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It is a harness racing truth that you don’t second guess people in harness racing with the names of Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen.

If you were a doubter you would not have been after Friday night at Addington.

They produced an incredible training feat to win the 3200m Easter Cup with Turn It Up. Probably Mark can take the credit for concluding after his recent Rangiora trial that he could win a race of that calibre first up in two months. Even in the new age of open class racing where stars rise and fall much faster than they used to it was an extraordinary feat to win his second 3200m G1 at just his 11th start.

Mark never lacked confidence in the move after Rangiora.

“He hasn’t raced for a while but he is a very athletic type and while he wasn’t racing he was doing conditioning work up north before coming down to us so I don’t think it is beyond him”

Admittedly, after Mark used him early to take the lead and then trailed, Turn It Up was stretched to hold out A G White Sox but in a 3.58 and change in a charge through the slush it was still a great effort.

But, to be fair the New Zealand Cup winner, Thefixer, lost no caste in defeat.

He renewed memories of the (good?) old days of handicap racing. Starting from behind the front line means at some stage you have to go around the field. Turn It Up got rid of that early to reach the lead but Spankem and Thefixer weren’t going to manage that .

Thefixer moved around and sat parked then Spankem took over that role so Thefixer would have run about the same time as the winner,

Not to forget Elle Mac went a great race too under the radar perhaps.

The Turn It Up is a fairy story in most respects likely to be a pointer to the 2019 New Zealand Cup. Mark selected him in Australia largely for his treasued friend Neil Pilcher and the ghost of that special man, with the trademark sly grin, surely hovered over Addington on Friday.

It was typical of Mark and Natalie they had handed a share in the horse to Neil’s brother Lee

Credit: Harnesslink Media, 6 Apr 2019, Courtesy of All Stars Stables

Dream About Me further cemented her status as the queen of New Zealand harness racing with a crushing win in the Group 1 New Zealand Standardbred Breeders Stakes at Addington on Friday night.

The Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen-trained millionaire ran her rivals in to the deck to claim her eighth top level title in the $100,000 feature.

The win sealed an incredible evening for the wonder mare’s owners, Aucklanders Charles Roberts and Paul and Mary Kenny.

The father, daughter and son-in-law also enjoyed success at Alexandra Park when Adore Me’s first foal, Sweet On Me, won her debut.

The blueblood two-year-old filly registered the second New Zealand victory for sire, Sweet Lou, who stands at Roberts’ Woodlands Stud.

The stallion’s first New Zealand win came earlier in the night, when the Purdon and Rasmussen-trained two-year-old, Virgil, scored in maiden company.

Paul Kenny said his family’s success at both ends of the country made for an incredible evening.

“It was a big deal for us with Sweet Lou, we have invested a lot in the Southern Hemisphere rights for Sweet Lou and to have a colt and a filly win tonight, on the eve of the yearling sales, is just enormous for us through our connection with Woodlands.

“It is a big celebration all around.”

Kenny said his camp were hopeful, but not overly confident, about Dream About Me’s chances of turning around her below-par effort at Addington in the Premier Mares Championship at Addington two weeks ago.

“I think knowing the horse – and we had a talk to Mark and Natalie and we had a talk to Tim after she last raced – we were hopeful.

“It was great to see her do that at Addington.”

The Kennys shared their good fortune by donating $500 to Harness Racing New Zealand’s teal campaign after Dream About Me’s win.

Driver Tim Williams made Dream About Me’s rivals work to beat her when applying pressure in the back straight the final time.

And they were simply not up to the task.

“Especially over 2600m tonight, I wanted to make sure that I had everyone off the bridle at the 500.

“And credit to the horse, she was able to do it.

“She was out of the early burn and she was able to catch her breath early and work in to the race nicely and she was good enough to take advantage.”

While Williams and Dream About Me were about to ramp up the pressure from the half-mile, her stablemate Elle Mac was dropping out of contention.

The hot favourite produced the shock of the race when struggling to keep up when starting the last lap of the race.

Driver Natalie Rasmussen was forced to ease Elle Mac out of contention after the tube of one of her sulky wheels came off its rim.

Stewards found that was caused by Dream About Me hitting the wheel, when racing fiercely earlier in the race.

The win was Williams’ 13th at Group 1 level and fourth with Dream About Me over a period of nearly four years.

Williams was quite clear about how he rates the star mare’s impact on his career after their win.

“I think other than my family, she might be the next love of my life.”

Visiting Auckland mare Step Up ran on better than any other horse back in the field to run second to Dream About Me.

Enchantee took inside runs to grab third.

Credit: NZ Harness News, 16 Feb 2019

ELLE MAC: 4 B m Bettor’s Delight – Goodlookinggirl

OWNER: Mrs J L Feiss

BREEDER: Breckon Farms

TIME: 2:25.6 Mile Rate: 1-58.3 Last 800m: 60.6 Last 400m: 29.6



There is a heck of a lot of pedigree behind the winner of this year’s Four-Year-Old Diamond winner Elle Mac. Not the least that she was reared on the fine pastures of Breckon Farm at Ohaupo.

But the daughter of Bettor’s Delight is an example of some advanced genetics being the great granddaughter of imported American mare, Princess Nandina.

“Princess Nandina is by Able Bye Bye who was available to New Zealand breeders for 5 years, in his case from 1974, and the result was just 124 live foals. Able Bye Bye’s pedigree was to die for. He was the son of Bye Bye Byrd (therefore grandson of Poplar Byrd) and his dam was Adioo Time (by Adios from On Time, who is a daughter of Volomite and the great mare Nedda Guy). Bye Bye Byrd’s dam is Adieu, the full sister to Adios.” (Quote from Bee Pears Blog, B4breeding.com)

The great grandmother of Lazarus, Tabella Beth was also by Able Bye Bye which is obviously the maternal family for Stars and Stripes, Light and Sound etc showcasing Able Bye Bye’s long reaching influence in our New Zealand pedigrees, which is once again being introduced through the stallion Sweet Lou.

Princess Nandina’s journey here to New Zealand is a fascinating one and intertwines some astute North Island breeders and new bloodlines.

Elle Mac’s grandmother Twice As Good was purchased by Steve Phillips in in the late 80’s as a yearling at the National Bloodstock sale.

“It was back in National Bloodstock days and at that time they were buying stallions and mares from the Unites States. She was bought here with a foal from memory,” said Phillips.

“She was put in foal to Butler BG which I think was her first foal in New Zealand, and put the resulting filly into one of the National Bloodstock sales, which were relatively new and controversial at the time.

“I ended up buying Twice As Good at that sale from memory for around $30,000. Prices were fairly reasonable,” said Phillips. She was a blueblood in pedigree being a half-sister to 1987 USA Three-Year-Old Filly of the Year in Pacific who was by a son of Bret Hanover in Seahawk Hanover. Pacific took a mark of 1:53 in her Breeders Crown victory with career stakes of $871,550.

“The fact that she was a half-sister to Pacific, who had done such a huge job over in the States made her quite attractive as a breeding prospect. We were looking to acquire a few mares as we had only bits and pieces at that stage, but we wanted something that was well-bred and that’s why she was bought,” said Phillips.

Twice As Good didn’t race until she was a mare due to some injury issues, but she was good enough to run in the money 13 times from 32 starts.

“She had a few soundness issues. When we had her in training as a two-year old she had a bone chip in her hind leg that had to be removed. As a three-year-old she was about to go to the races when we found another chip in the other back leg. We took that out as well, so it wasn’t really until as a four-year-old she made it to the races.

“She ended up winning about five races in a row including a New Zealand record for 1700m. It was pretty quick back in those days being a 1:56.5 mile rate,” he said.

At stud, Twice As Good has been responsible for a wonderful tail line of some serious pacers.

Miss Streisand 2015 (F A2) by A Rocknroll Dance - 1:53.0 $112,940

Into The Fire 2002 (F A2) by Presidential Ball - . [1]
- Prosthesis 2013 (G A2) by Rocknroll Hanover - T1:59.0 $46,003

Mark Dennis 2008 (G A2) by Bettors Delight - 1:53.9 $302,198

St Barts 2003 (M A2) by Island Fantasy - 1:57.0 $162,506

Trelise 2001 (F A2) by Holmes Hanover - 1:58.7 $19,231 [1]
- Im Twice The Delight 2011 (F A2) by Bettors Delight - 1:52.3, $67,832

Twice As Fine 1997 (F A2) by New York Motoring - . [1]
- Pacific Warrior 2007 (G A2) by Pacific Rocket - 1:54.8 $343,41

Twice As Great 2005 (F A2) by Artiscape - Pacer $150 [2]
- Duplicated 2014 (G A2) by Somebeachsomewhere - 1:49.2US $159,369
- Strawberry Courage 2010 (G A2) by Courage Under Fire - 1:54.1 $115,509

Twice As Hot 1999 (F A2) by In The Pocket - 1:59.6 $53,580 [4]
- Flaming Flutter 2009 (M A2) by Bettors Delight - 1:53.0 $771,635
- Mister Whittaker 2011 (G A2) by Somebeachsomewhere - 1:54.9 $38,566
- Two Times Bettor 2015 (F A2) by Bettors Delight -1:53.6, $74,630
- When Youre Hot 2007 (F A2) by McArdle - . [1]

Waitfornoone 2000 (F A2) by Albert Albert - 1:55.7 $201,804 [2]
- Luis Alberto 2013 (G A2) by Bettors Delight - 1:54.8 $141,285
- Windinherhair 2008 (F A2) by Bettors Delight – 1:54.6, $140,476

“She did a huge job and mainly with fillies. When we decided we had enough fillies to continue from that line we put her in the sales and Rod Croon purchased her.

“Waitfornoone was by far the best one, there were a couple of others who were okay and bred on quite well.

Waitfornoone bred on and left Four-Year-Old Diamond runner up Windinherhair who was beaten a small margin by Elusive Chick in 2013. She is also the mother of In The Shadows who was good enough to run third in what is now Elle Mac’s Four Year Old Diamond.

Ken Breckon had long admired the family and decided the time was right to get into it on his own accord. I had also followed the family right back from when Steve Phillips was developing it,” said Breckon.

“First of all, I bought Goodlookinggirl at the Sales which was quite funny, because I ended up paying a lot more then I should have.

“Mark Purdon had asked me if I wanted to buy her and I told him I did. Unbeknown to me, we ended up bidding against each other which would have left Rod Croon feeling delighted. I think we paid around $60,000.

“She only raced around four times from memory and Mark Purdon felt she was going to go in a suspensory and her pedigree was such that we decided to breed from her very early.

Goodlookinggirl was lightly raced and won once from five starts.

“Not long after she retired we ended up purchasing her mother Twice As Good off Rod Croon who was having a bit of a dispersal at the time. We got a couple of foals from her before she was retired also.

“It’s a very very good family, particularly of fillies,” said Breckon.

“We nearly ended up retaining Elle Mac, she got caught in the fence and did superficial damage before the sales so she was in the ring on Sales Day with a bandage from the knee down.

“We didn’t get a lot for her. We were going through a time where we needed cash for the farm and if we had our time again we wouldn’t of let her go obviously.

“But as I have learnt from Sandy Yardley, its often not the price but the home they go too that matters most. With Jean Feiss buying her, I remember saying to Karen she was going to be well-looked after, and six Group Ones later, the rest is history,” he said.

Once Elle Mac found the top in the Four year Old Diamond she was always going to be very tough to roll.

She retires with $600,000 in stakes and would have added the three year old Filly of the Year title to her two year old filly of the year credit had it not been for the boom Australian filly, Shez All Rock.

“Goodlookingirl is still in good shape and is back in foal to Bettor’s Delight, so you might ask why we would need to buy back into her. We did so well with the Art Major half-brother last year selling for $190,000 but the mother is getting on a bit.

“There is nothing better I believe then having a Group One winning mare. That is part of our ethos now in terms of trying to acquire as many of them as we can. The cost to do that today is starting to get a wee bit prohibitive unless you race them yourself.

“You’ve got the studs doing the same to give their own stallions a chance which is raising the value of the mares, look at what Alabar did with Nike Franco recently bringing her back.

The studs have realized a lot of the buyers and breeders will sit on their hands and wait for a stallion to be proven. The studs can’t afford to wait and have to give them the best possible chance and you only need to look at what Woodlands have done with Sweet Lou.

As a champion daughter of Bettor’s Delight, Elle Mac has a multitude of options available to her with the likes of Art Major & Sweet Lou being some obvious choices, but Breckon looks set to roll the dice on last year’s North American Two-Year-Old siring sensation.

“It’s a pretty hard call but I think at this stage I might go outside the square a little bit and have a go at Captaintreacherous,” said Breckon.

Crossing the boom sire with an unbelievable pedigree over an already heavily American pedigree in Elle Mac’s would be a salivating prospect for many breeding buffs.
Whatever the future holds, it’s a family worth keeping an eye on.

Credit : Brad Reid


Credit: NZ Breeders Association : Breeders Weekly 7 June 2019

Speedy Australian 3yo harness racing filly Shez All Rock has crushed the opposition in the $150,000 (Gr1) NZ Oaks in what was her first New Zealand start at Addington raceway tonight.

Co-trainer and driver Mark Purdon settled Shez All Rock back beyond midfield early in the race before looping the field to lead with 800m to go and then easily holding the rest of the field off up the straight.

In the end Shez All Rock won untouched by more than two lengths despite a skip and a gallop just after the line.

Purdon was rapt with the win saying she would improve a lot after tonights run.

"I wasn't sure what to expect tonight but she delivered and delivered stylishly.

"When we were travelling so well in the race and when I let her down a bit turning for home, I knew nothing would come off her back and beat her," he said after the race.

The race favourite Elle Mac was game in defeat running second and Bettor Trix was just as good in third, making it an All Stars trifecta in the race.

Shez All Rock (Rock N Roll Heaven - Irish Loch) paced the 2600m mobile in 3-11.0, with a closing 800m in 56.7 and 400m in 26.9 seconds.

Credit: Harnesslink Media, May 2018

Top harness racing trainers Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen have produced classy filly Elle Mac to win the Gr1 Nevele R Fillies final tonight at Addington Raceway.

Elle Mac was dominant in the $134,400 Final for 3yo fillies easily beating All Stars stable mates Bettor Trix (2nd) and Delight In Me (3rd) without being fully extended by driver Natalie Rasmussen.

Natalie said on the All Stars website, "All the fillies went terrific in the Nevele R. Elle Mac is just a lovely filly and she seems to be going to another level.

"She won really easily and the extra distance of the Oaks next week will actually suit her better.

"The other two fillies deserve praise. Delight in Me went a huge race and so did Bettor Trix because she had to do some work early.

"It is really satisfying to run like that in G1 races," she said.

Elle Mac paced the 1950m mobile in a slick 1-55.4 mile rate with a closing 800m in 55.9 and her last 400m in 26.8 seconds. She will be back at Addington next week for the New Zealand Oaks over the longer trip of 2600m.

All Stars Stables also scored wins with Ohanzee and Sicario during the night with both pacers now looking to head forward to Jewels day on the first Saturday in June.

Credit: Harnesslink Media, May 2018