Jordan Mailata claimed victory in the Super Bowl. Now his namesake is chasing a win at Randwick

As a long-time Philadelphia Eagles fan and thoroughbred owner, Canadian-based Australian mining executive Michael O’Keeffe was always going to name a horse after Jordan Mailata.

It just had to be big.

Jordan Mailata after the Eagles’ victory in the Super Bowl.Credit: AP

So when Warwick Farm trainer Bryce Heys spotted a statuesque Written Tycoon-River Pebbles colt at the 2022 Inglis Easter sales, they had to have him.

Bought for $675,000 – a few thousand more than Sydney-born and raised Eagles star Mailata makes a week after his three-season, $100 million contract extension last year – the four-year-old gelding is set to chase another victory for O’Keeffe and his other connections at Randwick on Saturday, five days after Mailata helped Philadelphia to Super Bowl victory over Kansas City.

The 203-centimetre, 166-kilogram offensive tackle, a former South Sydney Rabbitohs junior, became Australia’s first Super Bowl champion when the Eagles defeated the two-time defending champions 40-22.

Heys hoped the victory was an omen for his namesake, which broke through at his fourth and most recent start, at Randwick’s Kensington track on January 15.

“It’s just the program of the horse and the way things set up, so it’s fate, but it’s funny how things like that work out,” Heys said.

O’Keeffe, a self-made mining entrepreneur, is the major owner of the horse. He has also raced horses with Heys named after golfer Jordan Spieth and baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani.

Mining executive Michael O’Keeffe.Credit: Louie Douvis

“Michael is based in Canada, but is a dinky-di Aussie and comes back here every so often, and he’s really passionate about his horses,” Heys said.

“He loves the Australian way of life, and racing is a part of that.

“He and his son have an interest in American sports. He supports the Philadelphia Eagles, and he’s been a fan for a long time, so the fact they had an Australian in there, it was only a matter of time before we found a horse to give that name.

“He’s a big, quite imposing sort of horse, so it suited him.”

Heys said it was a “big ask” for Mailata to step up to Saturday grade racing and he was just hoping for him to be competitive.

“He’s come through that last run great, and he’s a beautiful horse,” he said.

“It’s not ideal to go from a midweek straight into a Midway, but he had a bad experience about 12 months ago at Kembla when he had to get scratched at the gates. That really buggered him up, so we’ve had to go through a bit to get him through again.

“This is the first time he’s been able to be prepared in a manner to race, and hopefully we see he is a nice horse.”