News

Manawanui reaping rich dividends for his owners

7th Oct 2011

Daily Telegraph - Ray Thomas - Friday, 7 October 2011

THE offer was on the table. It was more than $1 million - money most of the owners would never dream of having in their lives.

Trainer Ron Leemon knew Manawanui was potentially the best horse he'd had but also felt duty-bound to tell the horse's syndicate of owners there was a bloodstock agent acting on behalf of wealthy Asian clients with an open cheque book to buy their three-year-old.

But Leemon's wife Gaye, one of the major shareholders, was horrified.

"When Ron told me he was considering selling the horse, I was just beside myself," Gaye Leemon said. "He's worked hard all his life and this is his big chance.

"I told him I can't understand why you would want to sell. At our stage of life, you just want to enjoy a horse like Manawanui."

Leemon knew his wife was right. He didn't want to sell, either, but he is also a man of principle. So he rang the other owners.

Jim Sundell, 78, has a 40 per cent share in Manawanui. He's owned racehorses for nearly five decades and could boast a country cup here and there as his major wins. He had never raced a horse like Manawanui and didn't think he'd live long enough to ever have a Group 1 winner.

So, when Leemon rang to inform him about the offer, Sundell nearly slammed the phone down.

"I was in Europe when Ron rang but I said him as long as my rear end points to the ground, I'm not selling," Sundell said.

"I've been racing horses for 50 years and a good horse like Manawanui is as hard to find as rocking-horse manure. And if we sold the horse, what am I'm going to do with the money? I'd probably just go and buy another horse and the chances are it might not win at Gulargambone."

Sundell's dry sense of humour and dismissive attitude to the huge offer to sell Manawanui summed up the feelings of all the syndicate owners.

So, Leemon hung out the "not for sale" sign and next day Manawanui won the Group 1 $1 million Golden Rose before backing up two weeks later to win the Group 2 Stan Fox Stakes.

And at Caulfield tomorrow, Leemon and Manawanui's eclectic group of owners will all be trackside together for the first time to watch their star three-year-old contest the $1 million Caulfield Guineas (1600m).

Manawanui is changing lives and making dreams come true. Good horses can do that.

For Leemon, it is vindication for nearly 40 years of hard toil as a trainer. He worked two jobs for many years, training racehorses before dawn then teaching high school mathematics and science during the day.

He became interested in the sport after meeting and marrying Gaye Chilby, the daughter of Ken Chilby, trainer of Bonnybel, winner of the 1973 Victoria Oaks and 1974 Queensland Oaks.

Leemon continued to work 18-hour days hoping the "good horse" every trainer dreams about would eventually find its way to his Warwick Farm stables.

"I juggled the two jobs for many years," Leemon said. "But I love training racehorses so I went full time in the early 1990s."Then there was a time when I had trouble with stable staff, some owners weren't paying their bills, I just got fed up, closed the stables down in 24 hours, and went back to teaching.

"That lasted about three years, then when I had a 'bank', I went back to training again." At the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale last year, Leemon's training career would take a turn for the better. He had gone to the sales with his father-in-law to inspect an Oratorio yearling but when the yearling was paraded in front of him, the trainer didn't like what he saw.

At that same moment, another yearling was being led out of his box and caught Leemon's eye.

"I told Kenny to have a look at that yearling for me - there was just something about the horse, he had a presence about him," Leemon recalled.

Chilby, 89, has been retired from training for many years but retains a keen interest in his son-in-law's training business. He looked at the yearling, gave it the thumbs-up and that is when Leemon noticed its breeding - by Oratorio out of Lady Remlap.Leemon didn't have $45,000 to spend but that is what he had to bid to secure the yearling, now known as Manawanui.

He had found his Group 1 horse, now he had to find owners to form a syndicate to race the horse.

Sundell has been a stable client of Leemon's for as long as both men can remember. The retired businessman didn't need any persuading to become the majority shareholder.

Alf Cook, 65, a retired former oil worker, is married to Leemon's sister, Bobbi. He also helps out at the trainer's stables and often drives the float truck to the races. So when Leemon approached him, not surprisingly Cook wanted in, too.

"Manawanui is not a big horse but Ron liked the sire and dam so I was happy to buy into the horse," Cook said.

"I've raced horses with Ron over the years but nothing like this. We haven't had a good horse so we are enjoying the ride.

"Bobbie hardly ever went to the races before but she does now to watch Manawanui. And Ron's daughter never went to the races but she is going to see this horse race."

Leemon's son, Damien, 35, didn't follow in his father's footsteps, instead finding employment in the security business.

But he can see the change in his father since Manawanui started winning.

"I think the big difference is the exposure he is getting in the media," Damien said.

"Dad never really had that before but he's getting better with it now and seems quite comfortable talking to the media.

"I'm just so thrilled for him because he has waited so long and worked so hard to finally get a horse that is top shelf.

"We are all going to the track to watch Manawanui race these days.

"This is the first horse my wife, Melissa, has been involved in and ironically she is allergic to horses so we never went to the races until Manawanui came along."

Then there's the GFM Syndicate comprising three mates, Gary Beecroft, Frank Pinto and Mick Bartley, who each have a small share in the brilliant three-year-old.

Bartley, 46, an auditor for the Education Department, was primarily responsible for getting his friends into Manawanui. He takes up the story.

"I'd raced the odd horse over the years with Ron and then at the Chipping Norton Stakes meeting last year, the day Theseo won, we bumped into each other again at Warwick Farm," Bartley said.

"Ron told me he had this share in a horse and would I be interested in it.

"I didn't think much of it at the time but on the Monday morning, I had 10 minutes to spare before leaving to catch my train to work so I had a look on Ron's website. That's when I rang Frank and Gary and said we should get into this horse together."

Beecroft, 59, is "in between jobs". He's working as a volunteer for the Australian Turf Club's heritage society, an indication of his passion for racing, but finding full-time employment has been difficult.

"It's damn hard to find a job at the moment," Beecroft said.

"But when Mick rang about this horse, I thought it would be a good chance to meet some new people and have a bit of fun.

"I did have a horse 20 years ago with Mick and it won at nearly 100/1 at Hawkesbury. After that I didn't race another horse for nearly 20 years because I thought I would never top that.

"But we have two racehorses these days. Mick and I have shares in a horse called Besieged with Nick Olive that is racing at Leeton on Monday - and then there is Manawanui. He has come out of left field."

Pinto, 46, is a shoemaker and a golfing buddy of Bartley's.

He had never owned a racehorse but one day told Bartley that next time he was going to buy into a racehorse, he would take a share as well. That horse was Manawanui.

"I'm the most nervous of all the owners - and I have the smallest share," Pinto said. "But this is just an unbelievable experience to race a horse like Manawanui.

"I used to have a few bets and watch the races at the golf club on Saturdays never thinking I'd ever be in this position.

"When I did buy a share, I never told my father. Actually, I didn't tell him until after the horse won the Golden Rose.

"He thought I was crazy at first, wasting my money, but now he is a big fan of the horse, too."

Robert Reo, 56, and his younger brother Anthony, 49, both work on the oil and gas rigs off the Western Australia coast. They also share a love of horse racing.

They had never met Leemon when Robert discovered the trainer's advertisement on the internet seeking owners to buy into a share of an Oratorio two-year-old. Robert said he liked the horse's breeding and contacted Leemon, buying two shares in the horse, one for himself and one for his brother. The brothers' work commitments mean they work two weeks on an oil rig, then have two weeks off and neither had been able to watch Manawanui's first few starts.

"I missed the Golden Rose because I was working but about five minutes after the race I rang my wife Mim and she told me the horse had got up and won," Reo said.

"But I was able to get over for the Stan Fox Stakes and I've been lucky enough to get some time off to watch the horse race in the Caulfield Guineas.

"Anthony is over in New Zealand watching the Rugby World Cup but he will come over for (tomorrow's) race - it will be the first time he has seen Manawanui race."Anthony Reo can actually take the credit for Manawanui's name, which is Maori for "bold and courageous".

"The name suits the horse," Robert said.

And finally there is Bob Casson and his partner, Jennifer Brown.

Casson had his 69th birthday earlier this week and Manawanui is helping him forget his serious health problems.

"I had a brain tumour and as a result of that, I've now got Parkinson's disease," Casson said. "I'm a bit of a day-to-day proposition but I can still get around on a walker."Casson has been racing horses for 30 years, his first horse was called Regal Cheer, a city winner trained by Bede Horan.

He's had limited success since but has enjoyed racing horses with Leemon over the last 10 years.

"I was actually at Ron's for Christmas one year and I had signed up for a share in an Over filly but I saw he was advertising this horse by Oratorio so I bought 10 per cent for myself and my partner," Casson said. "This is the first horse Jennifer has ever had her name on it. She reckons she has brought us luck."

Casson and Brown also had no interest in selling Manawanui when the big offers started coming in. "Money can't buy what we are experiencing with this horse - we are living the dream," Casson said.