Harness Racing’s Power Couple Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen Age Difference
Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen are racing’s power couple. Despite having a significant age gap, they have a special connection.
Purdon and his wife, Natalie, are two famous trainers of standardbred racehorses in New Zealand. The lovely couple competed in many championships and achieved many beautiful moments together.
Mark has already made his name into the Inter Dominion Hall of Fame. He trained his wife, Natalie Rasmussen, from 2014 to 2020.
Together the couple trained in the last seven New Zealand Trotting Cup winners. However, the pair stated they would end their training collaboration by December 31, 2020, in the middle of November 2020.
What Is Mark Purdon’s Age?
Mark Purdon turned 56 years old in 2022. He recently celebrated his birthday with his wife and family members.
By nationality, Purdon is a New Zealander, but he has raced crossed the world, especially in Australasia. He is a third-generation trainer, and his father, Roy, is a sports legend with four New Zealand Cup wins. Unfortunately, his father passed away at the age of 93 years in February 2022.
The horse trainer started training solo at the age of 32 years from 1998 to 2007. Similarly, between 2008 to 2012, he partnered with Grant Payne. Then from 2014 to 2020, he raced alongside his wife, Natalie Rasmussen.
Since Purdon and Rasmussen began co-managing the Rolleston barn in 2011, Purdon and Rasmussen, dubbed the “it couple,” have built their group into the most potent force in New Zealand history.
The Auckland Pacing Cup meeting at Alexandra Park in December 2020 was their last occasion, and they managed to quinella the Cup with Amazing Dream and Spankem.
Mark Purdon & Natalie Rasmussen Are The Harness Racing’s Power Couple
Mark Purdon and his wife, Natalie Rasmussen, have thirteen years of an age gap between them.
At present, Natalie Rasmussen is 43 years old, while Purdon is still rocking in his horse racing at the age of 56 years.
Compared to her husband, Natalie had a different upbringing. She was born in Townsville, Queensland. Her sisters Kylie and Vicki have also worked as drivers and trainers, while her father trained harness horses.
Initially, Rasmussen worked with harness horses in her native Australia as a driver and trainer. With Blacks A Fake, who she went on to win the competition with three more times, she became the first woman in Australia to train and drive an Inter Dominion winner. Rasmussen was admitted to the Inter Dominion Hall of Fame in 2009.
Rasmussen later relocated to New Zealand, where he began official training alongside Mark Purdon in 2014. They dominated the most major New Zealand races during this time, including the Harness Jewels, the Auckland Pacing Cup, and the New Zealand Trotting Cup.
Into Mark Purdon & Natalie Rasmussen’s Family Life
Mark Purdon and his wife, Natalie Rasmussen, are the parents of two sons- Michael and Nathan. Both of his children are drivers and trainers of Standardbred racehorses.
In 2015, the eldest, Michael, was only 20 years old when he started following in his parent’s footsteps. He made his training debut at the Rangiora workouts riding trotter Duchesse de l’Amour.
Similarly, Nathan recently trained alongside Chrissie and Cran Dalgety back in New Zealand while also receiving guidance from their father. In 2021, he took over teaching the Amazing Dream at his new $250,000 The Rising Sun at Albion Park.
