November Rain was a standout filly for Matthew Goodson and Dianna Perron, but she has proven to be a test of patience as a broodmare for the husband-and-wife duo, which was rewarded on Saturday through the deeds of her daughter No Rain Ever (No Nay Never).
The Bill Thurlow-trained filly recorded her first stakes win when taking out the Listed Warstep Stakes (2000m) at Riccarton, adding to her previous placing in the Listed Uncle Remus Stakes (1200m) at Ellerslie in February.
“I am very happy,” Goodson said. “We knew that we had a good horse, but we were really looking for a firm track, and finally got one. She had a little bit of Soft track form but that was despite the track, not because of it.
“It was a brilliant ride by Lily (Sutherland), creeping up along the rail and hooking her out at the right time, it was very good.”
No Rain Ever has shown plenty of promise as a three-year-old, but Goodson believes she will mature into an even better four-year-old.
“She got a little bit injured earlier in the season and we lost the mid part of the summer with her,” he said.
“We have finally got her back and firing. She is still growing and developing – she is a big, strong horse – and fingers-crossed she will be a little bit better again as a four-year-old next year.
“We are still finding out what her best distance is, but I would say she is a mile to a mile-and-a-quarter firm track horse. I don’t think she is a 2400m horse, 2000m would be about the limit.”
Saturday was a rewarding day for Goodson and Perron, having finally bred a stakes winner out of their Group One performer November Rain, who they bought as a yearling out of Trelawney Stud’s 2008 New Zealand Bloodstock Premier Yearling Sale draft for $170,000.
She went on to win five of her 31 starts for trainer Richard Collett, including the Gr.2 Cal Isuzu Stakes (1600m), and placed in the Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m), Gr.1 Easter Handicap (1600m), Gr.2 Sir Tristram Fillies’ Classic (2000m), Gr.2 Counties Cup (2100m), Gr.3 Wellington Stakes (1600m), and Listed Sunline Vase (2100m).
“We bought her at the Karaka Sales, Richard Collett picked her out for us,” Goodson said. “She was a tremendous filly, she was a nose second in the Oaks and she was second fresh-up in the Easter when it was still a Group One mile. We then won a Group Two with her as a four-year-old and then just a few niggly injuries led to her retirement at five.
“She (No Rain Ever) is the first decent one we have managed to get out of November Rain. She hasn’t been easy to breed. Even though she is a Stravinsky mare, her mum is by Kris S, who is a big horse, and she throws to that size. It is good to finally get a top-class one out of her.
“She (November Rain) is at Coolmore at the moment, she missed to one late service last year. She is still breeding so hopefully we will get another nice filly out of her.”
There is a slim chance No Rain Ever could cross the Tasman to tackle the Gr.1 Queensland Oaks (2200m), however, Goodson said she will more than likely go for a spell.
“No Rain Ever is almost certainly going to have a break now,” he said. “If she is bucking around the paddock next week we might go to the Queensland Oaks, but I would say that is a one or two percent chance.”
Goodson was full of praise for trainer Bull Thurlow following the race and is enjoying having a number of his racing team in the Waverley horseman’s care.
“I got to know Bill through Gordon Calder,” he said. “The grass track set-up at Waverley is fantastic and he has got really good staff and trackwork riders, which is key. He has got a great record with the Auckland Cup and New Zealand Oaks placegetters. It is going well.”
Goodson, a former New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing chairman, has always had a fascination with racing, but it wasn’t until his return to New Zealand in the late 2000s that he decided to enter the sport, investing in three yearling fillies that have gone on to be the foundation mares for his family’s Goodson & Perron Bloodstock Partnership.
“I got into racing through my grandmother, just picking horses with her when I was a kid,” he said. “I was overseas for a long time and when we came back to New Zealand we managed to get into a position where we could risk a little bit and see how it (racing) goes.
“We decided to buy three well-bred fillies at the sales in a sweet spot, outside the very high-priced ones but paying enough to give ourselves a decent chance.
“They ended up being a good Zabeel mare called Mary Agnes (dam of Group Two performer Time Lord), who had injury issues, but we still have one mare from that family we are breeding from.
“Another was Chasing Mammon, who is the dam of Sherwood Forest, Aethelflaed, Field Of Gold and Royal Ocean, and the third was November Rain, so it has worked out alright.”
While the couple have had success breeding from November Rain and Mary Agnes, Chasing Mammon has been the clear Blue Hen of Goodson and Perron’s broodmare band, highlighted by Sherwood Forest’s Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m) victory, while Aethelflaed placed in the Gr.1 VRC Oaks (2500m), Royal Ocean won the Listed Morphettville Guineas (1600m), and Field Of Gold has placed in the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m), Gr.2 Auckland Guineas (1600m), Gr.3 War Decree Stakes (1600m), and won the Gr.2 Waikato Guineas (2000m).
“Winning the Derby has to be the biggest highlight, that was a massive buzz,” Goodson said. “But winning any race is huge buzz, it is one of those things that you look forward to all week. Usually it ends with disappointment but sometimes you have a chance, it is great.”
A couple of their racing team are under an injury cloud, but Goodson and Perron are looking forward to their return next season, and they are eagerly awaiting their younger stocks arrival to the track.
“Field Of Gold has just had another little injury issue, so he won’t be seen until next season,” Goodson said.
“Aethelflaed ran second in a VRC Oaks. She unfortunately had a tendon injury, although it is mid to lower grade, so hopefully she will be back next summer or autumn.
“We have got a full-sister to Aethelflaed, by Saxon Warrior, who we are going to hang onto and race, and we also have a Merchant Navy two-year-old.”