Doull bowled over by one in a Million
Simon Doull reckons he’s had more sleepless night’s leading into New Zealand’s richest horse race than before the biggest test matches of his career.
The former Black Caps bowler part owns Felton Road, the favourite to win the Karaka Million at Ellerslie tonight and the nerves have well and truly kicked in.
The 42 test veteran is no stranger to racing, he fell in love with it in his late teens when working as a maintenance man at the Pukekohe racecourse, before his cricketing career took off.
Having a runner in the $1 million dollar race will be one of the highlights of his racing ventures.
And starting as the favourite means expectations are sky high, but the cricketer turned media personality, is just trying to enjoy the ride.
Doull, who claimed 98 test scalps, said he is more edgy leading into a major horse race than he was standing at the top of his bowling mark because he cannot do anything to influence the result from the grandstand.
‘‘I think when you are playing you feel like you can control what your doing but I’ve got no control tomorrow,’’ he said.
Felton Road is the top tip for many racing experts but Doull has been in racing long enough to know the favourite loses almost as many times as it delivers.
‘‘You need a hell of a lot of luck to win these sort of races. It’s certainly no easy feat to win it,’’ he said.
‘‘We’ve got a ticket in a million dollar lottery and there’s only 14 tickets, that’s probably the best way to look at it.’’
He retired from professional cricket 16 years ago but has never lost his competitive streak and somewhat surprisingly talks about winning horse races in the same breath as his finest moments on the pitch.
‘‘I’d put it up there with test match wins or anything like that, it’s amazing,’’ Doull said.
‘‘It doesn’t matter if you own the tail, a hoof, or the whole horse, the thrill of it winning, there’s nothing like it.’’
Doull claims he still knows minimal amounts compared to the experts but the young quick, who used to enjoy the punt with senior batsman Ken Rutherford, has come a long way.
When Doull chews the racing fat, his passion for the industry shines through and he is no mug either.
‘‘It’s one of those industries where people just don’t realise how much it does for the country, how many people are employed in the industry, the export dollar and the people that it brings into the country,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s an unsung industry that people just don’t quite get.
‘‘Anybody that I’ve got involved, they love it. They say to me ‘why didn’t we have a horse before, it’s great fun’.’’
Often described as an ambassador for racing, Doull once fronted the racing show Kiwi Bred on Trackside TV and he featured in a documentary Off The Track that detailed his racing life on the same channel.
‘‘Anytime I can do anything to help promote the industry I’m more than happy to do it, but it’s a very small part compared to what a lot of others do.’’
Doull has raced countless good horses but Felton Road will be his first runner in the Karaka Million race.
The first horse he raced, the aptly named Maiden Over, was only good enough to win a maiden race at Dargaville but, by the time she won that race on May 7, 2000, the racing bug had Doull firmly in its fangs.
Over the last six or seven years, the number of horses Doull races has been steadily climbing and he says it is the excitement that keeps him in the industry.
The former swing bowler has never looked back from the out of the blue phone call he took from Cambridge thoroughbred trainer Tony Pike to encourage him to take a share in Felton Road.
Unbeaten in two starts, Felton Road deserves his favouritism but Doull is still predicting a big future for the colt if he does not win today.
‘‘When you watch how he’s won those two races you can probably understand why,’’ he said.
‘‘He’s been super impressive from wide gates.
‘‘He has sat wide and he has come wide and he has sort of won reasonably comfortably.’’
‘‘It’s exciting times.’’