Here We Go Again… and Again… and Again!

Canterbury breeder Graeme Trist won a New Zealand Cup as part-owner of Kym’s Girl (18 wins, $601k) back in 2001. Little did he realise that the bonny mare would still be providing him with racetrack success some 25 years later.

Showcase (3f Vincent – Here We Go Again) duly obliged at Invercargill last Sunday in the capable hands of Seth Hill, leading most of the way to record her second win (with another four placings) from 21 starts.
She is the fifth foal and fifth winner from Here We Go Again (Mach Three – Kym’s Girl), while the sixth foal, 2YO Rise N Shine (by Lazarus), has had three runs this season including a last-start fourth behind the very smart Fugitive.

Now 16, Here We Go Again had an extensive racing career—118 starts over seven seasons—winning 11 races and just shy of $200k, with a best MR of 1:55.6.
She entered the ownership of Jamie and Natalie Gameson in 2024, who have since bred two colts from her by Lazarus and Always B Miki respectively.

Warrior Chief (5 wins to date) and Remission (4 wins to date) have been her best performers so far, both trained by Gameson.
The latter also raced last Sunday at Invercargill but could only manage eighth behind the promising Mallory Maguire.

Trist has retained part-ownership in both of them, as well as the 2YO Rise N Shine.

While Here We Go Again was the standout performer among Kym’s Girl’s foals, the latter also produced Kyms Boy (12 wins in Australia).
Trist is still breeding from her first foal La Moocha (by In The Pocket), who managed one win from five starts.

At stud, La Moocha has left three winners to date, including Manjimup (6 wins) and the handy Audacity (4 wins from just 16 starts to date).
Again, Trist remains involved in the ownership of these two pacers.

He and his long-time breeding and racing mates—Dave Miller and Bill Mara—are already breeding from one of La Moocha’s daughters, Canterbury Belle (by Sportswriter), who is in foal for the first time to Locharburn.

Locharburn (14 wins from just 39 starts, $418k) was owned, trained, and raced by Kevin Chapman of Amberley, and when one explores the pedigree of Kym’s Girl, you find a real connection with the Chapman family.

Kym’s Girl was by Man Around Town (a son of Towner’s Big Guy), who offered a real outcross to the NZ broodmare band, though he didn’t exactly set the world on fire in terms of mares served.
However, he did leave some quality mares, notably Imagine That (dam of Happy Hazel), who won 15 races, and Robyn Blue (dam of Blue Holmes), 8 wins—both more than handy on the track.

Kevin Chapman himself had great success with his mare Twilight Rascal, who left him Beach Ball and Heroes Square (3 wins from 4 starts), among others.
Twilight Rascal is a daughter of Royal Rascal, a Man Around Town mare.

It’s on the maternal side of this family where you really see its strength and ability to leave good racehorses.
Kym’s Girl was one of four foals (and the only winner) from Ribbonwood Spangle, a daughter of Lumber Dream—a renowned broodmare sire—who was out of Espagna (by Goodland from Torana).

As crosses go, the Goodland–Lumber Dream mix was considered a proven ‘nick’ back in the day.

Espagna left six foals for only one winner for Ken Chapman (father of Kevin), and her dam Torana was a half-sister to top young pacer Cardinal Garrison.
The latter won 10 races from just 28 NZ starts back in the late ‘60s, including Derbies in Sydney and Auckland, plus an Easter Cup, for top northern horseman Tommy Knowles.

Sold to America as a 4YO for ‘good money’, he never fulfilled his potential after falling ill. “If he had stayed in NZ, he could have been anything,” says Kevin Chapman.

Torana was by colonial sire Toronto Boy (by Logan Derby) from Roschana, a mare who proved very good for the Chapmans, winning eight races.
Toronto Boy won four races from 21 starts, earning just $2,400, but unfortunately never sired a winner from limited chances.

Logan Derby gave us the mighty Johnny Globe—but that’s a story for another day.

Roschana had seven fillies from nine foals. Yankee Spirit produced cup-class pacer Freightman for a younger Kevin Chapman—he won 13 races and over $100k in the mid-‘80s.
Geni Globe, another of Roschana’s fillies, was the granddam of Jasmond (by F Troop), who left open-class trotter Pure Adrenalin for Terry May—an 11-time winner in the mid-‘90s.

Who can name another winner by F Troop?

The family of Here We Go Again is an “old” family with real spine. She’s done an admirable job at stud, especially considering her lengthy racing career and that she hasn’t been to many “top shelf” stallions.

The winners have been coming for a long time—all the way back to Roschana—and the new brigade of this family tree looks like keeping the winning trend going strong.