BUOYED from winning the Belflyer For The Kosciuszko Class Two race (with Caro Cavallo) at his home track of Grafton the previous day, veteran conditioner John Shelton did just that and won the inaugural running of The Kosciuszko with stable representative Belflyer at Randwick last Saturday.
Worth a massive $1.3 million The Kosciuszko would rate as the richest race for country trained gallopers in Australia – if not indeed the world, and which showcased many country regions around the state.
Among the leading trainers in the Northern Rivers region, the trainer was overwhelmed with emotion after Belflyer – among the outsiders of the field of 12 horses, won the 1200 metres sprint.
“Amazing,” John said after the race.
I’ve been training for 40-odd years and it’s the biggest thrill I’ll ever get on a racecourse.
- John Shelton
“I’ve been training for 40-odd years and it’s the biggest thrill I’ll ever get on a racecourse.
“It’s fantastic for the owners and slot holders and a day I’ll never forget.”
The trainer gave much praise to Belflyer’s jockey Adam Hyeronimus who was formerly apprenticed to John at Grafton.
Relishing the heavy rainy conditions, the hoop guided the horse home by half a length over the Melonie O’Gorman Tamworth trained Suncraze, with Jenny Graham’s less favoured of her two runners - Awesome Pluck, for third. The Danny Williams, Goulburn prepared favourite Don’t Give A Damn was fourth, and second favourite Victorem (the other prepared by Jenny Graham at Port Macquarie) fifth, while sixth was After All That – trained at Scone by Rod Northam.
A Victorian-bred seven-year-old by Bel Esprit, Belflyer was passed in for $75,000 at the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale. The gelding has been in the Shelton stable for about 13 months.
The Kosciuszko is run along a similar concept as The Everest race, each of its 12 runners having “slot holder/s” who – along with the horses’ owners shared among the spoils. Belflyer’s slot holders included Thaddeus King, Nathan Lavers, and Richie Butterworth of Sydney’s Northern Beaches who purchased a number of the $5 sweepstakes tickets, and after negotiations they were allowed to become part-owners in the horse.
TAB Highway race
THE phenomenally massive crowd at Randwick was bolstered by the country connections not only via The Kosciuszko, but also from the $100,000 TAB Highway Handicap which had 15 competitors. Randwick’s second race on the program only for country trained horses, the TAB Highway was won by the Matt Dunn prepared Tristan de Angel ridden by Brenton Avdulla. This was a consolation for the Murwillumbah trainer as earlier that week he had to scratch favourite Care To Think from The Kosciuszko.
The Everest
THE massive Randwick crowd joined in jubilation of all the 10 race winners, but the “roar” which erupted prior, during, and after the pinnacle race The Everest was thunderous with pandemonium breaking out among elated owners and slot holders in the dismount yard when Redzel won. The second running of The Everest with this year’s stakes raised to an astounding $13m the richest turf race in the world, had its promotions running at fever pitch with much controversy just days before surrounding its preceding barrier draw being beamed onto the sails of Sydney’s iconic Opera House.
Trained by local father/son team of Peter and Paul Snowden, Redzel won the 1200 metres event for the second time for the Triple Crown Syndicated gelding which is headed by brothers Michael and Chris Ward.
A six-year-old by Arrowfield Stud’s champion sire Snitzel, Redzel is raced by a syndicate of people from “all walks of life” while the slot holder was “Yulong” a name which belongs to a Chinese Thoroughbred enthusiast worth mega millions. The Yulong name also lends itself to many horses the businessman now owns and races in Australia.
