Swapping G-strings for a Magic dream
TRAINER Graeme Green had a slow racehorse, $1500 in the bank and the shirt on his back. Soon, he didn’t even have the shirt on his back.
The Gold Coast Magic Millions has packed a lot of colourful stories into its rich history but never before has a one-time male stripper been trying to win the top prize.
“I was between marriages in my 20s and walked out of the first one with just the shirt on my back, a slow racehorse and $1500, and I had to survive somehow,” Green said.
“The first time I stripped, a mate said his sister-in-law was having a 21st birthday and they couldn’t find a male stripper. I said I would do it if they found me an outfit to wear.
“I wore a Zorro outfit but I always had a mask on, so noone really knew who I was.
“I always had a G-string and a mask on. I never went past the G-string.
“I didn’t want to put false advertisements out there. I would get $100 to $150 a show and it kept me going for a week or so because I only had a couple of horses in work and they weren’t that fast.”
While Green never went the full monty in his days as the first male stripper in Grafton, NSW, but there was never a dull moment.
The colourful horse trainer, who is now in his 60s and training in Rockhampton in central Queensland, has been happily married for more than 30 years.
However, it was a case of doing whatever he could to get by when he was a young buck in Grafton.
“The first time I did it, it was done as a joke,” Green said. “It went from there and I started doing hen’s nights and birthday parties, invitation only.
“One poor girl one night, it was her party and she wanted to take me home but that was out of the question.
“And then my second wife
I did have some photos of me doing some stripping but the last lot of photos that were taken my wife actually destroyed.
GRAEME GREEN
came along and put a stop to it. I did have some photos of me doing some stripping but the last lot of photos that were taken, my wife destroyed.
“I was quite fit in those days and it was all good fun.”
Green, who first touched on his stripping past with ANZ Bloodstock earlier this year, joked that his stripping days were well behind him.
“A comeback is out of the question,” he said. “Haven’t you seen the size of my body these days?”
He also has more serious matters to consider.
Green forked out $90,000, the most he has ever spent on a yearling, to buy Shamedy at the Gold Coast Magic Millions yearling sales earlier this year.
The two-year-old gelding romped home on debut at his home Rockhampton track when winning by almost three lengths earlier this month.
Shamedy heads to the big smoke on Saturday to race at the metropolitan meeting at the Sunshine Coast to hopefully frank his credentials for the $2m Gold Coast Magic Millions 2YO Classic in January.
Jockey Les “Bubba” Tilley will again be on board after giving rave reviews of the Rockhampton romp.
“The horse won with a bit of arrogance,” Green said.
“Bubba got off and said the horse had a 10-speed gearbox and he was only in second gear.
“He is the most expensive horse I have ever bought and he is starting to live up to expectations.
“He has to perform well on Saturday and if he can step up to the mark, maybe we can start thinking about the Magic Millions.
“His attitude to work is great. For a two-year-old he is very relaxed and there is no madness or silliness in him.
“In the trials he sat off the pace, you can work him on a sixpence, he is very versatile and he can go forward or take a sit.”
Shamedy will contest the $75,000 QTIS 2YO Handicap (1200m) on Saturday and has barrier seven in the eighthorse field.