The Country Championships Qualifier races kicked off last weekend at Coffs Harbour, producing a teary moment for local trainer Graham Payne when Baileys (Fastnet Rock) nudged ahead for a 1.5l win.
A few days later it was the turn of the Terry Robinson-trained Art Cadeau (Artie Schiller {USA}) at Goulburn. By March 21, when the final wildcard race is run at Muswellbrook, 16 horses will have qualified for the final on Day 1 of The Championships at Randwick.
It was a concept that kicked off in 2015, a vision by Racing NSW to represent the state’s country racing regions on a city stage. In 2017, John Kelly’s Newhaven Park got involved, sponsoring the final race until this year, when the stud announced its partnership with the entire series.
“It seemed like the perfect fit for us,” Kelly said. “We’re farmers here in rural NSW. We aren’t in the Hunter Valley. The Country Championships had no naming rights, it was unsponsored, so we just thought it would suit us. And it has.”
Newhaven Park is located outside of Boorowa, a little way east of Young and Harden on the south-west slopes of the state.
“Racing is about the grassroots,” Kelly said. “Very few people enter the sport at the elite level, with most of us coming into smaller operations first. And that’s why the Country Championships have been so successful. They’ve been a great way to support country racing, an initiative where bush people can get to Randwick on one of the biggest racing days of the year.”
Breathing new life into country racing
The Newhaven Park Country Championships is one of four major initiatives that Racing NSW undertook in recent years to breathe new life into its country scene. The others were the investment into country cups, the creation of Highway races and the emergence of the $1.3 million The Kosciuszko. Each was designed to improve field quality, increase field sizes and promote betting investment, and it worked.
“You can keep a horse in the bush these days and earn hundreds of thousands in prizemoney,” said Scone trainer Brett Cavanough after he won The Kosciuszko last year with It’s Me (Shamus Award). The horse’s share of the pot was $685,000.
It’s Me | Image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
“These concepts – The Kosciuszko, Country Championships and Highway races – have opened peoples' eyes up to wanting to try and buy a nice horse to race in those events,” Kelly said, “and I think it’s achievable. The Inglis online digital sales, for example, have created a lot of interest from people wanting to buy a Highway horse.”
In 2017, Free Standing (Equiano {Fr}) won the Country Championships final for Northern Rivers-based trainer Cathleen Rode. The horse was a $2500 graduate of the 2014 Inglis Autumn Thoroughbred Sale. It’s Me cost $65,000 at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, while popular 2018 Country Championships winner Victorem (I Am Invincible) also cost $65,000, this time at the Magic Millions 2YOs in Training Sale.
New frontiers for sales companies
The sales circuit has felt the swell of interest from country regions significantly.
The recent Inglis Classic Yearling Sale wrapped up last week with one of the broadest buying-benches in years, the most of any purchase being 13 yearlings to Kavanagh Racing. The Classic Sale last week grossed nearly $60 million, of which no single buyer spent more than $1.5 million, and the Sale’s Highway session sprung a 30 per cent year-on-year increase.
Jonathan D’Arcy is the General Manager of Bloodstock for Inglis and said the company is proud of its presence in country NSW.
“We did a roadshow before Christmas and held a number of lunches and dinners in regional areas,” D’Arcy said. “We got to meet a lot of owners and trainers who were active in the online sales area, and from that we’ve been able to develop relationships so that when sales like Classic come around, we’re inviting them up and looking after them. We’ve seen that the majority are purchasing at least one horse, but we saw some of our country trainers buying two and three horses, which was great.”
"We’ve seen that the majority are purchasing at least one horse, but we saw some of our country trainers buying two and three horses, which was great.” - Jonathan D’Arcy
D’Arcy said he was noticing a lot of country investment on the digital platform. This was highlighted by last week’s online sale of Mo’s Crown (Uncle Mo {USA}) to Tamworth trainer Cody Morgan and Australian Bloodstock. The gelding was sold for $110,000 with a view to The Kosciuszko.
Mo’s Crown
“Every two weeks we’ve got country trainers and owners buying online,” D’Arcy said. “Going back three or four years, those people weren’t on our mailing list and they weren’t regulars at our yearling sales. And I think we’re going to see something very similar at our Premier Sale in Victoria this month with the Showcase session.”
The Showcase Session will feature 214 yearlings on Day 3, and D’Arcy said it will be an opportunity for country investment similar to what occurred at the Classic Sale’s Highway session.
Results speak for themselves
This Saturday, the Newhaven Park Country Championships Qualifiers occur at Wagga. Of the 16 horses nominated, 10 went through a sale, with eight selling. The most expensive among them was Gottaluvtrucks (Camelot {Ire}), a $100,000 graduate of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, who will compete for Albury trainer Donna Scott.
Of the rest, the median price is just shy of $30,000, with two horses, Oamanikka (Oamaru Force) and Sizzling Cat (Sizzling) costing as little as $13,000 apiece. Both are well clear of their price tag in earnings, as are all runners in Saturday’s field that sold for less than $35,000.
