Wallacia Mist's ‘Wild' Remake Rolls On In Style

Trainer Luke Brown is revelling in the remarkable transformation of the regally bred Wallacia Mist and has brought along a team of racing fanatics to enjoy the ride.

At Richmond on Monday, Wallacia Mist – a daughter of Superior Panama and champion producer Nicki Fields – made it three wins from four starts for Brown with a slashing best of meeting 22.66 victory for the 401 metre journey.

But while the May ‘21 whelp is now firing on all cylinders, it was a vastly different story to launch her career, with her four times to the races – in two different states – resulting in four unplaced finishes with an aggregate losing margin of more than 50 lengths.

"It's been pretty unbelievable really – I've been around long enough to know something like this will probably never happen again," Brown said.

"A mate of mine Joel Craig was on the internet one day and saw her on offer and we jumped at the idea of getting her on breeding alone being a daughter of Nicki Fields.

"If she raced for us it was really just a bonus. We weren't expecting much at all to be honest."

Following a six-week spell up north with Mick Hindmarsh, Brown decided to bring the fashionably bred chaser down to his East Kurrajong kennels for a closer look.

"After six weeks off, Mick gave her a few trials at Grafton and while she improved wasn't going sensational," Brown recalled.

"I decided to bring her home to see what she was like so we could see her traits for what sire might suit her and even when I took her to the track she didn't show much interest to begin with.

"I gave her a 320m trial at Richmond one day and she went 18.22 but I didn't believe it, thinking they must have got the tickets mixed up or something. A week later she went 18.16 so I knew then it was right. 

"And she hasn't taken a backward step since."

Wallacia Mist is owned by a group of racing people which have been great supporters of Brown.

Included in the syndicate is Chris Waller's right-hand-man Charlie Duckworth, his partner, top jockey Kathy O'Hara, and Warwick Farm trainer Jason Coyle, just to name a few.

"They jumped on board before she raced the first time and they knew it could have gone pear shaped pretty quickly," Brown said.

"It's just that much more enjoyable when a great group of people like this are involved. They've been great supporters of mine, owning Zoe Zoom Bug and Montanna Keeping in the past.

"They're actually planning to breed with Montanna Keeping and will with Wallacia Mist down the track as well."

Given Wallacia Mist's meteoric rise, any breeding plans have been put on ice for the foreseeable future.

"I'll start working her up towards 500 now – she gives me every indication she'll run it," Brown said.

"But we'll just take things slowly. With how she started off you're always a bit cautious that she might head in the other direction again but with time and maturity they can turn around and she certainly has.

"Whatever she does from her is really a bonus. She's proven herself to be a pretty valuable brood bitch already."