The Michael Moroney Stakes a fitting legacy to its namesake

Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything

Many of racing’s biggest races honour the sport’s greatest, and the late Mike Moroney will be recognised on September 12 with the running of the Listed Michael Moroney Stakes at Flemington. The naming was a pleasant surprise for the G1 Melbourne Cup-winning trainer’s daughter Aliesha, who spoke openly about her father’s legacy on the anniversary of his passing in February.

A bucket list item

“It was a really nice surprise for the family, and even his grandkids are really excited about it,” said Aliesha, who shared that the call had come from Racing Victoria requesting permission to name the race after Mike.

“It was something he had actually spoken about before he passed, like a bucket list item that he would really love to achieve. It was a pretty special moment to get the call.

“A lot of the legends he looked up to, like Bart Cummings, have had races named after them, but I don’t think he would have thought he would get one named after himself. He probably didn’t see how brilliant he was himself.”

Aliesha touched on the subject in February, when talking about the loneliness that Mike felt at times, despite his passion for his work as a trainer.

“People would talk to us about him all the time, and yet when he came back to New Zealand, he would joke about, ‘I think people have forgotten about me’,” she said. “I would tell him that I don’t think that’s right, but on reflection, I can see how he would not have anticipated that something like this sort of thing would happen after he passed.”

A trainer’s calendar is always full, and when work is all-consuming, Aliesha recognises that it may have distanced her father from truly understanding how much others around him cared about him.

“I suppose you get really busy, especially as a trainer, trying to be better every day, and you sometimes lose sight of your achievements,” she said. “And it can get quite hard - you have genuine friendships, but you are so busy with clients and your job that you don’t see them often, and you can end up feeling quite alone. Your job often becomes your whole life.”

Aliesha knew it surprised many people to hear those sentiments back in February, and reiterated her belief that Mike would be looking down with pride to know he had hit one of his bucket list items finally.

“He is hopefully looking down at us, raising a glass of Pinot, and feeling proud for what he has achieved,” she said. “And this race acknowledges more than him, it acknowledges the whole team that has made this happen. Paul and his parents, (Mike’s partner) Karen and Anthony, and all of those people who have helped over the years. It is for all of them.”

The right kind of race

The race that will now bear Mike’s name in perpetuity was previously known as the Listed Exford Plate and is part of the records of Group 1-winning juvenile Vinrock, G1 Caulfield Guineas winner Griff, G1 Doncaster Handicap winner Brutal (NZ), and multiple Group performer Merion (NZ) (O’Reilly {NZ}), trained by Mike himself.

The 1400-metre race for 3-year-olds has been a traditional lead-up for the Guineas and has also turned out horses like Artorius, Snapdancer (Choisir), and recent stakes winners West Of Swindon (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and Wise Inlaw (Wootton Bassett {GB}).

Aliesha, partner Chad Ormsby, and their two daughters will be flying over for the inaugural running of the race bearing Mike’s name. It will be an emotional return to the track that Mike loved so much.

“We've booked our flight and we're really excited about being able to be here,” she said. “It will be quite hard too, because the last time I was at Flemington was for the celebration of his life. It's going to be a pretty emotional day, but I know it's a day that he would be incredibly proud of.”

A lasting legacy connecting others

Aliesha has also incorporated her father’s passion and legacy into her own work. She soft-launched Lead Out Collective earlier in the year and the brand has steadily been growing a following in New Zealand, with workshops run at the family’s Riverrock Farm and networking events booking out in advance.

“We have been doing a lot of workshops over the last few months, and we have sold out the last three or four events,” Aliesha said. “We just started running a regular networking event called Beyond The Barn, which has in many ways been a nod to Dad. He loved talking about business and connecting with others through his love of business.

“We built him a wing on the house that we had hoped he would be able to come back and use to spend time here, but he wasn’t able to see it. That’s where we host all our workshops on the farm, which has been going really well.”

Aliesha wants to keep producing environments where like-minded individuals in the Thoroughbred world can get together and exchange ideas, and is pleased with how it has worked so far.

“It’s been great to see people in the industry really focused on how we can help each other to do better and be better, how we can collectively lift one another up,” she said. “It’s been really well received and has continued to grow.

“It’s been really nice to see people share their stories and share them in a really honest way with one another, and to get the feedback from people on what is working.

“We have been running a lot of AI workshops and it has been great to hear from people that have attended, who have found they can use it for streamlining race programming and client communications. Those comments have come from people who weren't particularly technologically minded either.”

Whether it’s through the race bearing his name, the people inspired by his life, or the workshops taking place in his quarters on Riverrock Farm, Mike Moroney’s light won’t be dimmed any time soon.