Standardbred show ring superstar  

Standardbred mare Aspasia was simply not cut out for a career on the track, but as AMANDA MAC learned, she is an undisputed star in the show ring. 

The daughter of a Western Australian pacing family, Kristie Morrone has been involved in the harness racing industry for over 25 years. During that time, she successfully trained multiple winners including a Group 1 winner, also turning her talents to showing Standardbreds with great success. 

A self-confessed late comer to riding, she reckons she was around 15 when she started. “I grew up with trotters, so it wasn’t a thing to be riding, it was more working the horses in the cart. But I had a friend with horses, and I used to go to her place and started riding there, just pottering around in the paddocks and going out on trail rides.”  

But by the time she was 18, a chance comment became the catalyst for an unforeseen change of direction. “Because Dad was a trainer, I always helped him out and worked the horses. Then one day a girl I was working with suggested taking a couple of the horses to a breed show. So we did. We went to our first show, not knowing what we were doing, and that’s how the show bug started.”  

After showing some of the family Standardbreds in hand, Kristie began taking riding lessons to improve her style, eventually progressing to ridden classes in her early twenties.  

Although she had trained horses with her dad for some years, by the time she was in her mid-twenties she’d decided to get a license of her own. “I trained one or two horses at a time. I did that for a few years and had some success with it,” she says, “but I stopped training altogether about three years ago.”  

It was while she was still training Standardbreds for the track that her interest in showing kept growing. “We’d take some of the racehorses out to shows every now and then and it transitioned from there,” she explains.  

And right now, an ex-trotter named Aspasia is Kristie’s star show ring turn. “Over the years, I have shown some very successful Standardbreds at the highest levels, which has given the breed a better profile. Aspasia is certainly following in their footsteps.”  

Aspasia’s back story is interesting. Sired by Rich and Spoilt, a local stallion with a notable pedigree who had done very well on the track, her mother, My Lady Of The Night, was one of what was at the time an influx of New Zealand Standardbreds brought to Australia to race – and she collected eight wins, 14 placings, and prize money of just over $57,500 before being put into foal. 

So Aspasia sported some impressive bloodlines, and it was the possibility of training her for a successful racing career that prompted Kristie’s decision to buy her at the 2018 yearling sales.  

The filly was duly broken in and Kristie began training her “She made it through to trials, but she was one of those horses who couldn’t be told what to do. She had everything going for her; she was a beautiful pacer, and she had the speed and stamina, but she was quite happy to run along with the other horses, rather than to pass them or to run away from them,” Kristie says. 

After a short spell, Aspasia was due to go back into work when she injured her hind leg, so it was decided to give her additional time off to allow the injury to heal. But while she was spelling, Kristie decided to take Aspasia, who was in great condition, to a show, where she won Supreme Standardbred, “I thought, oh well, there’s a second career if she needs it.”  

Not one to push any horse into doing something they weren’t suited for, it was not long after that Kristie decided to bow to Aspasia’s complete lack of interest in the track, and all plans to race her were abandoned. At around the same time, she decided to stop training trotters, and focus on Plan B, starting her self-opinionated little mare on a career in the show ring – and it was there that Aspasia found her true calling. 

However, Aspasia has turned out to be an expensive show horse who still owes Kristie a dollar or two: “Most trotters are free off the track or pretty cheap to buy, but she cost me quite a bit of money, and even with what she’s won in the show ring, she’s still a little bit behind,” she laughs.  

But Aspasia’s show ring results certainly soothe the pain of her purchase price! Among her lengthy list of successes is winning Supreme Led at the WA Dual-Code Spectacular three times. At the Perth Royal, she was Champion Led Mare in 2023 as well as in 2022, when she won Champion Ridden at the same show. For four consecutive years, as a three, four, five and six-year-old, she was declared Supreme Led at the WA State Championships. She was also Supreme Led at the WA Scorecard Showdown in 2023 and again in 2024, when she also won Supreme Ridden. Then there have been three Supreme of Supreme Exhibits of the Show against all breeds, and a Supreme Ridden at the 2023 WA State Championships. And let’s not forget scooping Champion Harness Horse in the open carriage classes at both the Perth Royal Show and the WA Carriage Driving Championships.  

After working with Standardbreds her entire life, Kristie has no problem recommending them as a particularly versatile breed that you can do a lot with. “They’re very compliant and they always try their hardest. They’re generally pretty easy to keep and well-balanced without a lot of baggage,” she says. “They’re much sturdier than a lot of other breeds, and much better temperament-wise as well,” she adds. 

So, what’s next on the agenda with Aspasia? “Given that she competed in her first Royal last year in carriage driving, I’d like to do more of that with her over the next couple of years, and also a bit more under saddle, possibly doing a little bit of jumping, which she’s already tried and seems to enjoy.” 

And that brings us to Kristie’s final point: which is that over time, the breed has developed in interesting ways. “These days you can get some really stunning Standardbreds; well-built, tall, athletic. Basically, you’ll find a Standardbred to suit any purpose. So, there’s definitely plenty of upside to them, and if you can get the right bond with the horse, they will do anything for you.”  

You can’t help but think it won’t be long before Aspasia has more than paid Kristie back, and is showing a healthy return on what’s turned out to be a highly successful investment.