Boxing at nights can satisfy her that young horses are drinking and eating properly.
R Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at only her fourth raceday start. Whisper Jet was a maiden when she made the field for the Jewels in June, thanks to money she won in the Nevele R final. Diane originally raced her with Glenys and Terry Chmiel who were bought out by Merv Butterworth.
“By boxing and feeding them every night, shy stock don’t get bullied like they do in paddocks and miss out on extra hard feed there,’’ she explained. “Noel and I are meticulous in the way we care for our horses. Our young horses get a daily feed of boiled barley. It is a lot of work, a lot of fun.’’
Diane sold a Courage Under Fire colt to Neil Pilcher and Glenys and Phil Kennard. He is undergoing his second prep with Tony Herlihy.
Diane and Noel have high hopes for broodmare Nitouche Franco which they bought for $14,000 from Spreydon Lodge in foal to Falcon Seelster when she was five. The Soky’s Atom grand daughter of former Roydon Lodge standout Lancia, has already left fine winner All Star Man, which has won five races, including one on Cup Day at Addington last year.
With an eye to the future, Diane has retained a yearling full sister to All Star Man for breeding from. Breath of Life’s first foal is Fight For Glory, a two year old filly which Mark Purdon bought and retained a quarter share to race with noted galloping trainer Jim Gibbs (Matamata) and his wife Ann, Dean
Nitouche Franco’s worth as a producer is also underlined by another daughter Whisper Jet (by Jereme’s Jet), runner up to stablemate Adore Me in the Nevele
looking
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Illingworth and John and Gaylene Tait. Diane is looking forward to the next Premier Sale of Yearlings in Christchurch as she has a Bettor’s Delight colt from Breath of Life heading there. She will prepare the colt before he is topped off as a member of John Stiven’s Arden Lodge draft. In a genetic sense, Diane is adamant many of her horses have benefitted greatly from a strain of Logan Derby blood for toughness in their veins.