Divine Clementine Breaks Her Maiden
Wednesday, 05 Nov 2025
Divine Clementine put in a very strong performance on her home track to win break her maiden in very testing conditions. Following a deluge of rain over the weekend, there were questions on whether the meeting at Ballarat would go ahead but fortunately for the connections, the meeting got the tick of approval.
Divine Clementine improved with her second run at 2000m this preparation and was able to out muscle her rivals when challenged at the 100m mark, picking up again to win by half a length. It was redemption for Oaks winning jockey John Allen, who gave her a fantastic ride at Ballarat after a difficult run in transit at Kilmore at her previous start.
Whilst there were a few nervous moments with a protest from the 2nd horse, it was sweet relief when that was dismissed and Divine Clementine was declared the winner. Freedman said post-race “she is a filly who is learning all the time and is going to keep improving with racing. We had a couple of setbacks as a young horse which required time and patience from her connections, and we are so grateful for their support along the journey.”
After being purchased at Inglis Premier in 2023, a day after Attrition, also by Churchill, was narrowly beaten in the Group 1 Australian Guineas, Divine Clementine had an incident on the truck going to the spelling farm and had a minor injury to her hind leg. Once rehabilitated, she had another incident in the stable and a small fracture in her wither, which again was going to be ok with time. Setback after setback, the team and her connections maintained the faith, and it was a great thrill to see her break her maiden at Ballarat.
When reflecting on her journey to date, Freedman said “I think she is a stayer on the rise and will keep improving with time. It’s been a long road to get here and she has had to do it the hard way, but to see her development in the past twelve months has been really rewarding for all involved.”
Congratulations to the loyal connections of Divine Clementine, hopefully the first of many in a successful career!