News

Promising filly a ray of light

6th Feb 2011

Herald Sun - Rod Nicholson - Sunday, 6 February 2011

GAIL Lancaster has started a new life and is being inspired by a filly she hopes will bring her a sorely needed change of luck.

Mrs Lancaster secured a 10 per cent share in yearling Miss Camalach when she won the Sunday Herald Sun/Inglis Win A Share in a Racehorse competition two years ago.

By stallion God's Own, the filly (pictured as yearling) was heaven-sent.

Mrs Lancaster had been nursing her wheelchair-bound husband, Peter, for 33 years after his car and a freight train collided three days after the couple married.

The pair celebrated when trainer Robbie Griffiths selected the yearling at the Inglis Premier Sales at Oaklands, but sadly Mr Lancaster died less than four months later of complications from flu.

Mrs Lancaster, who lives in Whittington, between Geelong and Portarlington, has completed a nursing course and now works at a nursing home.

"Everything has settled down and you must keep looking upwards," she said.

And that's what she's doing in life and with the filly.

"It's all pretty exciting and I'm looking forward to her racetrack debut," she said.

"She's a nice filly and, fingers crossed, she is good on the racetrack. No matter, the win in this competition has been great and I'll be entering again, that's for sure."

Her prize was a 10 per cent share in the filly, with Inglis also paying all training and insurance fees for the first two years.

The competition has grown from 10,000 entries four years ago to a staggering 47,150 entries (36,713 online and 10,437 on SMS) last year, when Kane Turner won a share in a Magic Albert colt that is in training at Mick Price's Caulfield stables.

Everyone, of course, hopes to be as lucky as Russell Artis, of Geelong, who three years ago won a share in a filly.

She is the Peter Moody-trained Set For Fame, winner of $636,525 in prizemoney and valued at more than $1 million as a potential broodmare.

Readers can enter this year's competition by email or text message, and enter as many times as they wish.