Chelsea Faithful - Young Breeder

Winton breeder Chelsea Faithful (SBSR) has plenty to juggle across a day.

Working for Branxholme trainer Nathan Williamson in the morning, she also trains her own small team. And in addition she has two brood mares to manage.

“It’s worked for the last eight years, but it’s hard work. At the moment I’ve got too many horses in work really and at this time of year it’s hard to get them all done before it gets dark. I probably need to have a look at expanding my own team and doing my own thing so I have some more of my own time. The days I’m doing at the moment are pretty long,” she said.

Her interest in the breeding side of harness racing is strong.

“The longer I’ve trained, the more interested I’ve got in breeding. Having mares of my own that were worthy of being bred from pushes you into breeding.”

Chelsea is currently breeding from her two mares, Pay Me Speedy and Ideal BB.

Pay Me Speedy was purchased by Faithful from a horse-trading website.

“Paul Kerr was getting rid of her. I think she was one of the last ones from that breed. When I got her she was an unbroken yearling and they said she was a bit of a handful, but she was perfect the whole way through. Although the older she got, she did become more of a handful.”

The lightly raced Mach Three mare had only twenty nine starts over five seasons, winning four races including her first three. She was placed a further nine times.

“She was leased and at the end of her racing career I ended up buying her. She had soundness problems off and on and really bad allergies which I think affects so many more racehorses than people realise. She was definitely more like a six or seven win mare.”

Faithful currently has a weanling Lord Forbes filly foal out of Pay Me Speedy.

“That wasn’t the plan. She was meant to go to American Ideal. It was her first season and she wouldn’t take. Wee Louie (Lord Forbes) is so fertile he got her first go. She’s actually a really nice weanling and very much like her mother, so hopefully she’s got her mother’s ability too (laughter).”

Pay Me Speedy is in foal to American Ideal.

Her other broodmare Ideal BB is a granddaughter of Tartan Lady which won thirteen races, including the G1 NZ Standardbred Breeders Stakes. Ideal BB had five starts, winning twice.

“She was quite a good mare, but unsound. Onn (Chin) had leased her out to Mark Jones and he got the first foal out of her which he quite likes, (Captain Action) but he’s just a little bit immature. Mark suggested I go to Bettor’s Wish and the colt is a nice stocky wee fella.”

Faithful says the colt probably won’t be going to the Sales.

“He (Bettor’s Wish) probably needed to be doing a job. When I’ve prepared them for other people it gives you a bit of an insight into how many hidden costs there are. If you don’t sell them you’ve got to buy them back and they take a percentage. It’s just not worth it unless you’ve got really well-bred stock. For someone like myself, you’re better to get them up and going and you get so much more for them if they’re any good.”

Faithful is unable to run her mares at her training establishment at Winton, so she leases a ten acre block at Lochiel.

“I go past in the morning and in the afternoon. Three mares would be max on it. They get break fed during winter, fed pretty well and covered. They don’t lack for anything.”

Faithful is positive about the future of breeding and hopes to have more brood mares in the future.

“Ideally I’d like to be breeding out of Tartan Roxy and eventually out of Ideal Crown. If I had the money and the land I’d definitely be more into it. It’s costly long term, but it’s also easier for someone like me to breed something, as opposed to going to the Yearling Sales and forking out twenty or forty grand right there and then. As least breeding (payments) are a bit here and a bit there. Over time it does add up to be more, but it’s easier to be paying it that way.”

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink