Well Bred Debutantes Begin Year on Winning Note

2026 rolled in and it didn’t take long for some well-bred stock to begin their racing careers on a winning note, much to the delight of the committed breeders who have patiently waited for these moments to arrive.

And those breeders will tell you there is nothing quite like breeding them yourself and then watching them win a race some time later.

At Rangiora, Birstall Babe showed both grit and promise when she sat parked over the final lap and still found enough to hold her rivals at bay, registering her maiden win for breeders Kevin Gardner and Rob Courtney. The four-year-old by Muscle Mass from Love A Moment, trained by the Hopes at Woodend Beach, is the second foal from a mare the late Katie Cox held in particularly high regard.

Her first foal, Lotties Moment, showed early ability when placing as a two-year-old for Cox and, following her passing, has gone on to win three races for her new trainer Johnny Morrison, further validating the strength of the family.

Gardner himself has enjoyed success with trotting-bred pacers in the past, notably with Harrysul (by Gotta Go Cullect) some ten years ago. That horse won 10 races, including the Group 3 DG Jones Trot at Motukarara, and still holds the Rangiora track record for trotters over 2600 metres.

Love A Moment (by Love You from Stay A Moment) is a half-sister to four winners, with her dam being a half-sister to millionaire trotter Take A Moment, a 39-win star, and Now’s The Moment, herself a five-time winner. The latter became the dam of Dr Hook (17 wins), Moment Of Truth (29 wins) and the mighty Oscar Bonavena, who has now recorded 36 victories from an outstanding career among eight individual winners from the mare.

The ‘Moment’ trotting family has enjoyed a rich vein of success in recent seasons, and on the evidence of her debut win, Birstall Babe looks more than capable of adding further chapters to that already impressive legacy.

One race later on the same card, Ninth Wave Arden justified his short-priced favouritism in the hands of Blair Orange, producing a remarkably similar performance in transit. After sitting parked over the final lap, the three-year-old gelding proved too tough on debut to score convincingly.

Bred by well-known Southern breeder John Stiven and raced by the Ninth Wave Arden syndicate, managed by Stiven himself, the gelding brings a pedigree that suggests his winning debut is merely a starting point.

By Downbytheseaside from the Artsplace mare Ardenart, Ninth Wave Arden became the sixth winner produced by his dam. He is a half-brother to the smart Stellar Arden, a seven-time winner who paced 1:52.2, and Liberal Arden, a five-race winner in his own right.

Second dam Arden’s Dream left nine winners, including Arden Tetrick (eight wins), Fantastic Dream (five New Zealand wins) and Achieve A Dream, with the latter two recording sub-1:54 performances in the United States, highlighting the international depth of the family.

Stiven will offer a half-brother to Ninth Wave Arden at the upcoming Christchurch Yearling Sales, with Lot 219 by Stay Hungry catalogued under the Arden Lodge banner. Meanwhile, Stellar Arden will have a three-quarter brother by Downbytheseaside selling slightly earlier as Lot 171.

The timing of Ninth Wave Arden’s debut victory was ideal, and the manner in which he achieved it strongly suggested that further wins are not far away.

One day later at Omakau, Cinderella Franco lived up to her billing as a hot favourite when making a dominant debut, racing away from her rivals by some eight lengths to score emphatically for breeder and part-owner Spreydon Lodge.

The four-year-old mare by Ultimate Machete from Crystal Slipper was handled confidently by junior driver Gemma Thornley, who enjoyed a three-win day, and the result came as little surprise given the strength of the mare’s trial performances leading into the race.

Dam Crystal Slipper (by Christian Cullen from Royal Rascal) failed to win from five starts and left just three foals before her untimely passing. With her debut success now on the board, Cinderella Franco has already secured future broodmare value, though on this showing, retirement appears a long way off.

Royal Rascal has been a productive source of winners for the Herman and Chapman partnership, leaving six in total. Her daughter Twilight Rascal won nine races and went on to produce the likes of Beach Ball, an 11-time winner and New Zealand Cup placegetter, Heroes Square, who won three of his first four starts, and recent winners Bannockburn and Molly Maeve Estelle.

Swannanoa trainer Benny Hill currently has a promising two-year-old by Captaintreacherous in work from the family for a high-profile ownership group aptly named Scoundrel, while the mare has also left a filly foal by Bettor’s Wish that the breeders are particularly pleased with.

Interestingly, Royal Rascal was by the outcross sire Man Around Town, who, despite limited patronage, was good enough to leave a New Zealand Cup winner in Kym’s Girl, further reinforcing the depth that can still be found off the beaten path.

Any horse that wins on debut is usually above average, and when it happens in the manner displayed by Birstall Babe, Ninth Wave Arden and Cinderella Franco, connections have every reason to be optimistic that there is much more to look forward to in the months ahead.