Owner Noel Greenhalgh has designs on winning Caulfield Cup, The Everest and Cox Plate
Owner Noel Greenhalgh has already won five Group 1s and his wife recently won another, but he is now eyeing off another three in the space of just seven days.
Imagine having won your fifth Group 1 earlier this month and then cheering as your wife pocketed the Group 1 Thousand Guineas on Wednesday.
Now imagine you have a leading Caulfield Cup contender on Saturday.
But you will instead be trackside at Randwick because you are in the ownership of Chris Waller’s The Everest slot as Nature Strip aims to go back to back in the $15m race.
But for all that, imagine being an avid punter and ruing watching one of your horses win at $41 at Caulfield on Wednesday without having a cent on.
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Welcome to the wonderful world of Brisbane-based owner Noel Greenhalgh.
The former Irishman has had some sort of month.
Zougotcha was the highlight when, wearing Greenhalgh’s distinctive racing colours with a green shamrock, the Chris Waller-trained filly stormed to victory in the Group 1 Flight Stakes.
Caulfield on Wednesday wasn’t far behind when James McDonald produced a magic act to score the Thousand Guineas on Madame Pommery, with Greenhalgh’s wife Maria in the all-ladies ownership syndicate.
Greenhalgh’s week could get even better as he fancies the Caulfield Cup chances of former import Gold Trip, a controversial race eve scratching from last year’s Cox Plate.
And the party could go on for weeks if Nature Strip wins The Everest.
But what about the roughie that Greenhalgh missed backing?
“David Eustace rang me 15 minutes before race six on Wednesday and said our horse (Ascension – part owned with Rod Lyons) would need the run,” Greenhalgh said.
“I said David, should I have something on it?
“He said, no, if it runs fourth, fifth, sixth we should be delighted.
“I thought rightio I won’t back it, and I watched it win at $41. I had zero on it.
“It races in Rod Lyons’ Nature Strip colours with my green shamrock in the middle of those colours.”
Putting that to one side, Greenhalgh is hoping Caulfield Cup/The Everest day could launch a massive seven days for him.
He has pint-sized import El Bodegon next week as one of the leading Cox Plate chances.
But he feels he can knock off the Caulfield Cup first, with the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained Gold Trip who loves it wet and was less than two lengths off the winner in the Group 1 Turnbull.
“That horse comes into its own when it’s wet, it will be a huge chance,” Greenhalgh said.
“It will probably be a better chance because I won’t be on track and I will be at Randwick for The Everest instead.
“It might be the same old idiosyncrasy, when I am on track I never seem to win Group 1s but when I am not on track I win them.
“So that could be a good omen for Gold Trip.
“Realistically, the Maher camp should be happy I won’t be at Caulfield.”
Gold Trip, who races in the Australian Bloodstock colours, is a $14 Caulfield Cup chance in TAB fixed odds betting.
Nature Strip is the $2 favourite for The Everest and El Bodegon is on the fourth line of Cox Plate betting at $9.
Originally published as Owner Noel Greenhalgh has designs on winning Caulfield Cup, The Everest and Cox Plate
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