Little guys get their day in the sun as Bateup makes breakthrough
Golden Slipper day made the heart sing. It was one of those rare major race days where the little guys took the spotlight.
There wasn’t a dry eye in my house when Shelby Sixtysix (Toronado), the horse that has come from virtual obscurity to become a force at the highest level, won The Galaxy (Gr 1, 1100m).
‘Shelby’, as often referred to by his growing fan club, has lifted his popular Goulburn trainer Danny Wiliams from the doldrums and inspired him to keep at it despite at one stage thinking he might throw the towel in on his 40-year career in the industry.
Australians love these stories of hope and resilience especially when there’s a racehorse involved.
And in the Golden Slipper, long-time breeder and syndicator Louis Mihalyka had “no words” when his plain bay filly Fireburn (Rebel Dane) spanked her blue-blood pedigreed rivals.
She was one of two horses Warwick Farm-based trainer Gary Portelli had entered in the feature. No stranger to success in the world’s richest two-year-old race having won it in 2017 with She Will Reign, the boy from Orange couldn’t believe she was able to overcome early interference in the race and go on and to win it the way in which she did.
Like many of us, as she approached the home straight Portelli thought the Slipper dream was well and truly over. But, a bit like Danny Williams when he hit despair a few years ago, the tough daughter of Rebel Dane picked herself up off the canvas to gallop into history.
And leading up to all of this great theatre, another good racing story had quietly unfolded.
Kembla Grange-based trainer Theresa Bateup won the Epona Stakes (Gr 3, 1900m) with her $3,000 Inglis Scone Yearling Sale purchase, Monegal (Lope De Vega).
After juggling a full-time job with Services Australia and raising two children, Bateup, 43, switched her focus on training to full-time only a couple of years ago.
On Saturday all her hard work and determination since childhood to one day make it as a trainer paid off and Monegal delivered her the first black-type win of her career.
“It’s like an affirmation. Yes you do know what you are doing and when you have a horse good enough you can aim at these races and mix it with the others,” said Bateup.
She savoured every single moment of her day and spent most of it overwhelmed that she was even there.
“It’s awesome to go to those days and be part of them. I walked straight past Anamoe as I took Monegal home and I was talking to his strapper after he won and I got to stand there and give him a pat. It’s surreal being up close to those types of horses.
“When you first enter into training you are a bit starstruck and then all of a sudden you are competing against them, and in the mounting yard, you talk to them on a daily basis. It’s just unreal.”
Bateup, who currently has 35 horses in work, is holding her own against the big guns and is having her best season yet having trained five city winners so far. And thanks to the efforts of Monegal on Saturday, she can add a Group 3 to the tally as well.
Only a cheap buy, the six-year-old mare has been a revelation after making a slow start on the track and earned her connections, including Bateup, more than $600,000 in prize-money, and is now shaping as a valuable broodmare prospect.
“She’s been a great horse for us, it has been an amazing ride from day one. It’s what gives everyone hope in the game. If the biggest money bought the best horse then none of us would be in the game.
“You don’t need to have the most expensive horse to compete at the top level and that’s the whole romance of the racing industry, it’s those fairytale stories.”
Bateup purchased a half-brother to Monegal by Starcraft (Soviet Star) for $35,000 at last week’s Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sales and she’s currently in Queensland looking for a bargain at the QTIS sales.
Since the emergence of Monegal, Bateup says she’s been finding herself on the invite lists to horse sales around the country and she’s loving every minute of it.
“When the sales companies want to pay your flights and accommodation that’s great. It’s the only holiday I ever get,” she laughed.
Jokes aside, Bateup works hard at the sales. Trying to find that next city winner or elusive first Group 1 winner for not a lot of money is not easy.
For the average trainer, those who make up the majority of the ranks all over this vast country of ours, the results on Saturday at Rosehill served as a bright reminder that the hard slog can be well worthwhile.