Ratings guru Gary Crispe looks to write the Memo in 2025 Magic Millions 2YO Classic

Gary Crispe says he is a harder judge on his own horses than he is others as he looks to win the Magic Millions with a filly he says has had an unlucky start to her career.

Memo (yellow cap) is aiming to win the Magic Millions on Saturday. Picture: Bradley Photos

Gary Crispe has made a living out of rating other people’s horses but on Saturday he will look to win the Magic Millions with one of his own.

The renowned form guru, who developed the Timeform model to assess horses, said he had to call in a second opinion when it came to rating his own.

Crispe is in the ownership of the Peter Snowden-trained Memo, who surged into Magic Millions calculations with a slashing second in the Wyong Magic Millions last month.

After making a career out of numbers, Crispe said he followed the same model when it came to working out what horses to buy.

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“I have a mathematical model that I have developed around the Timeform ratings which I use to buy into all my fillies,” he said.

“It has been a matter of trying to perfect it over the years, trying to minimise the risk of the horses I buy into.

“It was a no-brainer to buy into Memo when I ran the model on her and I was well aware of Notation, the dam, she was a nice mare.

“She jumped out of the model as a horse I should be buying into and she was with Peter Snowden, who is a great trainer.”

“They don’t all measure up for one reason or another, the model can only get you so far but at the end of the day there so many things can go wrong.”

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They say nothing improves a horse like ownership, but Crispe said he went the other way, often looking for things to mark them down in their ratings.

“I get my chief ratings man Adam (Blencowe) to sanction what I think when it comes to my own horses to keep me grounded,” he laughed.

“It is a bit more difficult, you tend to be a bit more cautious than going the other way.

“I had North Star Lass and (Blencowe) was always more bullish about her than what I was, he turned out to be right.”

Gary Crispe, with the late cricketing legend Richie Benaud, is hoping to win Saturday’s Magic Millions 2YO Classic with Memo.

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When it came to assessing his chances in the Magic Millions, Crispe said Memo was up for the fight after enduring some unlucky runs early in her career.

“Memo was an early two-year-old from day one and we have found with Capitalists they either come on early or don’t come at all,” he said.

“She won her first trial and then she was unlucky first up from a wide barrier over the 1000m which is too short.

“We went to Wyong and she had no luck again, she got held up in the straight which is a kiss of death at Wyong.

“She got poleaxed at Randwick, which upset her and she overraced, then sat three deep with no cover.

“What looked to be a disappointing run actually wasn’t too disappointing because there wasn’t many horses that were up on the speed at the home turn that were in the finish.”

Originally published as Ratings guru Gary Crispe looks to write the Memo in 2025 Magic Millions 2YO Classic