It wasn't the day that mother backed the winner of the derby, but for Masterton woman Noeline Redfern the thrill of seeing Chase Me win a million-dollar race in Singapore earlier this month was worth a lifetime of waiting.
Mrs Redfern co-bred the 4-year-old Singapore Derby winner from her Gold Brose mare Cartier Gold which munched away, blissfully unaware, on Wairarapa pasture as her son annihilated the derby field, winning by eight lengths to secure the Group One victory.
But Mrs Redfern, her husband Ron and their married daughter Justine Redfern-Olsen, found it impossible to maintain the same sense of calm as Cartier Gold.
Watching the race on Trackside, Noeline and Ron bounded to their feet when the rich red bay gelding hit the front in the 4-year-old classic, sending a collection of cats that had been sitting on their laps flying.
For Mrs Redfern, who is only an occasional dollar-each-way punter, it certainly wasn't a reaction motivated by financial gain, just the sheer pleasure of seeing a dream come true.
Her love of racing was instilled in her at a young age and was probably inevitable as Noeline is the daughter of Carterton butcher and racehorse owner Ben Archer and his wife Melva.
Ben Archer's main claim to fame was owning the outstanding galloper Home On The Range, winner of 17 races and prepared by John Kendall who later became a publican in Greytown.
He owned many other horses including handy galloper Tomben, in conjunction with war veteran Tom Bubb.
Mrs Redfern remembers travelling the length and breadth of the country in her younger days to attend race meetings, often in the company of other horse owners such as Joe Saba, and didn't limit her interest to racing only, as she often featured in Fashion in the Field contests, especially at Trentham.
About 20 years ago Mrs Redfern began line breeding in association with Peter Jenkins, now a breeding analyst for the prestigious Australian stud Arrowfield.
They bought a mare imported from England, Nile Lark, who was later mated with Gold Brose to produce Cartier Gold.
She was not a roaring success on the track, finishing out of the money in her three starts before beginning a new life as a broodmare.
Cartier Gold was mated with Storm Creek, followed by Hawkeye and then again with Storm Creek.
It was the third mating that produced a yearling that sold at the Karaka sales for $45,000, but a much greater drama was about to unfold.
Two seasons later along came the colt to be known as Chase Me, by Storm Creek from Cartier Gold, and as a weanling he too entered the Karaka Sales catalogue.
The Redferns' daughter Justine recalls watching the auctioneer trying to elicit a good price for the gelding without a lot of success and when a mere $4000 was on offer the two contemplated buying him back.
"We were the underbidders and were just talking about whether we should buy him back when the hammer came down and he sold for $4000."
Northern horseman and trainer Brett McDonald - father of glamour jockey James McDonald - bought Chase Me, who went on to win two trials in New Zealand before being on-sold to Singapore.
So it came to pass that Chase Me won a million dollar-plus Group One at Kranji, and gave the Redfern family the biggest thrill possible even without cleaning up on the tote.