Client Spotlight – Gwen Johnson

Gwen Johnson has a passion for harness racing so strong, she lives her life at the racetrack – quite literally.

When she first started breeding standardbreds in 2018 she was based in Waiuku, near Auckland, but a unique opportunity allowed her to move right to the heart of the sport she loves.

“I always wanted to live in the Alexandra Park apartments,” Gwen explained.

“So I managed to rent one and it looks out over the track, so I get to see the racing live from my home.”

“I can hear them coming around that final turn, and the noise! I never realised just how loud it can be. So I’m living in the action, that’s quite cool isn’t it.”

Breeding horses had always been a dream for Gwen, but it wasn’t until she was living in Waiuku that she decided to, in her words, ‘just go for it.’

A business analyst by trade, Gwen started diving into pedigrees and researched what she was looking for in a broodmare.

“I always like to research everything, that’s an analyst for you,” laughed Gwen.

“And I started looking at Classic Families. And from there I started looking at Australian and New Zealand trotters and their background.”

“I didn’t know a lot, I did have family members that were in harness racing but personally I didn’t know a lot about it.”

“So I wanted to take in all I could about it, and started going through tables of the greatest families and I decided if I could find a mare in one of the top ten families that I would feel comfortable moving ahead because that took away a lot from my lack of knowledge.”

“I’m not saying that other theories don’t work. I just wanted to give myself a bit of a leg up really.”

“My whole working background is about solving problems, and I need to come up with a solution to it. So that’s why I decided to work out what would be the best breeding solution and that’s when I decided to go with the maternal lines because sires change but the maternal lines don’t.”

An opportunity arose to obtain Star Of Heaven, a mare by In The Pocket out of Close To Heaven. She was a half-sister to well performed horses in Cruz, Elysium and Queen Of Heaven.

Star Of Heaven suited what Gwen had been searching for in a broodmare, being from the classic family of Fanny Fern.

She had previously produced winners in Yayas Hot Spot, Ideal Star and Starry Star.

Previously bred from by Rosslands Stud, the mare remained on farm there under Gwen’s ownership.

She then proceeded to breed two foals from Star Of Heaven, Delta Kilo and Seasidestar.

Delta Kilo was by Sweet Lou and was sold as a weanling, he won one race.

“He was a bit of a funny one really. He could run, but if he wanted to. So that was sort of a head scratcher for me. I went to a good sire, but it didn’t really work out.”

“Then I went to Downbytheseaside and initially she was scanned and wasn’t in foal. But it wasn’t until the next season that the vet scanned her to be served and we discovered she was in fact in foal. Which I was happy about as it meant we hadn’t missed a year.”

That foal was Seasidestar, and sadly Star Of Heaven was lost not long after foaling, so the filly went onto a foster mare.

Seasidestar raced three times and was retired early unfortunately due to a paddock accident.

She now resides at Wai Eyre Farm where Gwen has bred two foals (a colt by Always B Mike and a filly by Tall Dark Stranger) from her and carried on Star Of Heaven’s line.

Gwen with Seasidestar

“But in between that time when I thought I didn’t have a broodmare I had gone to Mike Maguire and leased Delightful Tanner.”

“So suddenly I was like oh no, I’m going to have two broodmares now,” Gwen laughed.

From Delightful Tanner (Bettors Delight – Jaz Tanner) Gwen has bred two foals by Captain Crunch, and now has a yearling filly and just this week a colt was born at Wai Eyre Farm.

When Alabar Stud in Auckland dispersed their broodmare band there was another opportunity to obtain a broodmare.

“I went through the list and again was looking for a mare with a top classic family connection, that’s how I ended up with Take A Bet.”

Take A Bet (Mach Three – Kabet) left a filly by Pebble Beach, and this season foaled a colt by Captain Crunch.

Sadly after complications foaling Take A Bet was lost, but the foal was able to find a foster mare and is doing well.

“That was a very sad loss, I love the horses very much and it was very emotional. I know the team at Wai Eyre did everything they could, but thankfully I do still have a filly out of her that I did decide to keep.”

“I had originally planned to sell her in the weanling sales, and then as a yearling but for some reason I decided not to sell. I’m very thankful that I still have her now and can carry on that family.”

Gwen first sent mares to Wai Eyre Farm when leasing Delightful Tanner, and then decided to send all of her mares south to the stud.

Even though she’s in a different island she doesn’t feel far removed from her horses.

“It’s worked out so well having them there. They are well cared for and the discounts certainly help,” said Gwen.

“The staff are amazing, Anna probably gets sick of me because I’m always asking for different photos of the foals – side on etcetera – because I want to see how they are put together and what has worked with that sire cross.”

“I can’t thank them enough for the care they take of the horses.”

Whilst the breeding side is keeping her busy enough, Gwen now looks forward to seeing the horses she’s bred progress through the training ranks.

“I have my horses with the Blanchards and the reports about them have been really promising, which is great.”

“It’s exciting watching them develop, and trying to work out if they are going to make it as a two or three-year-old. They certainly keep you guessing at times.”

“It’s really nice to be able to go out and see them, I love that part of it.”

She also enjoys keeping her family involved with the horses, with her great nieces and nephews getting the honour of choosing stable names for the foals.

“We’ve had Alfie, Jewel, Reggie, Thor and Diesel,” said Gwen.

“I believe it’s caused a few arguments between the kids at times. But it’s nice to have them take part in it.”

She is also involved in racing syndicates in harness racing and thoroughbreds.

“It just gives me something to follow while I am waiting for my own to come through. That’s the one thing with breeding, you do have a lot of downtime,” laughed Gwen.

So, what does she hope to achieve as a breeder, given all the passion and time she is putting into the process and research.

“I’m eight years in now and I’m finding there’s lots of different questions you can ask yourself.”

“I think when you’re breeding you’re looking at two different approaches do you want to race, or do you want to create a dynasty.”

“I think I’m definitely looking at that dynasty with my mares, and I hope that one day these bloodlines can make an impact that would be really cool. It’s just a different way to look at it.”