Girls Back A Winner In Syndicate
Newcastle Herald
Monday August 4, 2008
NEWCASTLE Jockey Club has come up with a winner by putting together a syndicate of the club's women members to race a horse.
A gathering of some of the 30 new owners was held at Broadmeadow on Saturday morning to look over their new pride and joy, a two-year-old that has been registered as Stradeux."It was a bit of a gamble to see if any of our lady members would be keen on racing a horse, but we have been overwhelmed by the response," Newcastle Jockey Club senior staff member Di Wade said. "We put together a 30-strong syndicate very quickly, and hopefully they will add a new dimension to racehorse ownership locally."Hopefully, we can show you don't have to be the rich and famous to have fun and success with a horse."Wade, who is the personal assistant to NJC chief executive officer John Curtis, was asked to put the syndicate together."John and I went through the catalogue of the sale run by Brisbane Bloodstock, and we liked the colt by Strategic from Pas Deux," she said."He is eligible for our BOBS [breeders and owners bonus scheme] bonus in NSW as well as a series of bonus races in Queensland."We asked Pam O'Neill [former star woman jockey] for her opinion of the horse, and she said he was one of her picks at the sale."I was bidding by phone to Pam, and she secured the horse for $18,000."Once we advertised with our members what we had planned, we got an immediate and positive reaction." Newcastle trainer Phil Anderson was asked to prepare the youngster for the owners."I have got a good feel about this little horse," Anderson said. "He is sensible and seems so genuine and the trackworkers who have ridden him say he gives them a good feel."It is just a matter now of giving him the right education and time to mature."And Stradeux has been nominated for the greatest two-year-old event of them all the Golden Slipper."You have to be in it to win it," Wade said.
© 2008 Newcastle Herald
