There are few feelings as good as that winning feeling.
It’s not easy to acquire but when you do, you’ll bounce off the walls with excitement. The feeling of invincibility creeps in… before the inevitability of crashing back to earth smacks you in the beak.
Everyone knows my ownership loyalties lay with Burrumbeet trainer Michael Stanley. We met a long time ago and have raced horses ever since. We’ve had metropolitan winners and won a few group-level races, although that magical Group 1 is still eluding us.
I reckon I follow Mick’s horses closer than he does. To be frank, I follow the entire sport as closely as I can but I track Mick’s stock forensically. We speak infrequently these days due to his busy schedule running the stable and my AFL and twin/toddler commitments, but we try to catch up over the phone when he is travelling to or from a race meeting.
On Wednesday, Mick loaded up a pair of horses and ventured to Bendigo. I gave both an excellent winning chance and my eyes lit up when I saw bookies offering me $13 (some offered more). I do some form for major cards but never for weekday meets. Mick and I had rarely ever spoken about a horse named Soho Dow Jones (pictured above), but I knew he was a smart type and was already a winner in good time at Kilmore.
And sometimes the odds do not match the talent.
I still hold my day job, helping our AFL team chase premiership glory, so I’m not sitting here bragging about cleaning out the betting organisations, but irrelevant of how much you win, getting that winning feeling is worth as much as any monetary collect you can have.
Mick’s second runner, Drain The Swamp (pictured right), also had an excellent winning chance.
He possesses gate speed, has raced against the elite boys of his age group and is awful hard to get past when he leads. Former Kiwi Captain Pins was a hard horse to line up but had won a couple on the spin. You’ll get few credits for picking a $2 winner, but again, the winning feeling is impossible to replicate.
So, a Wednesday evening for me stuck in my Perth quarantine hotel room was fruitful - not because I won lots of money, but because it’s a very cool feeling to follow a sport closely, do your homework and strike when you see an opportunity.
And the very best part of the night was what Mick was wearing as he crossed the winning post. He is donning the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia silks for the month of September and HRV is kindly donating $500 for every winner Mick and John Caldow can nab.
It’s just another of the many excellent causes the trots supports and I was more than happy to hand over some of my Soho Dow Jones winnings to the PCFA.
You can donate to the cause here: https://www.pcfa.org.au/donate
* pictures courtesy of Claire Weston Photography
The opinions expressed in The Forum are those of the author and may not be attributed to or represent policies of Harness Racing Victoria, which is the state authority and owner of thetrots.com.au.