Owners watch on from afar
MUCH of the fun and enjoyment of ownership is getting trackside and cheering on your horse.
But, with recent rules and regulation changes to stop the spread of coronavirus, connections of all horses around Australia, and especially here in North Queensland, have had to do it from the comfort of their loungerooms.
For a group of owners, some based in Sydney and wine country in South Australia, watching their horses go around in the north of Queensland from the comfort of their own homes or the local pub, when it was open, was how it was always done.
The in-form Tablelands stable of Sharlee D’avila has a group of owners that keeps sending nice horses north and therefore investing in the North Queensland industry, while being hundreds of kilometres away.
The crew has Akileos, Centro Superior, Ammate and Makarios, and previously had Metazoa and Spacex.
“It started with Makarios, the run we have had with Sharlee,” Julian Holsman, who has shares in all of the horses, said.
“It is mainly Sydney-based guys, with a few in Adelaide that are in a punters’ club, which is based at a pub in the Barossa.
“We are small-time owners and the main thing for us is watching it on TV.
“We have bought a horse in
New Zealand as well that we are expecting to arrive up there in mid June.”
The syndicates have been growing for 10 years, starting with the plan to want to win a Highway race in Sydney.
Highways were introduced as races for country-trained horses only to be included in
Sydney Saturday meetings.
Holsman, who works at the University of NSW in IT, first struck up the relationship with the D’avilas when Wanderson was riding in country NSW a few years back.
Akileos has been impressive since moving north, not outside the top two in his four efforts, and goes searching for his third victory this afternoon in the Benchmark 65 Handicap (1500m) at Cannon Park
“The thing about Akileos was he always ran good sectionals at a provincial level in Sydney,” Holsman said.
“He has been running to the outside fence, he has always run around a bit in the straight and we are trying to get that sorted.”
Ammate is an emergency in the Benchmark 55 Handicap (870m) and will head to the non-tab races on Saturday if he does not get a start today.
“He goes fast,” Holsman said. “It will probably be on speed if he can get a run on Thursday.”
HE HAS BEEN RUNNING TO THE OUTSIDE FENCE, HE HAS ALWAYS RUN AROUND A BIT IN THE STRAIGHT AND WE ARE TRYING TO GET THAT SORTED
JULIAN HOLSMAN