Horse racing: Unbeaten superstar filly Millwood Nike sold days after retirement

Millwood Nike winning at Addington last November. Photo / Supplied

One of the great female pacers of recent times has been sold just days after being retired.

Unbeaten superstar filly Millwood Nike is heading to Breckon Farms after they purchased her from the owners who raced her in 17 unbeaten starts.

Millwood Nike was being set for a race track return up until two weeks ago before the tendon issue that sidelined her last December flared up again.

Her owners in association with trainers Mark and Nathan Purdon decided to retire her but they also agreed to sell her before her future broodmare career got under way because it is so hard for larger ownership groups to breed from a mare.

“It was a unanimous decision and we are thrilled she is going to Breckon Farms,” says one of those owners, Steve Byrne.

“Not only is it a great farm and she is going to a wonderful home but we really wanted her to stay in New Zealand to make her mark here.

“We had so much fun with her and can’t thank Mark [Purdon] in particular for everything he did because while she was an elite athlete it was Mark who found her for us.”

Ken Breckon says the champion filly is a natural fit for Breckon Farms which has poured huge money into updating its broodmare band in the last five years.

“She was such a great filly and is a lovely scopey mare and we are big fans of buying these younger mares off the track so she ticks so many boxes.

“With all the positive things happening in harness racing with Entain’s support it gives you confidence to make purchases like this and she will be looked after like a queen.

“We are building a new barn at the farm and really believe there are better times ahead for the industry so we want these great mares in our care.”

Millwood Nike retired the winner not only of all 17 starts but with $690,932 in stakes with her victory in the Nevele R Fillies Final at Addington last November one of the greatest ever by a pacing filly in New Zealand.

Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.