The $10k ‘Queen’ who put Hayfields Racing on the map

Cover image courtesy of the Racing Photos

There is no doubt the Hayfields Racing stable is on the up. Husband-and-wife training partnership Julian Hay and Charlotte Littlefield celebrated their first stakes winner when 5-year-old mare Regal Vow (Swear) saluted in the $175,000 Listed Magic Millions Lord S. over a mile at Caulfield on December 26.

The 5-year-old mare was bought for just $10,000 from Spendthrift Farm and by an unproven sire at the time, Swear, out of Regime (USA) (Empire Maker {USA}).

And it appears the Hayfields Racing team, in partnership with Lee Ann Imboden, has yet again picked up some shrewd additions from the 2025 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, including an Ole Kirk filly out of Honey Valley (All Too Hard) from North Bloodstock for $140,000.

Guided by the expertise of Group 1-winning trainer and former Te Akau Racing conditioner Jason Bridgeman, Littlefield was thrilled with this purchase due to the filly’s unique pedigree.

“I think the one we were really excited about was the Ole Kirk filly. We loved her line breeding twice to Helsinge,” Littlefield told The Thoroughbred Report. “I thought that was very interesting. And Jason said, ‘This is one of the best pages in the book – this is one of the best-bred’.

“He loves that in-breeding. She looks just like Scandinavia, Black Caviar’s grandam.

“We were pretty excited when we saw she was a good type. Colin Madden her breeder has also stayed in for a leg (25 per cent share), and that just confirms his faith in the breeding, and the type of horse the mare has thrown.

“So I’m very excited to see if Jason’s theory works. My job now is just to try and train her. That’s the easy part.

“We’ve also had some help from bloodstock agent Ash Richards at the sales. And he’s getting very good at picking an athletic horse who really stands out for not much money.

“He’s from Intel Bloodstock, and he's doing an excellent job.”

Hayfields Racing’s keen eye for value is further highlighted by their discovery of Regal Vow, a savvy purchase that echoes another bargain buy by OTI Racing’s Terry Henderson. Hay recalled how Henderson purchased Group 1-winning mare Lady Laguna (Overshare) from Spendthrift Farm, not long before Regal Vow was acquired.

“Spendthrift at the time were breeding a lot of horses by unproven sires, like Swear and Overshare. And they weren’t really wanting to go to the sales with them all. So they just invited trainers out to their farm,” Hay told The Thoroughbred Report. “You’d just walk through their paddocks. The ones by Swear were $10,000, and the ones by Overshare were $20,000.”

Swear hadn’t covered many mares when Regal Vow caught Hayfields Racing’s attention. “Swear wasn’t on our radar, but Regal Vow was a beautiful type,” Hay noted. “She was a good size, and she looked just like a Redoute’s Choice filly. We essentially bought her based on type, not pedigree.” Regal Vow’s dam, Regime, had American pedigree, but Hay and Littlefield were drawn to her physical presence.

“Terry Henderson bought that very good mare by Overshare the same year. She was in the paddock at the same time. I think he had been already and bought her out of the paddock, she was called Lady Laguna. So there was some nice stock out of the paddock that year.”

Key bloodline connections

Helsinge (Desert Sun {GB}) appears twice in Lot 484’s pedigree, with Ole Kirk’s dam Naturale (Bel Esprit) a daughter, and thus a full sister to unbeaten legend from 25 starts, Black Caviar.

Meanwhile, Honey Valley's sire All Too Hard – a half-brother to Black Caviar – was also out of Helsinge.

“It’s unique because you have the sister to Black Caviar on the top line, and the brother of Black Caviar on the bottom line, so you have two strains of the dam,” Hay said.

“She (Helsinge) is a blue hen who’s produced All Too Hard, Black Caviar and Ole Kirk’s mum (Naturale), so you’re getting a double strain of that bloodline.

“Pedigree nuffs call this the Rasmussen Theory, when you in-breed to a superior broodmare. It’s a well-known theory in breeding and it works very well. The strike rate on the Rasmussen Theory is very high.

“Through Helsinge, it’s something I think will be done a little bit more now that Ole Kirk is going well, and people with an All Too Hard mare can go to Ole Kirk and get that double-up of Helsinge."

In yet another exciting connection to the great Black Caviar, the late great mare's owner Neil Werrett has bought into Hayfield Racing’s Ole Kirk filly.

And Madden was also a part-owner of Black Caviar.

“Neil Werrett is very good friends of Colin Madden’s, and he’s jumped on board as well in support of Colin and myself, which is really exciting,” Littlefield said.

“It’s just so nice to have the support of really, good quality clients, who have had a lot of success, and who are very well thought of in the industry.”

‘Queen’ gave her conditioners early headaches

It wasn’t all smooth sailing training Regal Vow in her early days, according to Littlefield.

“Just her riding manners under saddle. She’d like to deposit the rider on several occasions. She was very quick at dropping her shoulder and whipping, and having a good buck,” Littlefield said.

“She’d throw anything at you, and to this day she has to go out with a pony every day.

“Even for her gallops. So the poor pony has to go on the gallop with her as well. Otherwise, she just stops dead and whips. She won’t perform. She still has to go out to the barriers with the clark of the course as well.

“She’s certainly a mare who’s got her little idiosyncrasies. But the best ones have that. It certainly hasn’t held her back when she performs on the racetrack.”

But Littlefield noticed a strong eye to Regal Vow early on, and she says her new Ole Kirk filly addition at Lot 484 from the Magic Millions Yearling Sale has the same traits.

“She (Regal Vow) has always had a really Redoute’s look about her,” she said.

“And just a really good quality head, and a really beautiful eye. You can tell what she’s thinking when you look at her. You can tell a lot about a horse from their eye, as you can any person or any animal.

“Definitely plenty of quality about her physically. She’s a queen. The way she strides around it’s what we look for when we go to the sales with the fillies.

“They’ve got to have a bit of X-factor. They’ve got to come out like they own the joint. And they’ve got to have a bit of something about them. That Ole Kirk filly, she had all of those.”

Bringing cutting-edge training techniques from the Old Dart

Littlefield – who grew up in Somerset, England, and has previously represented the British Eventing Team at the European Championships in Poland – believes eventing cross training has worked wonders with her horses.

And it certainly worked a treat with Modown (Toronado {Ire}) before he saluted in the Vobis Gold Bullion over 1400 metres at Pakenham on December 21.

“We do that a lot (eventing training). We work closely with Brad Cunningham, who’s our pre-trainer,” Littlefield said.

“He’s a very accomplished show jump rider who was based in Europe for a long time. He knows exactly what I need from the horses when they come to us.

“And even in between runs or during campaigns, if they need a bit of a freshen-up they might just go back there and have a few days in the paddock and do some arena work.

“I’ll even take them before a race, like Modown in the Vobis Gold – I took him around to Brad’s for a show jump. Just to try and give him a little bit of confidence doing something different, and to have a bit of fun with him.

“That seemed to work because he changed his form around. I’m not sure exactly what turned his form around, but I’m sure it had something to do with his arena work and showjumping with him.”

Aiming for G1 glory in 2025

After breaking through to enjoy her first stakes winner with Regal Vow last year, Littlefield is confident she can achieve Group 1 success in 2025.

And with such an astute team behind her, why not?

“I’d like to win a Group 1 this year. We’re going high. You can always come down, but you’ve got to aim high,” she said.

“I think the next logical step would be Group success. We’ve won a Listed race, and we’ve come close in G3s and G2s. So we’ll have to conquer that, but ultimately with the quality of horses we’ve got coming through we’d love to try and win a Group 1.”

Littlefield said 4-year-old mare She’s Bulletproof (Shooting To Win) is tracking well to be there or thereabouts in an elite-level feature race in 2025.

“She’s Bulletproof is the most consistent horse I’ve ever trained. She’s had 10 starts for nine in the placings,” she said.

“She’s run second twice in her past two stakes races, including the How Now S. at Caulfield. So we’re looking for Group success with her. I think she can really go on with it – she’s a mare who keeps improving.

“We know the key to her, and we’ve just to keep the weight off her, and keep her nice and happy.

“And then she’ll continue to run well. So I think she’s in for a big year.”