Owners fulfilling dreams with the scheme

Slice And Dice leads home daylight as the colt marches away with the $74,000 kitty in only his second start

QTIS and QTIS 600 registered horses won a total of $188,000 in prizemoney on Saturday, November 14 from only two races at Eagle Farm.

Included in the total prizemoney was $90,000 in QTIS and QTIS 600 added stakes, endorsing the value of the incentive scheme for breeding and owning thoroughbreds in Queensland.

The biggest story to come from the raceday was the powerful six length win of Slice And Dice in the Peter McLennan QTIS 600 2YO Colts & Geldings Handicap 1000m which marked a historical occasion, providing the first Metropolitan winner of QTIS 600 added stakes.

The Liam Birchley-trained colt scooped $74,000 from the prize pool through his QTIS and QTIS 600 registration, a decision Slice And Dice’s connections are obviously ecstatic with.

Slice And Dice, the race favourite, and jockey Michael Cahill did it the hardest way possible from the outside barrier. The two-year-old gave up plenty of ground to the pacesetters settling second to last rounding the turn and then entered the straight eight wide of the rails.

“At the end of the day he won with a lot of authority,” Birchley said. “He was working harder mid-race than he was at the end. Once he got balanced and (Cahill) got him to the outside he put the result beyond doubt pretty quick.

“I thought he’d win, but you never think you’re going to win like that. I knew he would definitely improve significantly since his first-up start.”

When every obstacle is factored in to the performance, it shows the six length triumph to be a considerable effort. At only two-years-old the Jetspur colt out of Roaring Forties no doubt has a big future ahead of him and may just follow in the footsteps of his Group race winning lineage.

Connections of Temple of Boom were rewarded for their QTIS registration with a $21,000 prizemoney bonus (Noel Pascoe photo)

Not surprisingly, Slice And Dice will be aimed at QTIS races in the near future and further down the track Birchley is openly hopeful of bigger and better things for his colt.

“He’s a developing type, and has plenty of scope so I’m extremely hopeful down the track,” he said.

After tasting success in Queensland and benefiting largely from our innovative incentive scheme it is surprising to find that the majority of Slice and Dice’s syndicate consists of New South Welshmen.

While some may wince at the thought of “our” money heading south of the border, it is a big tick of approval for the scheme, which Birchley backs up.

“It’s a terrific incentive,” he said. “If you win one race it can put you ahead of the game for quite a while, or depending on what you pay, sometimes for their whole career.

“It’s a very good innovation. I recommended that they do it and hopefully it will keep paying off.”

All of the syndicate have raced horses previously, not together, but in other syndicates and obviously have been bitten hard by the thoroughbred racing bug.

Birchley brought them all together through the purchase of Slice And Dice in NSW, but his eligibility for the QTIS bonus races were the decisive factor in bringing the colt north.

However, it was very nearly not to be for the syndicate as Birchley explains that his limits were reached at the sales as his final bid of $70,000 was put forward. Thankfully for Queensland racing the bid remained unbeaten.

“He was a nice horse. In saying that though I wasn’t going to go any further than I did,” he said. “I was on the extreme outer limits for something like that.

“In saying that he was just one of those horses that went just the right way. He just grew and lengthened and did everything right physically. It’s good when that happens, but at the time I was wondering if I’d paid too much for him.”

The best of the rest of the field fell to The Barracks ridden by Brad Stewart in the colt’s first race outing from the Pat Duff stable. Similarly through QTIS and QTIS 600 registration, The Barracks picked up $22,000 for his second placing which included $12,000 in added stakes.

To round out the race’s full house of QTIS and QTIS 600 eligible horses, Gentle Giant, trained by Jason McLachlan and ridden by Jim Byrne, finished third to collect an $11,000 cheque for connections which again included a $6000 prizemoney bonus.

Michael Cahill showed he has a nose for race bonuses when he recorded a double for the day aboard Temple of Boom in the AHS Netball QTIS 3YO Handicap 1000m.

In keeping with the theme of the day the three-year-old gelding is also QTIS registered and strolled back to the Tony Gollan stables in Toowoomba with a handy $53,000 purse from this outing, which included a $21,000 prizemoney bonus.

Once again Cahill had it far from easy on his mount entering the straight with four abreast and eventually undertaking a 100 metre battle royale with Our Mr Cashman (Scott Seamer).

The podium was once again full of QTIS registered horses, an occurrence that speaks volumes for the depth of Queensland bred horses.

Our Mr Cashman, from the Andrew Williamson stable, was beaten by a head to finish second with a $16,000 collect, which included $6000 in added stakes.

Apprentice jockey Luke Rolls drove Daneomite home for third place to walk away with $5000 plus the $3000 QTIS bonus.

Temple of Boom is on the cusp of a blossoming career after his Eagle Farm effort marked three wins from six starts. He has not failed to collect prizemoney in each of his outings.

The Piccolo gelding now boasts $160,195 in career prizemoney and has made the most of his connections’ decision to register for QTIS by including $45,000 in added stakes.

Getting into horseracing can be very enjoyable according to trainer Birchley as long as owners go in with the right attitude.

The best piece of advice he could give potential racehorse owners, especially if involved with a syndicate, was to get each member’s financial share in before a horse is even looked at, and if possible, even the trainer’s fee for the first year.

It pays to get your house in order first, which allows the entire group to enjoy the buying, training and racing process Birchley explains.

Being ever helpful, the trainer offered another invaluable piece of advice. “Make sure whoever is going to train the horse, likes the horse. Even get them to buy the horse for you.

“If the owner turns up with what the trainer perceives to be an ugly or worthless looking horse, then it’s probably not going to get as much attention as some of the others. If the trainer has some sort of ownership in the process then they’re more likely to treat it a bit more favourably.”

Queensland racing is ticking a lot of boxes lately, highlighted by the success of the QTIS and QTIS 600 incentives. With the help of trainers such as Liam Birchley, who understand the benefits to owners and racing in Queensland, the scheme will only get stronger.

QUEENSLAND Racing web news: Ross Dowd - November 16