From Riverbed Roots to $100,000: Mixed Faith’s Family Legacy

The inaugural Southern Surge Finals at Gore Raceway last Sunday delivered action and atmosphere in equal measure. Stakes of $25,000 brought the best to town, track records tumbled, and one of the most satisfying wins belonged to the bonny trotting mare Mixed Faith (Father Patrick) — a mare with a story and a lineage that stretches back more than half a century.

Driven with purpose by her trainer Brad Williamson, Mixed Faith rolled to the front and refused to hand it back, carving out her eighth career win in typically honest fashion. The victory carried her earnings beyond the $100,000 mark, a figure that means as much for sentiment as it does for statistics to co-breeder and owner Philippa Nairn. She has lived and breathed the family of this mare for decades.

“I was at home with my daughter and grandson,” Philippa recalled of Sunday’s win. “It was a busy day, so I couldn’t get to Gore, which was a shame. Julia was screaming and I said hush, I can’t hear — and she said ‘but you know she’s won,’ and I said yes, but I want to hear!”

Brad Williamson had gone into the final bullish about his charge. “Brad said she was really fit, and she’d been coming back to form,” Philippa said. “She’d run seconds and equal seconds, so we thought she’d go well. She actually stays too, and that tight track really suited her, it was right down to the ground.”

The mare’s competitive spirit has been evident since day one. “She was an absolute little toad,” Philippa laughed. “Like a ballet dancer, you never knew if she preferred her front legs or her hind legs. Brad said when she arrived at his place she was a bit difficult around the stable as a two-year-old, but Kerryn Tomlinson said fillies need to have sass, and she had plenty of that. She was a sassy little thing but now she’s just the most gorgeous little horse to have around. The stable loves her — she comes off the track and walks straight up to the wash as if to say ‘well, wash me then.’ She’s kind, sticks up for herself, and she’s grown into herself.”

For Nairn, wins like this are more than just a training and racing result. They’re proof that the family line her parents began nurturing more than 50 years ago remains alive and potent. “It’s my dad’s breed, my mum and dad’s breed,” she said proudly. “I often say to Bruce Taylor, because you know they have a lovely old breed too with Dazzled, Frazzled and all those, if you’ve got a strong line there it doesn’t really die out. It’ll appear again, and on the mare side it’s quite strong. There’s always one that pops up.”

The story begins with Tirina (Johnny Globe), a big, impressive black mare found running the riverbed near Broomfield in North Canterbury. “Mum and Dad farmed at Broomfield,” Philippa explained. “Tirina and her half-sister Nature Girl were running in a riverbed and were neighbours. Dad, loving the horses, just asked if he could borrow them, and they were more or less gifted to him. Tirina never raced, but she left Gaelic Abbe.”

That mare showed ability but was cut down by a breathing issue before reaching her potential. From her came Gaelic Abbe (Scotch Abbe), who in turn produced Gaelic King (Sovereign), a winner of four races who competed at a high level as a two-year-old in the 1970s — no small feat in those days. And from there, the family produced one of the stars of her era in Bretton Abbe (Gee Whizz II).

“Probably in her two-year-old prep we knew she might be better than average,” Philippa said. “I remember Murray saying the Hambletonian at Ashburton was coming up, and that was just awesome. I had only just had Julia at the time and didn’t really know about races like that, so I had to ask Dad what it all meant!”

Bretton Abbe quickly announced herself, and in 1992 she was crowned both New Zealand 3YO Filly of the Year and 3YO Trotter of the Year. The following season she was named 4YO Mare Trotter of the Year. She won the Victorian Oaks in Australia and placed in both the Rowe Cup and the Dominion. She was later sold to clients of Barry Purdon just before winning the Rosso Antico Stakes, a sale Philippa still reflects on as “a damn shame really” for the family breeding line.

Her story didn’t end there. Bretton Abbe went to America where she added another 12 wins to her record. As a broodmare, she left Kiwi Sing (Super Ben Joe), an 11-race winner, and in turn a producer of four individual winners including Eightoclockstorm (Clocked At Eighty), who notched six wins and took a mark of 1:55.4. “I absolutely followed her the whole time,” Philippa said. “It was so exciting.”

The line has continued to produce winners, including Aria Abbe (Sundon), a tough stayer who won four races. “She took quite a while to mature, but she was an absolute stayer,” Philippa said. “Her last three wins, she just got to the front and went. I thought if we could get some speed into her, we’d have something — and that’s what we did with Father Patrick and that’s how we got Mixed Faith.”

Not all has been smooth sailing. Breeding setbacks, shy mares, and bad luck have all played their part. But for every disappointment, another name from the family tree rises up. Ella Abbe (Sundon), from Dalriada Abbe (Armbro Invasion), was a shy breeder but produced Majestic Me (Majestic Son), who won at Oamaru trials last week and is due to step out again at Addington on September 5. “I just said to Mum the other day, wouldn’t it be amazing to have two winners I’ve bred, from two of my mares, within two weeks,” Philippa said.

Through all of it, the next generation has been watching and learning. Philippa’s grandson Oaklyn already has the harness bug. “He even named Majestic Me,” she said proudly. “He’s got his stable pass and loves going down there. I think later in life he’ll carry it on. It’s in the blood, it won’t go away.”

Looking ahead, the thought of one day breeding from Mixed Faith is tantalising. “I’ve already had people say to me ‘oh, I know a stallion for her,’” Philippa said. “And I’ve said gosh, really, it’s a wee bit premature! She’s got a few more races to go yet.”

For now, the enjoyment is in the moment. Philippa’s children and grandchildren are fully invested, cheering her home from near and far. “I’m just absolutely loving what’s happened in the last two weeks with her,” she said. “That was her eighth win. To win the final — we’d hoped all along to get one of those finals, whether it was the Silk Road or this one. And to see her do it, I couldn’t be prouder.”

On a Sunday afternoon in Gore, a mare named Mixed Faith became more than just a race winner. She became another chapter in a family story that began in a Canterbury riverbed generations ago, and which still burns bright today.

Mixed Faith and Brad Williamson