Shameless Star (NZ) Strikes Mega Maiden Series Bonus

The second season of the NZB Mega Maiden Series paid out its first bonus on Sunday when promising filly Shameless Star (NZ) (Shamexpress) took out the $18,500 NZB Mega Maiden Series (1200m) at Waverley.

The series is an exciting initiative that was announced last year by NZB and NZTR and generously supported by Entain. It sees $1m in bonuses up for grabs across 40 maiden races each season for a three-year period.

The series is made up of 40 non-Saturday maiden races located throughout New Zealand. A bonus of $25,000 is struck whenever a race is won by a Karaka Millions-eligible horse aged three years or older. The winning owner takes home $20,000 and the successful trainer $5,000. Last season saw bonuses paid out from Pukekohe in the north to Gore in the deep south.

The first winner of the 2025-26 season was Shameless Star, who is trained by Peter and Trent Didham for owners Exempt Bloodstock Ltd, Chelsea Connections Let, Brendon and Debbie Hart.

Shameless Star was a $14,000 purchase from the National Weanling Sale by Woburn Farm, who then re-offered her in Book 2 of Karaka 2024. She was bought by Exempt Bloodstock and Peter Didham Racing for $55,000.

The Didham stable thought enough of Shameless Star as a two-year-old last season to run her in the Group One Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m), and a breakthrough maiden was not expected to be a long time coming this spring.

Trent Didham indicated during the week that the stable had deliberately targeted Sunday’s lucrative bonus, saying, “It’s great that the race on Sunday is a Mega Maidens race, and we’d love to pick up that bonus for the owners.”

That was exactly how it played out, with Shameless Star settling in fourth and one off the rail for jockey Kelly Myers before warming into her work approaching the home turn.

She quickened better than anyone down the straight, dashing to the lead and going on to win by a length.

Shameless Star has now had five starts for a win, a second and two fourths, earning $16,835 – an amount that rises to almost $40,000 when the Mega Maiden owners’ bonus is included.

“She’s always had a ton of ability,” Peter Didham said on Sunday. “Just with her light frame, she may be one of those horses that takes another six months to a year.

‘’Her last run was unlucky, she got a bit unbalanced and missed by a head, but Kelly did a beautiful job from a wide gate today and got her into the one-one on a fast pace.

“She got to the front and wandered around a bit, but she was going away again at the line so it was a good, strong win.”

The next stop in the Mega Maiden Series is the $18,500 NZB Mega Maiden Series (1200m) at Avondale on Wednesday October 8.

Vendor	National Weanling Sale: Windsor Park StudKaraka 2024: Woburn Farm
Purchaser	National Weanling Sale: Woburn Farm (Waikato)Karaka 2024: Exempt Bloodstock/Peter Didham Racing (Auckland)
Breeding	Shamexpress – Zuma
Sale	Lot 3, 2023 National Weanling & Broodmare Sale, $14,000Lot 1059, Karaka 2024 Book 2, $55,000
Breeder	Windsor Park Stud Ltd
Owner	Exempt Bloodstock Ltd, Chelsea Connections Let, Brendon & Debbie Hart