“I love the adrenaline of cheering a horse as it chases the winning post!”
What does your Fred profile say?
'I love the adrenaline of cheering a horse as it chases the winning post'
Everyone has a story about getting into racehorse ownership - what's yours?
I would have been in my early 20s when I was looking to get into my first horse. I searched a number of trainer websites and found a son of Star Witness to be trained by Mick Kent, and decided I'd buy in.
What's been your most memorable experience as an owner so far?
My most memorable experience would have to be seeing that horse win at Bendigo on Caulfield Cup day. I was at a picnic meeting at Avoca for a bucks [arty, but all the boys watched the Bendigo race on a screen in the Avoca bookies ring as I cheered Supergrass winning by five lengths at about $8.
If you could own any horse in the world (past or present) which one would it be?
It would be hard to go past Chautauqua; he was a thrilling horse to watch. I would have loved to have gone to Hong Kong as an owner and watched him take out the Chairman's Sprint from last, that would have been quite a joy.
We know it's impossible to stop at one, so what's your ownership stable looking like now?
I've actually got little shares in five horses at the moment. A three-year-old Dissident filly with Bennett Racing and Malua Racing called Defiant Diva, who is progressing nicely. The other four are unraced: a two-year-old Winning Rupert filly with Dream Thoroughbreds and Ciaron Maher Racing called Lawbreaker, a two-year-old Dissident gelding with Mitch Freedman, a two-year-old Dundeel gelding with Gemma Rielly, and a two-year-old Holler filly with First Light Racing and Ellerton Zahra Racing called Screaming Diva.
How do you decide which horses to get involved with?
I started a little syndicate where we decided to get five per cent of five horses. The idea was to get five from different trainers and syndicators so we could get a diverse experience. All five were around the $50k-$80k mark as yearlings, so at $2500-$4000 for a five per cent share, I think is a pretty good price point for someone looking at entry level racing.
Anything you didn’t know at the start of your ownership journey that you wished you knew?
Probably that there's little value in colts once they're gelded! Hahah. My preference is fillies, as it only takes a few nice wins for them to have some residual value at the end of their careers, which gives you a bit of money back to invest again. Soul Star was a horse I raced with Dream Thoroughbreds and she won $179,000 on the track and was then sold for $110,000 as a broodmare, after being purchased for $50,000 as a yearling
