Thoroughbreds In Equestrian Sport (TiES) continues to gain momentum as an increasing amount of well-educated and talented horses come off the racetrack into new careers.

Among the contenders in the series this season is Miss Eves, who is providing her young rider Ava Johnston with an exciting first experience in competing a thoroughbred.

Miss Eves (Indy King – Maxfacta by Golan) bred by E D and A J Kearns raced on four occasions as Li’l Miss Eves before being sold through renowned thoroughbred retrainers EventStars, operated by Gina Schick in Cambridge. Featuring in Miss Eves pedigree is recent Group Two winner Wild Night.

Miss Eves competed in the TIES series last season for her former owner and producer, Amy Gravett, and in the hands of Isabelle Jameson she won the TiES Futurity Series North Island Final (1.10m) at Horse of the Year. Looking for her next home, Johnston came across the mare, her first thoroughbred after having a small involvement in the industry throughout her life. 

“When I was younger, Mum and Dad were always in a syndicate with a racehorse or two,” Johnston said.

“We grew up living across the road from John Boon, and Erin Hocquard is now over there. I would go over and see the horses, but I didn’t do a lot of riding until more recently. During lockdown, I was offered an older horse and fell in love with riding a bit more, and then I got a lease pony where I learned more about jumping, and that’s when we decided I would go to Nga Tawa (School).

“My coach at Nga Tawa, Mr Andrew Scott, encouraged me to get a more serious horse for show jumping this year. He’s a top eventer and when he used to compete, he would get a lot of thoroughbreds off the track, so he advised me towards something with a bit more experience, but still a horse I was able to bring on a little bit.

“I found a very cool horse that had won the TiES series last year (Miss Eves), I’ve had her for about two months now. We’ve been competing every other weekend, she’s very talented and has been very easy to train.

“She’s got a great temperament, tries really hard and is probably the best horse I’ve had.”

As a new combination, Miss Eves and Johnston have had plenty of early success, including winning the LOVERACING.NZ-sponsored Thoroughbred Classic at the Manawatu A & P Show, and have loftier goals by the end of the season.

“We’ve been doing the TiES series recently and have qualified for the TiES class at Horse Of The Year,” Johnston said.

“The jumps are a metre, which is good, because we’re doing 1.10m at the moment and my goal before the end of the season is to jump around a couple of Junior Riders.”

Outside of competing, the 14-year-old from Waverley has further involved herself in the racing industry through Robbie Patterson’s stable, based at New Plymouth.

“I worked for Rob Patterson during the summer and I’ve enjoyed that so much, he’s great to work for, as is his manager Phil,” she said.

“Working with the thoroughbreds at Rob’s has made me love them more because there is a stereotype of them being a little bit hot, but they’ve been awesome to work with. We had a good couple of wins over January and February and Rob was doing really well, which was awesome to be a part of.

“I’ve just applied for my trackwork license and I’m starting that in December, which I’m really excited for and I’m sure Rob will be a great help.

“I think being in and around racehorses is really fun, the industry is great because there are so many friendly people and you learn so much from just being there.

“I’m also looking to get another horse straight off the track in the next month or two, which can be my second horse for next season. I’ll see what comes up, but if there are any at work possibly, or at EventStars or JumpStart, I’ll just keep an eye out.”