Mike Crooks backs his Gold Coast Magic Millions 2YO Classic runner Secret Sort to win $125,000
Colourful owner Mike Crooks loves a bet and he’s backed his Gold Coast Magic Millions 2YO Classic contender – a horse he bought over the phone while enjoying a beer – to win $125,000.
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Mike Crooks purchased his Gold Coast Magic Millions 2YO Classic contender over a beer and now the larrikin owner has backed the gelding to win $125,000.
Secret Sort doesn’t carry the famous ‘Mishani’ moniker like most of Crooks’ horses, but that is because he purchased him rather than bred him.
Crooks has been impressed by Tassort as a sire so he purchased Secret Sort for $50,000 – a deal he says that was struck over the phone with Magic Millions while he was “having a beer on his porch”.
Secret Sort is safely in the Magic Millions field after a Doomben win in November, which he followed up with third and fourth-placed finishes in a pair of Stakes races, and Crooks insisted the gelding was not out of his depth in Saturday’s $3m 2YO Classic.
He did some shopping with bookmakers recently and snapped up $201 (win) and $51 (place) – plonking $500 each-way on for a potential six-figure punting collect.
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“If this little horse wins, we might have a good drink coming up,” Crooks, known for his love of a bet, told Racenet.
“He’s a sneaky chance in the race.
“I was looking at the prices the other day and I couldn’t believe he was $201.
“He will have to put his best foot forward, but finishing fourth is as worse as he has gone in his career.
“I don’t think there’s any standout there this year where you look and go, that’s the one we have to beat in the Magic Millions.”
No secrets about it - Secret Sort is a winner!
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) November 9, 2024
The @rajah9879 trained galloper takes Race 1 at Doomben thanks to a great ride by @CodyCollis03!@BrisRacingClubpic.twitter.com/4cpDBbUinl
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Crooks is yet to win the Magic Millions 2YO Classic but the party could last for weeks if the colourful owner, who now has his horses trained by Donna Stanbridge, wins the $3m juvenile dash.
Crooks, who made his fortune building swimming pools, initially suspected Secret Sort might develop into a better three-year-old.
But he has been impressed by his two-year-old season, including when finishing fourth and just 2.5 lengths off Ciaron Maher’s Magic Millions fancy Icarian Dream in the Group 3 BJ McLachlan Stakes last start.
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“I always thought Tassort would make a nice sire so I purchased this little fellow while I was sitting on my back porch having a beer,” Crooks said.
“I rang Magic Millions and said what’s that horse going for? And then I purchased him over the phone.
“Anything I buy, I don't normally name ‘Mishani’, the Mishanis are the ones that we have bred.
“I have just been poking along with Secret Sort, I initially thought he would be a better three-year-old.
“But he has impressed me and if you look at his stride, he’s got a very big stride for a little horse.”
Secret Sort is $51 on TAB fixed odds.
Originally published as Mike Crooks backs his Gold Coast Magic Millions 2YO Classic runner Secret Sort to win $125,000
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