The light chestnut filly by Gallant Guru has a nice white star on her head along with three white socks, and was looking sure on her feet at the North Taieri-based stud yesterday after she was born on Saturday night.
But while she was at ease running around the paddock, her mother, Ali Rosa, might give her a head start when it comes to a racing career.
Ali Rosa is a half-sister to Narousa, who made his mark in the late 1990s and early 2000s as a stayer of some repute, winning the 1999 St Leger at Trentham and the 2001 Dunedin Gold Cup, along with the Grand National Hurdles later that year.
Mixing jumping with flat racing, Narousa was also good enough to run fourth in the 2002 Wellington Cup before switching back to jumping to win the 2003 Great Northern Hurdles.
Ali Rosa won a race at Wingatui in 2005, but she has already left winners in Singapore and Australia through her offspring George and Ali Vital. The latter has won two of his seven starts in Australia and lined up in the Queensland Derby earlier this year.
The cold weather can present a challenge for earlier foals at White Robe Lodge, but the sun was shining on the filly's back until yesterday afternoon.
''She's off to a good start with the last few days [of weather],'' stud manager Wayne Stewart said.
''She looks like she's not going to be a bad brood mare.''
About 100 horses will be foaled in the coming months - a standard figure for the stud.
''It's normally from about now on in - there are quite a few mares due now,'' Stewart said.
''About 11 months and 10 days [gestation] is what you work off, but they can go a bit earlier or a bit later.
''One mare was covered on September 9, so she'll be [carrying the foal for] 12 months in a couple of weeks or so.
''But the majority of them go to time.''
Stewart said earlier foals were an advantage if they were prospects to be sold at the sales, but the climate could work against that theory in the South Island.
''Especially if you're looking to sell them, the earlier the better, so August foals are good.
''But just with our climate, a lot of the mares don't start cycling to get back into foal until September.''
The brood mares are watched closely as their due date nears, with stud worker Liz Hodgson working the night shift full-time over the coming weeks.
''She does it full-time, and someone else does a couple of days a week, too.
''You're watching them 24 hours a day, but there's a full-time night watch from 9 o'clock at night until 6 o'clock in the morning.''
''We have a beeper system on the mares that are close and we have a pager system like the doctors have. I can be anywhere on the farm and you go and check straight away.''
When it comes to the birth, stud workers stand back, unless the mare is struggling.
''We let nature take its course, but sometimes there are problems and you do have to get in there and help, just like lambing or calving.''
