Racehorse owners launch campaign to get ‘battler’s icon’ into All-Star Mile
The “everyday Aussie” owners of a racehorse that’s been compared Rocky Balboa are going to extreme lengths to get him into the All-Star Mile.
Victoria
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The owners of a racehorse described as “the battlers’ icon” and compared to Rocky Balboa are mounting a big campaign to earn him a place in the All-Star Mile.
The group of about 20 “everyday Aussies” has unveiled a 8x4m mural of Keats on La Trobe St in Melbourne’s CBD, and initiated a nationwide poster campaign to encourage people to vote the bargain horse into the final field of the $5m race.
The Irish thoroughbred was initially purchased for more than $400,000 back home before being brought to Australia, where Jack Dickens of The Mailbag Bloodstock racing syndicate company bought him at an online auction for just $25,000.
Dickens said others, including Apparition Media director Tyson Hunter, had since bought into the horse.
Keats has raked in about $144,000 in less than six months for his new owners, notably winning the $100,000 Peninsula Cup, with trainer Gavin Bedggood’s influence resulting in a significant improvement in the six-year-old’s demeanour.
Dickens said Keats had earned the right to contest Australia’s only fan-voted race at Moonee Valley on March 18, and urged the public to get behind the horse, his “everyday Aussie battler” owners and his “underdog” trainer.
“(Keats) is capable of anything on his day, and we know, no matter what, he’s going to go down swinging,” he said.
He added voters could check out Keats in a Group 2 race at Sandown on Blue Diamond Stakes Day on February 25.
The gelding’s owners – led by Hunter and Mailbag Bloodstock racing manager Jono Rayner – are doing everything they can to get him into the final field.
Hunter donated the La Trobe St mural, which took four artists three days to paint and will remain on display until voting closes on February 26, and called in media agency 8 Days to handle the postering campaign.
“Keats is the battlers’ icon, it was the least we could do for him,” 8 Days director Dan Black said.
Keats was just in the frame to gain one of 10 guaranteed spot in the All-Star Mile halfway through the voting window, sitting in 10th place.
Voters whose chosen horses land in the top 10 enter a draw to become owner-ambassadors of the thoroughbreds in the final field, and subsequently win between $10,000 and $250,000 in prize money.
Originally published as Racehorse owners launch campaign to get ‘battler’s icon’ into All-Star Mile
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