Studholme fillies drawing rave reviews ahead of sales

Studholme Bloodstock is one of New Zealand’s leading Standardbred horse nurseries and the birthplace of some of the best harness racing horses in Australasia.

Brian West is the man responsible for having bred or co-bred 279 individual winners in New Zealand, achieving a combined total of 943 race victories. Among these are prestigious races such as the New Zealand Cup, Derbies, and Oaks—events reserved for the true champions of our sport.

Icons like Lazarus, Bit Of A Legend, Paramount Geegee, and True Fantasy showcase the Australasian and North American success that defines Studholme Bloodstock and in 2024, the legacy continued with remarkable performances from Chase A Dream, Paramount Kiwi, Wish Me Luck, Dreams Are Free & Don’t Stop Dreaming, further solidifying their reputation as breeders of excellence.

In 2025, Studholme Bloodstock are back at the Christchurch sale of the NZB Standardbred Yearling Sales with a draft of seven colts and five fillies.

In this article, we speak with Brian West in a honest and frank discussion about his five fillies in order of the catalogue. West isn’t afraid to call a spade a spade and hopefully readers and prospective buyers will appreciate the candid responses to each of their chances as he perceives them heading into yet another year of selling yearlings.

Lot 131: Bettor’s Delight x Iconic Legend (American Ideal) filly

“From my point of view, she’s just OK. She’s a lovely type though, and it’s interesting how when she’s walked out any time she has been paraded, she actually picks her head up and she looks bigger than she is. But the picture that you see here is about what she really looks like. She’s a smaller and a bit lighter then some of our other yearlings.”

Lot 135: Vincent x I’m So Lucky (Roll With Joe) filly

“This is one of my favourites in the draft. She is faultless and being looked at by a lot of good people, and they all like her.

“This is a nice filly, even though she’s a Vincent and he isn’t quite as commercial as some, I have a lot of time for the sire and what he has achieved to date. Her full brother, Wish Me Luck is a great example of that and doing a great job for the Cullen’s and was a good winner of the graduate race at Kaikoura last year and the Amberley Cup recently being his 6th win and taking his earnings over $100,000.

“If you look at her stand and walk, she looks like an athlete, and she is. She’s well mannered, everything about her is perfect. Again I’m not just saying this because we own her, but you wouldn’t find a fault with her. She hails from a grand breed that I have always admired and her dam is doing a great job of getting some really nice pacers to the races,” he said.

Lot 176: Art Major x On The Town (Bettor’s Delight) filly

“She had a slight setback. If you see the photograph, she’s not as muscled as some of the others, and that’s because we gave her box rest for a few weeks.

“She’s up and running again and despite of everything, she is a beautiful filly and another who is faultless in terms of her confirmation. You will not find a fault, and like a lot of the family, you would expect her to make a racehorse.

Lot 208: Bettor’s Delight x Secret Notion (Mach Three) filly

“She’s a star and I have little doubt she’ll be in the top five of the sale for the fillies, she’s right up there.

“Obviously her full sister was a champion filly and what’s interesting is if you didn’t see the pedigree page you wouldn’t see a lot of similarities at all with True Fantasy.

“Her sister was a smaller bay horse and chunky. This is an elegant, tall black horse obviously thrown to Bettor’s Delight. So what I’m suggesting is that you could have a star here. There’s a lot of people on this, filly.

Lot 244: Captaintreacherous x Under The Odds (Bettor’s Delight) filly

“This filly is as good as you will see at the sale. I don’t mean to sound like I am bragging, but she is a beautiful filly. She is another who is faultless, well muscled, and everything about her is perfect. That extends to her breeding being the first from the mare by Captaintreacherous which is exciting and what a wonderful producer she has been for Neville (Tilsley) and I.

“Unfortunately, it looks like we are going to lose Under The Odd’s. She’s had a fracture and she’s been on painkillers now for probably 8 months,” he said.

To view the full list of Studholme Bloodstock yearlings catalogued in Christchurch, click here.

by Brad Reid, for Harnesslink