BORN and bred at Apsley, Tom Porter had a stake in Red Cardinal in yesterday’s Melbourne Cup, with the horse finishing a lowly 23rd out of 24 horses in the biggest race of the year.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Red Cardinal also ran in last year’s race, just missing out on the prize money after finishing in 11th.
Unfortunately, the horse only finished ahead of The Cliffsofmoher, who failed to finish the race.
Mr Porter said after having no luck with previous horses, he had enjoyed having some success with the seven-year-old gelding.
“Some mates I went to school with and play golf with in Adelaide got together and thought we would race some horses,” he said.
“We have a syndicate and we couldn’t get a country winner or anything.
“The executive said let’s get something different, and I got in touch with Australian Bloodstock to see what they could do.
“We nearly got a share in Big Duke but we were a bit too slow. We sharpened up our emails and then Red Cardinal came along and we thought we were onto one.
“He came third in the Ebor, a big race in England, and the rest is history. He won the Belmont Gold Cup in New York about June last year.”
Mr Porter’s syndicate has a five per cent stake.
“Last year they paid $110,000 for 10th and nothing for 11th, so we missed out,” Mr Porter said.
Despite the horse being suited to the wet track and also having an experienced jockey in Damien Oliver, the distance and quality of the race proved too difficult.
Darren Weir trains the horse in Warrnambool.
“We didn’t have huge expectations,” Mr Porter said.
Although many would dream of having a runner in the Melbourne Cup, there’s one race in particular Mr Porter is holding out to have an entry in.
“I would love a horse to get into the Apsley Cup in my hometown race,” he said.
“I would love a runner in the Apsley Cup but I haven’t been able to get one in yet. I’ve been close before. That would be the dream for me, but maybe not for the syndicate.”
Horsham jockey Dean Yendall rode on Tuesday in three races.
He finished second on Darren Weir-trained Steel Prince in race four.
Stawell jockey Linda Meech won on One More Try in race two.