How the owners of Gold Coast filly Houtzen made their trek to The Everest
GOLD Coast speedster Houtzen will launch an assault on the $10 million The Everest today in what could be a life-changing moment for trainer Toby Edmonds and the filly’s owners
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GOLD Coast speedster Houtzen will launch an assault on the $10 million The Everest at Randwick today in what could be a life-changing moment for trainer Toby Edmonds and the filly’s owners.
Trust in Edmonds’ ability to identify talent and bring it out – plus a little bit of luck – has given three owners in particular the ride of their lives.
Another has been left cursing in a case of what could have been.
Cairns-based accountant Darren Halpin, Mt Tamborine resident Chris Casey and Edmonds’ daughter Jordan have watched their racing dreams come true with Magic Millions winner Houtzen while a mystery Gold Coaster has missed a huge opportunity.
Here’s how their Houtzen story has unfolded:
DARREN HALPIN - SCRATCHED EARLY BUT RETURNED
DARREN Halpin is the Edmonds stable’s financial man and his ownership of Houtzen is one of the best investments he has made.
But it almost didn’t happen.
Early last year Halpin had shares in 27 horses, including an interest of about 30 per cent in Houtzen.
But he decided he had one too many horses and told trainer Toby Edmonds to offload his share in Houtzen – bought for $105,000 – because she was the cheapest of the lot.
It was a decision that nearly cost Halpin enormous racetrack success and money but the lack of willing buyers late in the filly’s syndication process opened the door for him to salvage the situation.
“I said to Toby just take her back and sell it to someone else,” Halpin said. “I did give her up for a few months.
“Toby rang back and said he hadn’t got rid of this horse and I should keep the interest. He kept half of it, about 15 per cent, and I kept the other half.”
Halpin, 42, said he had no regrets about losing half of his original share.
“The beauty is that Toby’s family got to share in it which is perfect,” Halpin said.
“Toby found the horse so they should benefit from it. I don’t regret anything.
“That’s life. If he hadn’t have rung me I would have had nothing.”
The Cairns accountant said watching Houtzen win the $2 million Magic Millions 2YO Classic on the Gold Coast in January, compete in the $3.5 million Golden Slipper in Sydney and get a run in the $10 million The Everest today was a dream come true.
“Winning the Magic Millions was awesome,’’ he said.
“I’ve been trying to do it for the last 15 years and rarely get a horse in the race and this year I had a favourite and it won.
“Toby has a lot of good horses at the moment and I’m in most of them.”
Halpin was the man who drew the outside barrier for Houtzen at the Magic Millions in January and joked he had been banned from taking on the role again.
JORDAN EDMONDS - MORE THAN SHE BARGAINED FOR
JORDAN Edmonds was the major beneficiary of Darren Halpin’s Houtzen hesitation.
Jordan, a stable strapper and daughter of trainer Toby Edmonds, secured the other half of the share that Halpin decided to give up.
The 23-year-old always planned to be involved with the filly that her father had huge big wraps on but expected to hold about just 5 per cent as one of the last buyers.
She ended up with less than under 15 per cent and she couldn’t have been happier.
“It wasn’t so much that I wasn’t going to go into the horse, it was more so how much per cent of the horse I was going to own,” Jordan said.
“Running into her first trial (in December) she needed to be sold so that is how I ended up with the share I did.”
Jordan, the Edmonds Racing Stables office manager, has been buying into horses since she was 18 and said she appreciated Toby’s astute eye.
“I didn’t really expect to have that much of a share in her,” she said. “I’m glad I listened to my father.
“I’ve been roped into a few average ones but I will say the last two or three years he has put together quite a few good horses for me, so I’m very grateful.”
Jordan was pregnant with now seven-month-old daughter Savannah when she watched Houtzen win the $2 million Magic Millions on the Gold Coast in January.
Today they will watch the race together.
“Savannah is very alert and loves the horses,” Jordan said.
CHRIS CASEY - BEYOND OUR DREAMS
CHRIS Casey is part of a group of five friends who have achieved what every average punter dreams of doing.
The mates hold the biggest share in Houtzen – about 50 per cent.
Casey (retired public servant), Steve Hargraves (Mt Tamborine police officer), Paul Lederhose (electrician), Steve Shirley (accountant) and Neil Warren (accountant) still can’t believe how their luck has turned around with Houtzen.
“The five of us have had a tremendous ride,” 63-year-old Casey said.
”We have been racing horses together for about 20 years and normally we buy one or two a year so usually have three or four on the go.
“We hadn’t had a winner in two years before we got involved with Toby Edmonds and also (fellow Gold Coast trainer) Helen Page and I think we are up to 22 winners in the time since we shifted.
“It’s an amazing turnaround. She has been the answer to our dreams.
“We had never had anything more than one horse that won an off-season Saturday race. He won two of those and we thought that was the end, that was as good as we were ever going to get.
“This is beyond all of our dreams.”
MYSTERY MAN - AND THE LINGERIE MODEL
ONE person has been living a nightmare while Houtzen’s owners have been sharing in a dream.
Trainer Toby Edmonds was having trouble finding people to buy the final shares available for Houtzen after he bought the horse as a yearling in January last year.
Edmonds held an open day for potential buyers and a Gold Coaster bought a 5 per cent share in the filly that was yet to be named.
The man held his share until later that year when “Houtzen” was mistakenly submitted as her name.
The filly was meant to be called Doutzen, after sexy Dutch model Doutzen Kroes but auto-correct changed the spelling to Houtzen when Edmonds’ son Trent sent him a text message with the details.
Although no one in the syndicate will talk about it, the racetrack grapevine suggests the man objected to the intended link to a Victoria’s Secret lingerie model and opted out.
Edmonds, who by now had seen the filly gallop, decided he would pick up the share.
Houtzen has gone on to win $1,559,600 in prizemoney and could add a further $5.8 million today if she claims first prize in The Everest.
HOUTZEN - THE FLYING FILLY
Age/sex: 3YO bay filly.
Breeding: I Am Invincible-Set To Unleash (by Reset).
Cost: $105,000 as a yearling.
Owners: Miss J Edmonds, Just Fun Racing, G1G Racing & Breeding, Aquis Farm, Mr R J Casey, Ms D J Rochfort, Mr C M Casey, Mr G M Lawrence, Mr P J Mullen, Ms X Huang, Mr N A Warren, Mr S I Hargreaves, Mr P J Lederhose, Mr P J Peters, Mr S J Shirley, Mr A K Warren, Raffles Thoroughbred Racing.
Trainer: Toby Edmonds.
Record: Five wins from seven starts.
Biggest wins: 2017 Magic Millions 2YO Classic on Gold Coast and Group 3 Scarborough Stakes in Melbourne.
Prizemoney: $1,559,600.
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