“You only need a small percentage to enjoy to get the full enjoyment that’s for sure!”
What does your Fred profile say?
Need to add that!
Everyone has a story about getting into racehorse ownership - what's yours?
My mother and father opened the first TAB agency in Maryborough, Victoria back in the mid sixties and my father dabbled with one or two racehorses, not with much luck though. In 1969 we moved to Ballarat where they opened up the TAB agency in Ballarat West and he brought around thirty acres of land in Miners Rest (a couple km’s from Dowling Forest) built some stables and with having five sons (and 1 daughter) he had a good reason to train a few racehorses before he opened the TAB around 10.30am. Before school we would all be up and heading out to ride track work or mucking out stables, three of us would end up race riding. Danny was a top jockey in the Western District and Wimmera areas of Victoria, Shane ended up in SA where he was the leading apprentice in Adelaide and I was a very average apprentice to say the least 65 rides for three winners.
Shane and I owned a horse called Rock Rhythm when we where still at school, she won a couple of races. In the mid late 1990s, I would move to Horsham, Victoria and go to the local races and I was standing there one day with a mate who said we should get a few of us together and get a horse. So we got four other fellas involved and over a 17 year period we had plenty of horses that would win one maybe two races and around $20K which meant that we just broke even. Last straw was at Donald around 2015 the horse we part owned would of ran 15 lengths behind the second last horse. The said horse was by Not A Single Doubt.. must have been the slowest one he sired!
What's been your most memorable experience as an owner so far?
We thought we might take a break for a year or so, but kept putting our $80 a month each away and when it get up around a certain amount I would contact Robert Smerdon. Going back to one of my three race ride winners and one of those was for Robert, his first four winners as trainer and my last as a jockey, the horse was called Skejj that was in 1977. I contacted him one Sunday afternoon in January 2016 and explained what we were looking for, we just wanted to be able get a winner midweek at Sandown or if we are lucky enough maybe even a Saturday metro win, and how much we could spend. By June I was worried he’d forgotten about us so I sent him a text message he replied back “Patience is a virtue Craig”, that horse is Nature Strip!!!
If you could own any horse in the world (past or present) which one would it be?
Refer to my previous answer!
We know it’s impossible to stop at one, what's your ownership stable looking like now?
Henry Dwyer has two - Under Oath (brought shares in him at the same time as Nature Strip) – 7 wins, 10 placings from 41 starts $270,000 in prizemoney and Bad Boy Bobby 2yo who is unraced by Better Than Ready
Daniel Bowman has two also – Ornamental Lady – 1 win, 3 seconds from 6 starts and So She Can Fly 2yo who is unraced by So You Think
Robert Hickmont – yearling by Toronado (brought shares in this one for my wife Carmel’s 60th)
and of course with Chris Waller, Nature Strip - the world’s best sprinter!
How do you decide which horses to get involved with?
I remember when we got the pedigree for Nature Strip, Frank Giampaolo one from our group said it’s got Northern Dancer on both the sire and dam side of his breeding which Frank and a lot of other horse people say is a must, the other five horses I’m involved with have the same cross.
Anything you didn’t know at the start of your ownership journey that you wished you knew?
No, just enjoy the experience of the highs and lows of the racing game, the other people in ownership group of the horses that you are involved with and the people you meet on the way, be it on the track or at the pub. You only need a small percentage to enjoy to get the full enjoyment that’s for sure and if you can get to the track (damn Covid) to watch you horse, go there is no better feeling to there live!!!
Do you want to be our next owner spotlight? Email [email protected] to get involved.
