MAGIC OF JAMEKA
MILLIONS SPLASHED
IN sickness and health, Janice McKenna has shared it all with mare Jameka.
A year after the threetime Group 1 winner sat on the brink of death after falling ill with travel sickness, McKenna and husband Colin bought the horse back for $2.6 million at the Magic Millions Broodmare Sale on the Gold Coast yesterday.
The couple owned a 45 per cent share in the fiveyear-old and after reluctantly agreeing with their fellow owners to sell the mare, they managed to secure the horse that won $4,872,925 in prizemoney over a glittering career cut short due to illness.
“I have been doing meditation and I dreamt about her (on Monday) night,” Janice McKenna said of the emotional lead-up.
“I didn’t think we would get her back but I’m so happy because this time last year she nearly died on us from the travel sickness and now she has fought her way back.
“Now she is ours and we can send her to whoever we want to have babies.”
Jameka fell ill after winning last year’s The BMW (2400m) Group 1 at Rosehill at the end of March.
The stress led to McKenna getting sick while strapper Lucy Yeomans, who was on hand to watch the sale, and vet Laura Nath spent weeks sleeping in the stable with Jameka while nursing her back to health.
“I got a really bad muscle disorder that was caused
from stress,” McKenna said.
“All I did was cry over her. Lucy used to pick handfuls of grass for her.
“We have to thank Lucy, Laura, (trainer) Ciaron Maher and all the staff.”
Aquis Park was hosting Jameka at its Canungra base in the lead-up to the sale and CEO Shane McGrath said it would be happy to hold on to her until the McKennas finalised the next stage of life.
Colin McKenna said they hadn’t completely ruled out a return to racing for Jameka but revealed she would likely go to stud.
McKenna said he didn’t expect Jameka’s breeding career to equal her racing one but was adamant it wasn’t about that for the couple who consider the mare, destined to race in Hong Kong and Europe before she fell ill, part of the family.
“She is our mare,” McKenna said.
“She could have taken us around the world but she got crook and she has been very good to us. I’m very happy.”
Jameka was tipped to push the record for a mare sold at the sale, held by Listen Here – sold for $3.4 million two years ago, before the McKennas secured her.