Whether that's true or not, I don't know, but Koala King did duly qualify and beat Locano in the pacers final.

“Of course Hano Direct, who I'd previously seen racing at Victoria Park in Greymouth, won the trotting grand final. And of course, my favourite horse of all time was over there, Lord Module,” he said. “He actually beat a horse called Brad Adios in a heat and many moons later we bought and raced a half-brother to Brad Adios in The Orator”.

It is those sorts of experiences that stayed with him.

Not just the racing, but the horses themselves, and the connection you build with them over time.

That is what shaped the way he and Maureen approached their own breeding.

They were hands-on breeders for years under the banner, Blast Lodge, raising and developing their horses themselves, which made the connection even stronger.

“The Lazarus Effect was one of the last few we were heavily involved with hands-on. The commitment seven days a week was getting a bit much. But when you raise them yourself, they’re like family. You get very attached.

“Even now, I don’t rush into the birdcage, but I take enormous pride in watching horses we’ve bred. Whether they’re racing here, in Australia, or in America, you follow them and they always feel like part of what you created.”

“We didn’t breed The Orator, we bought him, but The Lazarus Effect would be the best horse we’ve bred.

Although ironically, we’ve got a mare going around in Western Australia called Penny Black who has done an enormous job. We’ve bred some handy ones. Herrick Roosevelt, named after my grandfather, did a wonderful job in WA and is still racing in the US.

So we’ve had some nice horses, but The Lazarus Effect is clearly the best.”

There are still goals ahead.

“Over time we have had about 129 foals on the ground now since we started, and we’re chasing a personal milestone. Aside from winning the Westport Cup which is still number one on the bucket list believe it or not, I’m trying to get to 50 individual winners, and we’re up to 45. We’ve got a chance to get there before we pull up, which would be pretty special for Maureen and I.”

“I think there’s about 10 horses either coming through the ranks or currently in work there that could help us get to the half century,” he said.

“Jennifer Robyn (Lather Up) should win a race, if not straight away (debuts at Addington on Friday) then soon enough. There’s a three-year-old called Crunched (Captain Crunch) who looks good enough to win a maiden.

“I’ve fallen in love with trotters as well and we have a number of foals coming along out of Fortunato, which I didn’t expect when I first started out. We’ve got a couple of Tactical Landings and a Tactical Approach all with Donna Williamson, and a Sweet Lou three-quarter sister to Penny Black.

“Probably the one I’m most excited about is a weanling by Confederate. I’ve always supported new stallions, sometimes to my detriment at the sales, but I’m pretty excited about him.

“We’re not breeding in the numbers we used to, but there’s enough there on paper to hopefully scratch through to 50. That would be something I’d take a lot of satisfaction from.”

And the perspective that comes with time.

“We used to breed to the half-brother to this and the half-brother to that. Now you can breed to the best stallions in the world. It’s quite extraordinary really.

“But I always stuck to breeding what I thought would run. To get 45 winners and over 330 wins around the world, we’ve done alright.

“One thing I am proud of is breeding a Group One pacing winner by Lazarus, not just another Bettor’s Delight. You can’t disregard what Bettor’s Delight has done, but to do it with another stallion is something I take a bit of satisfaction from.”

For all of it, the moment still comes back to family.

“Everything I do with the horses still comes from my father and my grandfather.

“Dad’s been gone 22 years, and it’s still hard to get my head around.

“If I had one wish, it would be that I could just tell my father.

“Being able to tell Mum was special and although she didn’t watch the race live, she’s not well, I showed her the replay and she was very excited. My mother put up the first money for Dad, Maureen and I to buy a yearling (Franco’s Blast), so she played a huge part from the very start.”

“She doesn’t get to see the horses much these days, but this week we’re trying to arrange it so she can watch the filly named after her, Jennifer Robyn (Lather Up), race at Addington on Friday night.

“It will have the whole rest home fired up, have a bet and everything. That’s the sort of thing people need as they get older, something to look forward to.”

After everything it took to breed a Group One winner, that is where it ends up.

Back with family. And having realised a lifelong dream, the pursuit of 50 individual winners, and maybe, just maybe, a Westport Cup.

“People might laugh, but that’s the one I want to win the most. We came close with Xlendi (Somebeachsomewhere) running second, but that would be the cherry on top,” he said.