McNamara Conquest was bred by Karen McNamara after receiving a special gesture from Terry and Christine Hall, who loaned their young stallion Conman following the loss of Karen’s homebred stallion McNamara Acrobat. One of five fillies bred during that time, Conquest was broken in by Tommy Ramsay and sent to Matt Tennyson for mustering work to channel her highly strung nature before returning home to be trained by Karen for campdrafting.
Conquest quickly proved her talent, Karen described her as having unmatched pace and feel, able to block anything in camp and control cattle with precision outside. Her standout performance came at Paradise Lagoons, earning a 23-yard score, 66 outside, and a 4-gate, placing second under judge Mark Buttsworth.
Karen, who has bred and competed performance horses for over 48 years, considers Conquest one of the best mares she’s ever drafted. She competed until 12 years old before being retired to stud, always carrying her own foals, in line with Karen’s tradition of no embryo transfers.
To date, Conquest has produced five foals, including:
- Conrio (by Daley’s Play Rio), a local maiden winner and open 2nd placegetter with Scott Tough;
- Exceed (by Wallabah Excel), a consistent draft placegetter;
- Diamonti (by Spin Rey), a futurity draft winner with Joe Payne;
- Angelic (by Wallabah Excel), now starting her competition career with Myles Macdonell;
- A One Stylish Pepto colt sold as a yearling for $10,000 to Charlie McKinnon.
Karen’s passion for performance breeding stems from her father, Ken Payne, a competitive campdrafter who bred and rode many champions including Eastern Ray and Silhouette, both by thoroughbred stallions and both outstanding in the campdraft arena.
