“I love thoroughbreds, I love the sales, I love pedigrees but what matters most when I'm buying into one is that I'm in it with great people.”
What does your Fred profile say?
I love racing because, from the time I have been involved in racing, I have learned something new every single day.
Everyone has a story about getting into racehorse ownership - what's yours?
After exploring everything that the punt and going to the races had to offer, for my mates and I, it was then time to "buy a horse".
Luckily enough, a friend of a friend (who is now a close mate) at the time mentioned that his dad, after having owned a few handy ones, had begun dabbling in breeding and had a filly yearling by Strategic on the ground.
Being students and interns at the time, the four of us put our pennies together to buy 1.25% each. Lilly (race name: Star Of Lisbon) gave me my biggest thrill in racing at the time.
What's been your most memorable experience as an owner so far?
There have been a couple.
Winning a Wednesday Sandown race, with Lilly's little sister Ajuda, at 30-1 was an incredible thrill. We led from barrier 14 of 14 and just held on.
The other very memorable experience was being offered and taking a share in a blueblood. Shackleton was a $1.35m yearling but didn't make the grade in Sydney. Bought for around one-twentieth of his sale price and gelded, he went on to win a Saturday race at Ascot for us.
If you could own any horse in the world (past or present) which one would it be?
Northern Dancer. An incredible racehorse and a breed-shaping stallion.
Zabeel a close second for the same reasons.
We know it's impossible to stop at one, so what's your ownership stable looking like now?
My stable just grew from one to three only a couple of months ago.
Shackleton is over in Perth and has recently recommenced his career after a nasty accident back in mid-2019.
The two I've recently added, a Written Tycoon colt in Melbourne and a Per Incanto colt in Perth, are both two-year-olds, unraced and extremely exciting.
How do you decide which horses to get involved with?
I love thoroughbreds, I love the sales, I love pedigrees but what matters most when I'm buying into one is that I'm in it with great people. And quite often it will take you for a ride where you'll meet more wonderful people along the way. And that's the best part of racehorse ownership.
Anything you didn’t know at the start of your ownership journey that you wished you knew?
Not every horse you own will win a race so keep expectations low but aspirations high.
