‘Lindsay Park Ladies’ having a ball with Belle

Cover image courtesy of Racing Photos

If the post-race scenes at The Valley on December 16 are any indication, the Gold Coast will be the scene of one almighty party if the Ben and JD Hayes-trained Croatian Belle (Brazen Beau) can add her name to the R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic honour roll in a little over three weeks’ time.

Bred by Gerry Harvey, Croatian Belle is a 2-year-old filly from the winless High Chaparral (Ire) mare Croatian that was purchased by her trainers for $130,000 at this year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale from the Baramul Stud draft. She is raced by an all-female syndicate headed by Ben Hayes’ partner Grace Ramage, who is the racing and client liaison for Lindsay Park Racing.

Croatian Belle put herself in the mix for the January 14, R. Listed scamper, when winning impressively on debut, much to the delight of her 33 owners, who rightfully celebrated as if they’d won the G1 Cox Plate.

Ramage, who was on course and working for Racing.com the night Croatian Belle registered her 2l victory, told TDN AusNZ it was one of the biggest thrills she has experienced during her time in the sport, right alongside Mr Brightside’s (NZ) (Bullbars) triumph in the G1 Doncaster Mile at Randwick in April.

“How do you explain, it? It was just so rewarding, as most of my job is when we have good success, but in particular this one because of the fact that we had gathered 33 individual female owners,” Ramage said.

“We didn’t really have any expectations as to what she was going to do and then she comes out and wins like that – it was really impressive and you can only beat what you’re up against and that’s what she did – so, it was just perfect.

“It was this time last year that we were talking to the girls that are in Croatian Belle and explaining what we were going to do and explaining the type of horse we were going to buy and outlining what our goals are, and then to have it pretty much go to plan, it’s a great reward and really satisfying. It was so much fun to have these girls come on that experience.”

Ramage explained that Croatian Belle’s large ownership group comprises new and existing clients and from the outset, they are included on the journey with education about racing generally and their filly specifically, all while having a hell of a lot of fun.

“At that price point of $130,000, quite a few of the owners have one per cent, some of them have two, some have two-and-a-half, and then a couple have five per cent,” said Ramage.

“It was a real focus on putting a group of girls together for the social aspect and also to learn more about the training of horses and racing horses, and then to be able to put that group of girls together… we’ve entertained them through events throughout the year, so they all knew each other going into Croatian Belle’s first start.”

Girls go racing – and cash-in

Croatian Belle is the second of six yearlings Lindsay Park bought this year specifically to target Magic Millions and Inglis female-only bonuses schemes. Stablemate Arkansaw Kid (Harry Angel {Ire}) – a $190,000 buy from the 2022 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale - also won on debut, taking out the R. Listed Listed Inglis Banner on Cox Plate day, landing a $200,000 ‘Pink Bonus’ in addition to the $302,000 winner’s cheque.

“As well as Croatian Belle, we’ve got an Inglis womens' Pink Bonus horse (Arkansaw Kid); there’s amazing girls in her that had the best time ever when she won on debut on Cox Plate Day,” Ramage commented.

“So, it’s been a bit of a dream start for the 2022 ladies’ horses; we’ve had two runners, for two winners.

“We’ve got Croatian Belle potentially going to the Gold Coast for the Magic Millions and the Inglis Millennium is certainly on the agenda for Arkansaw Kid.”

In 2023, a $500,000 bonus will be distributed to the connections of the first four ‘all-female owned or leased horses’ in the R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic, with the first runner across the line earning their connections $325,000, as well as a $3000 trophy.

The 2023 R. Listed Inglis Millennium, meanwhile, which will be run at Randwick on February 11, carries a $400,000 bonus to the first eligible horse home.

“This is a result of what myself and Jenny McAlpine (public relations consultant at Lindsay Park) have been doing, for me the past year, but for Jenny, since the Magic Millions Ladies’ Bonus Scheme started a decade or so ago,” Ramage commented.

“Jenny has been focusing on this and has been a huge supporter of that scheme. Jenny does such an amazing job in hosting them regularly and that social element again of getting to know each other and building that community within the Lindsay Park stable for the female owners.

“Now, I suppose, I’m learning off her (Jenny) and we’ve bought it down to a new price point which is very inclusive for anyone; you don’t have to take a five per cent share, you can take less than that and have just as much fun.

“We’ve have got great female owners that each year are really keen to-re-invest and buy into a new girls’ horse at the yearling sales, and now our focus isn’t just Magics, we have Inglis as well with their big bonus series.

“We’ve done a lot of marketing and a lot of social media campaigning, especially leading into the 2022 sales and again this year (for the 2023 sales) around just getting that awareness out there that you can have a lot of fun and race for really good prizemoney. It’s a real no-brainer.

“With Croatian Belle, most of the owners haven’t been in the Lindsay Park system, they just saw the marketing and social media campaigning and thought it looked like a lot of fun… they’re all pretty-much hooked now.”

Building upon a solid foundation

With the 2023 sales season just around the corner, Ramage said the stable will be buying more yearlings for all-female syndicates.

And considering the achievements of Arkansaw Kid and Croatian Belle, there should be shortage of interest.

“We will be heavily focused at Magic Millions and Inglis equally to be buying ladies’ horses and especially with the mindset of groups of getting like-minded women together,” Ramage said.

“It’s a real community that we’re trying to build and the great part is that when I’m talking to prospective clients, I’m not talking to husbands, I’m talking to the girls. Maybe back in the day it was husbands in their wives’ names, now I don’t speak to any husbands at all, it’s just the girl, which is amazing.”

And there may be more success during the week of the first sale of the year, with Croatian Belle, whose Exceedance half-sister will go through the ring at Bundall as Lot 1066, set to contest the R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic, should she make the field (she is currently 25th in the order of entry).

“She’s going to run either at The Valley on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day at Flemington; we’ll just go to the race where she’s got the best chance of securing the most amount of prizemoney to get into the field,” Rammage explained.

“If she was to win and if she is to get enough prizemoney, she will be heading up there for sure. There will be 33 ladies and their family and friends booking last-minute flights to the Gold Coast, which will be amazing.”

Making good use of a deep love of racing

Whether it be watching her on television, listening to her podcast, or chatting to her face-to-face, Ramage’s passion for the sport is most evident. She admits it’s in the blood, with racing being the sport of choice for her family.

“We’ve always owned racehorses and I’ve always followed racing. I’ve just been a crazy horseracing girl forever, basically. I idolised females in racing like Clare Bird, the strapper of Sunline, and Sheila Laxon, who trained Ethereal to win the Cups double. I looked up to them and wanted to follow in their footsteps,” said Ramage.

“At university, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I got a job at (accounting firm) Ernst And Young and was there for 18 months, but I knew I wanted to work in racing and then I got the job at Racing.com.

“It’s always been my passion.”

Ramage has been a welcome addition to the industry, drawing upon her experiences to help attract people, especially females, to the sport she loves.

It’s her view that those that aren’t around or introduced to racing from a young age can often slip through the cracks, so education and awareness is key. She believes 'there’s plenty of women that are already on the hook, but need to know more', and when they’re in the door, the opportunities are endless.

Ramage said: “What I’m really passionate is trying to get girls to understand racing better, so they can get more enjoyment from the sport, and that ties in nicely with my podcast, ‘Ladies Who Punt’, which I do alongside Fiona Blair, who also works at Lindsay Park. We came up with this as nobody was explaining racing to a new audience. The media can get very heavy with racing jargon and it can be difficult for people to understand, so what we do with Ladies Who Punt is aim to decode the sport of racing one topic at a time, like understanding what odds are, understanding what the class system is with handicaps, why weights are important, etc.

“There’s so many different things that we wanted to try and better educate, specifically to women, but we have had lots of males also get a better understanding of the sport, too.

“There’s a lot of ladies that go to the races because their husband or partner might have a share in a horse and they would go because it’s cool to do and they’re fast and it's really social, but I just felt that if they understood more about the sport, they would personally get a lot more enjoyment out of it and we all know how amazing racing is and how addictive it can be as a passion. That’s the grand aim, basically, and we’re on the right path.”