Yesberg brings up the half century

By Brian Cross

When Ruby Malone took out the Country Feasts Mobile Pace at Rangiora last Sunday, Trent Yesberg celebrated his 50-win milestone as a trainer.

He and his dad, owner/breeder Paul Yesberg, weren’t there to witness the milestone however. Both were in Perth for a family wedding. In fact such was the previous day’s big event that Trent slept through the race stream.

Trent celebrates 50 winners five years after training his first - Blue Blazer at Addington in October 2017. That was at about the same time Trent was starting to establish his stable premises in Ohoka. It has now grown into a quality equine facility.

Trent had a lot of initial success with aged horses he was able to pick up and improve.

“I was really lucky to get horses early in my career like Airpark Flyer, Bushman, Never Mind and Majestic Action. They all did a good job”, says Trent.

More recently Ripple Creek has been going through a period of transition, with yearling purchased over the last two years forming the core of the team for the medium term.

“It’s been a tough 18 months. We were hit by illnesses and have been a bit light on wins this year, with successful horses moving on and being replaced by young ones.”

“Hopefully the two-year-olds will start to kick in from next year and we’ll get a really nice one or two.” Trent has more development planned at Ripple Creek too.

“We’re building a lot more day yards for the racehorses instead of using bigger paddocks. We’ll also be extending our track to 950 metres and adding a swimming dam.”

With fractional ownership by way of syndicates sharing in several youngsters, Trent’s client base has increased fourfold in the last two years. The stable holds regular open days which are always well attended.

As for Ruby Malone, Trent judges her no superstar but a horse who with a bit of time should keep improving. By Sportswriter, she’s named for an Irish football journalist and author of some note. Her mum’s stable name was Ruby, so she’s called Sporty at home.

Ruby Malone’s win continues Paul Yesberg’s breeding success with the descendants of the Caprock mare Jingle Belle Rock. She was the winner of just one race but notably a half-sister to Sparks A Flying, who won 21 in NZ and Australia including The G1 Nevele R 3YO Fillies Series Final.

“I bought her at the yearling sales in partnership with Brian Gliddon,” says Paul. Jingle Belle Rock became a top broodmare for Paul and his co-breeders, leaving nine winners of 81 races in NZ, Australia and USA. These include Bettor Rock On (40 wins), Snowballs A Flyin (11) and Sam’s Town (7 to date).

It was two of Jingle Belle Rock’s lesser lights on the track that have in turn produced winners for Trent. Her 2011 foal was Rock Diva, dam of Rocknroll Diva who has won four to date. Then followed Returntorocknroll, now the dam of a winner in Ruby Malone.

“In those days I was getting into breeding to sell the progeny,” says Paul. I also tried to buy Sparks A Flying the year after but missed out. Now I only breed to race with Trent and the family.”

2023 looks like being an eventful and busy year at the Yesbergs, with a number of up-and-comers in the racing stable and more youngsters coming through at Paul’s place. It seems it won’t be too long before Trent can celebrate his next 50 wins and bring up the century.