It is a wonder to me why more people aren’t involved in horse racing. It does require patience and resilience on the part of breeders and owners but surely these are qualities vital for success in just about all aspects of life.
Moreover, in these days of microsyndicates, it’s not an expensive activity. My Cloughmore Racing Partnership owns 9% of a 3YO filly called Vita Amoroso; each partner owns 1% of the horse and is billed around $30 per month. I have no idea what a night on the town costs nowadays, but I’m sure that it’s more than $30.
Sure, some horses are slow and never earn anything back from their owners’ expenses, but it generally doesn’t take long to figure out whether a horse is any good. True, sometimes the trainer isn’t sure on this key point and sometimes the trainer is just plain wrong. An example that still hurts is Dee and Gee. We bought a chunk of her for $1600; five of us outlaid $320 each. She had three starts as a young horse, one of which was quite promising, but the trainer decreed that she had limited ability and our partners were not patient people. So off she went to a South Island stable.
Dee and Gee ended up winning close to $500,000 and included the NZ Cup in her victories. Character building, but at least I had the satisfaction of knowing that I’d selected a good’un – and my resilience levels went through the roof.
But sometimes everything goes right. Judgement and patience are rewarded. And, believe me, there is NOTHING more exciting in life than watching your pride and joy winning a big race.
Yesterday, the Lightning Handicap was run at Trentham. It’s a biggish sprint race and one of the entrants was Our Echo, a horse I’d bred and retained a racing share in. The experts didn’t fancy his chances.
Yet everything went right.
Incidentally, I currently have another Echoes of Heaven for sale or lease. She’s a yearling filly ex the two-win Thorn Park mare, Misty Trella.
