Chelsea keeping the faith

Young Winton harness racing horsewomen Chelsea Faithful has a lot of strings to her bow. She successfully trains a small team, works for the busiest stable in the province, is breeding from two mares, is preparing two yearlings for the upcoming sales and is photographing yearlings for a handful of clients.

“I was born into it. Mum tried to get me out of it for a long time, wanting me to be either a vet or vet nurse. I wasn’t interested in staying at school for longer than I had to,” she said.

Her father Ray was a successful trainer with one hundred and thirty four winners to his name, including Tartan Lady – the winner of the Group Two 1998 Southland Oaks, the 1999 Central Otago Cup and the Group One 1999 NZ Standardbred Breeders Stakes.

At a young age Faithful got involved in Kidz Kartz and bought her own pony.

“It’s pretty easy to train but I was a bit over the top about it. I put her into the cart every day and went over to the track and jogged a couple of laps.”

While at high school she was as part of the Gateway scheme, placed at Hamish Hunter’s Ryal Bush stable.

“It’s a good way for young people to get into the sport. Hamish was great to learn from. And Shane Walkinshaw was there then and he was always open to teaching you.”

While at College Faithful was also able to hone her drawing skills.

“Art was my best subject and the only one I got excellence in. But I don’t have the time to do it now.”

She painted trotter Dark Horse (Bacardi Lindy) and drew a number of other standardbreds.

But it’s had to be put on the backburner for now.

On leaving school she she took up a full time position at the Hunter stables and was there for a further three years before taking a break.

“I was doing my own thing and working my own horses for a while.

Nathan (Williamson) broke his foot, so a job came up there to feed up and do odd jobs in the afternoon. That progressed into a full time job.” She’s now been there for almost six years.

The initial hours were 7.00am to 5.00pm but Faithful was accumulating more horses so the hours changed to 7.00am to 1.00pm.

“It’s hard in the winter because I can’t get any of my team done in the morning.

Summer’s not too bad but you do get tired. My alarm goes off 4:30am and I try to get half the team worked before I go to Nathan’s.”

Faithful knew from a young age that she wanted to be a trainer.

“When I got Tartan Trilogy that got the ball rolling.”

Tartan Trilogy (Mach Three) came via Onn and Raewyn Chin. The Chins raced horses from Chelsea’s fathers stable with a fair amount of success.

“They’ve been great supporters of me right from the beginning. They leased me Tartan Trilogy because they’d had enough of him. He came here and thrived, and he won four races for me. He was a great old horse and I still use him as my cart horse.”

Faithful’s first training success came at Forbury Park in July 2017 when she won with Understudy (Live Or Die) – her first winning drive.

“I think it took me the whole season to get a driving win (laughter). It was Understudy’s last start, make or break. I took the removeable deafeners off and put the full blinds on. The horse always worked really good at home either by himself or in front. It was like he had some mental block and couldn’t run past another horse. I lead up and got there. I was a long way up the straight that night.”

Understudy won by a length and a half and paid $104.80 and $18.50.

As a trainer Faithful has trained twenty four winners. Her best season was in 2021 when she trained twelve including Toby O’Gara (Western Ideal), Ideal BB (America Ideal), Pay Me Speedy (Mach Three), Tartan Roxy (Bettor’s Delight) and Tartan Raider (Bettor’s Delight).

“I like to jog a horse for six weeks before getting into some pace work. I take my time and don’t like to rush them and most of my owners are okay with that. I think it’s important to have a good foundation otherwise you start running into problems. Some trainers like to say six weeks of fast work but it’s definitely six to ten.”

She takes pride in Arnies Army (American Ideal) which is raced by the Off N Racing Syndicate run by Andrew Fitzgerald. The gelding was transferred from Matt Purvis’s stable to Faithful in October 2021 and he’s since had twenty one starts for two wins, three seconds and six thirds.

“I wasn’t sure about taking him on. But he’s been a great wee syndicate horse and they don’t know how lucky they are because he never runs a bad race.”

As Faithful’s team gets older, she’s looking forward to some fresh faces. She has a bit of time for Courage Under Fire gelding, Hijack. The three year old was bought at the sales by Doug McLeish and he’s given Faithful a half share in the gelding.

“If he’s sold before he races it would be such a shame because young people like me thrive to get a nice young horse. If they qualify and look good, then you can’t turn down good money.”

Faithful also has a two year old trotting filly by What The Hill out of City Lane, named Our Rose Hill which was bred by Michelle Caig.

She’s a half-sister to Saratoga the winner of twelve and Renezmae which won seven including the Group One Aldebaran Crown for Two Year Old Fillies.

“She’s (Our Rose Hill) a lovely natured wee thing. We’ll find out in her next prep whether she makes a two year old. It’s the first trotter I’ve trained. Michelle’s a great fan of mine and it’s great she’s letting me have a go.”

For the second year Faithful is preparing two yearlings for the NZB Standardbred National Yearling Sales, and last year was her first experience of attending the Sales in Christchurch.

“I’d never been to the Sales before. They were long days waiting for people to come and have a look. We were in the same lane as Macca Lodge so there was a bit of entertainment.”

One of the yearlings she prepped was Cracker Rock (Rock N Roll Heaven), for Gary Preston.

“I had a bit of a soft spot for him. I didn’t think he’d sell but he did ($12,000). Arna Donnelly bought him, and I was rapt with that because he’ll be well looked after. I bought a five percent share in him (laughter). It looks like he’ll make a two year old.”

She also prepared Tact Teena – a Bettor’s Delight filly out of Tact Lizzie for Trevor Proctor and Diane Dynes. It was bought by Mark Jones for $150,000.

“They started reasonably high, and I thought they would have gone a bit higher. It’s a pretty surreal feeling and over pretty quickly. She was a lovely horse. I know that Mark really likes her.”

Faithful is currently preparing two yearlings for the Christchurch sales.

A Tact Teena – Champagne Franco filly and a Vincent – Smiles For Miles colt.

The Captain Crunch filly is out of Champagne Franco, a one win Falcon Seelster mare. This filly is the mare’s fourth foal. She’s already the dam of Platinum Revolution, a Changeover filly that’s won fourteen races including the Group Three NSW Pink Bonnet.

“Mark Jones liked the way Tact Teena behaved when she got home after he bought her. So he put Mark McNamara and Australian based Goozdolphin Racing in touch with me to prep this filly. She’s a nice filly but I’m not sure how she will sell because she’s quite big. She’s a nice mover and has got a nice attitude.”

Her second yearling is by Vincent out of the two win Grinfromeartoear mare Smiles For Miles.

She’s from a family that’s produced Niobium (15 wins), Karmic Reward (7 wins), Spirit Of Zeus (11 wins) and Star Of Bethlehem, the dam of Stars And Stripes which won forty races and Light And Sound which won thirty eight.

“He’s a cool wee dude. He’s stocky and strong and I think he’ll run as a two year old. He’s good natured and wants to work with you.”

Both will be sold under the Southern Bred Southern Reared banner.

As well as taking photos of her own yearlings she’s also filming for Michelle Caig and John and Katrina Price.

“Michelle got me started with the photography. Katrina saw them and liked them, so I’ve photographed Prices yearlings, Dave and Dawn Kennedy, Murray Little, Steve Baucke and Trevor Proctors. It’s a good wee money earner for a week.”

She also enters horses at the local A&P Shows and has taken her standardbreds there.

“Tartan Trilogy broke down and spent about a year on the sideline, so I took him to the shows in between times. He went to the Winton A&P Show and won best presented and then won at the Wyndham races a few days later.”

As if she’s not enough, she’s also on the committee of the Winton HRC.

“I’ve been on for two years and look after their Facebook page.”

She’s currently breeding from two mares.

The first Tartan Roxy, is on a fifty fifty deal with Onn Chin. The mare has left an Always B Miki filly.

The second is Makarova (Mach Three) which is owned by John and Katrina Price. She’s a half-sister to Ardghal the winner of fifteen races. The Prices are offering a colt by Always B Miki out of Makarova at the Christchurch yearling sales next month.

“She’s (Makarova) has had a lovely colt by Lather Up. He could go to the sales, and I’ll see how their one sells this year. I’ll probably race the Tartan Roxy filly.”

Faithful says her family have been a great help and enabled her to give training a go.

“Mum’s a great helper and supporter of mine. She gets up every morning and helps do the boxes, gears up and washes while I can work them.”
And for the future?

“I’d like to go out on my own. I need less of my own horses and more payers and ideally more young horses. I’d like a set up where I could do perhaps a dozen horses because I don’t think you do them properly if you have more. Craig’s (Ferguson) got a great block over at Wyndham and he’s got a pool, grass track and great facilities. I have made the comment that if they put up another facility like that at Wyndham I’d move.”

by Bruce Stewart for Harnesslink