Not quite on bended knee, but there was a lot of praying in quiet corners of the race‑night ‘busy’ before the Woodlands Series heat at Addington!
Not quite on bended knee, but there was a lot of praying in quiet corners of the race‑night bustle before Race 8 at Addington and knees that wouldn’t stop shaking soon after.
That, despite Dennis Dunford and friends not being totally unfamiliar with the large congregations and big congratulations that gather for these big‑time harness‑racing moments.
They've had plenty of faith realised in the afterglow of success over the years and right now a colt of ‘strike‑me‑down’ quality named Faith Not Fear is having his moment and raising the spirits of his connections who embrace their success with a genuine joy that can dip a little for some frequently flying this high.
We’re mentally trying to list all those fine racehorses tagged in with a ‘Faith’ moniker as Dennis, his partner Gayle and other followers pace in front of replays, drinking in what their horse had just achieved for them in Heat 2 of the Woodlands Stud Sires Stakes Series.
“I need to be alone and in a quiet place when I’m watching the race live and I’m generally just following my horse so here you get to revisit and experience the whole thing some more.”
Like the race preacher enthusing over through the speakers a finishing burst past ther favourite in the race Chigsey, who Dennis admits, pre‑race chat had made him apprehensive without losing belief in the yearling he and son Mark almost didn’t attain.
“We loved him at sales time but thought he’d be out of reach given his pedigree.”
Some divine intervention brought him to the Dunfords, though, and they were relieved to have him in the end.
The blood was always going to make this full brother to a champion mare (Captains Mistress) and half brother to her almost equal (Merlin) popular. The intervention that had others doubting just enough was the colt actually presenting as a ‘rig’.
An imposter, they mused.
Call it faith, fate, or good luck, but the rig has emerged again as a colt in the fullness of time and natural development.
At this moment, a third coming from the Imaginary Bet seems as believable as any harness racer Dennis and Mark have had running with them — and they’ve been blessed with quite a few gifted ones.
Becky’s breeder was about the only of the family left in Oamaru, but there were plenty of the Williamsons on hand to help hurl horses — brothers, fathers, and sons — over the line in the exhilarating Macca Lodge Classique.
“I probably should have come but somebody had to hold the fort back here and it was exciting to watch the boys fight out the finish,” she said on the phone shortly after her bred‑and‑raced filly Becky's Girl, trained by her husband Phil, urged by her son Matthew alongside and past his brother Nathan in the shadows of the post for a rare but not uncommon event for this family of master horsemen and women when it comes to trotting horses.
A long sentence befitting that two‑horse home‑stretch drama where Becky’s Girl closed, then charged, then collared the favourite Duchess Maria.
Older brother Nathan either couldn’t look or wanted the infield technology to tell him something that wasn’t true — that he’d just held on again with his unbeaten filly — but his gut feel and the super screen didn’t deceive. They’d been nabbed!
In a post‑match interview, father/trainer Phil said although on paper it was hard to see Becky’s Girl winning, he and those closest had plenty of belief the homebred still had it in her to get back to the sort of form that had won her the equivalent Classique for two‑year‑olds last year.
“I’ve always thought a lot of her. From day dot she had speed and waiting for the strength to come has been the key to her developing into a really good trotter potentially. They’re a cracker bunch, so to win tonight means a lot to us and is a good measure of where we’re at.”
Where we’re at is recalling the same sort of reaction the same night two years back when his charge Empire City doubled up the Macca Lodge Classiques and ended the year with both IRT Sires' Stakes titles to her name as well for her breeders, the Argues.
To that, Phil was quick to admire the effort of Duchess Maria as “huge,” given she hadn’t raced for almost an exact year. She will be the force over coming months provided she comes through such a run first‑up unscathed.
There were others whose efforts were full of good mahi, looking forward too. Petite Amour again displayed her competitive instinct at all times, finishing third from the parked position almost throughout.
Montara keeps hinting she’s only an ounce of luck away at elite level, and there was a degree of what might have been about the run of Imperious Girl to get as close as she did after a complete meltdown just as the mobile let them rip. The previously unbeaten southerner galloped long enough and lost so much ground she was disqualified in the end but ran over the line fifth!
With the addition of a key Northern component — Our Col to come — an upsize in the age‑group classic trot race ante for the rest of the year seems inevitable and mouth‑watering.
“Thought Belle Biddy could win — but that was pretty Blunt!! As in instrument, not Emily… well, maybe in Edge Of Tomorrow actually. Gives the impression she can take anything in her way — even the feistiest from the south!”
Watch here: Auckland 18 September 2026 Race 6
“I was watching for Nella Keennan and she was flying after Wat Fun — but what is this filly coming even faster from further back?! It’s Suva Baby! Sires' Stakes Baby!”
Watch here: NZ Metro 18 September 2026 Race 6
“Had an asterisk — watch the return of Meant To Be in Auckland. I did — but couldn’t take my eyes off Higher Power! Next level. On another plane… There’s hope for our open‑class trotters yet!”
Watch here: Auckland 18 September 2026 Race 5
“Add Cath to follows! Almost won that race and can’t have been at full fitness first‑up after winter?! Can’t wait for that Nevele R heat in Ashvegas!”
Watch here: NZ Metro 18 September 2026 Race 9
Classic North‑versus‑South battles brewing in all these series!
Our young trotters are coming of age…
Nevele R Series Heat 5 — Auckland this FNL.
See here: HRNZ Racebook
