Passion For Racing: Cunningham Thoroughbreds

Cover image courtesy of Cunningham Thoroughbreds

As far as introductions to racehorse ownership go, Cunningham Thoroughbreds’ tale is less orthodox than most.

There is a refreshing ease to how it all unfolded. Gary and Lorilie arrived at the Magic Millions sales complex on the Gold Coast, asked the sales office how they could go about purchasing a yearling and were promptly introduced to Queensland’s Champion Trainer Tony Gollan, who just so happened to be passing by at the time.

An introduction to Gollan’s bloodstock agent John Foote followed, and $120,000 later, the Cunninghams were on the board - all in a matter of days.

The manner in which Cunningham Thoroughbreds purchased its first racehorse may have been spontaneous, but the decision to become involved in the industry was far more deliberate. Gary’s first racing memories can be traced back as far as his school days, a time during which one particular racehorse was making a name for himself.

“I’m not from a racing background, but I developed an interest in racing very early, when I was at school as a young fellow,” he recalled. “I went to the races once as a little boy with some friends, and I was just transfixed by the animals. I loved the athleticism of them and I loved the racing, the competition, so I started to follow the races.

“Every Saturday, I’d listen to them on the radio whilst I was doing a whole series of chores that my father had set me to do, so it alleviated the pain of having to paint the back fence or mow the lawn or whatever.

“When my father saw that I was interested in racing, every now and again he would reward me with a day at the races. We’d go out together and I’d try and work out how to spend my small amount of money that I had available for the punt. It was just a fun thing.

“The first time I really fell in love with a horse was with Gunsynd when I was a young fellow. He set me on the path of what a champion racehorse was all about and it went from there.”

As is the case with many whose business interests lie outside of racing, Cunningham’s passion for the industry took somewhat of a back seat whilst all energies were channelled into growing his business and raising his family.

Lighting up a passion

It wasn’t until the two-phase sale of his US-based physiotherapy enterprise that Cunningham had both the time and resources to rekindle his interest in racing, and in 2017 that interest was taken to the next level with the purchase of the aforementioned yearling - a bay filly by champion racehorse and sire So You Think (NZ).

Subsequently named Light Up The Room (So You Think {NZ}), her exploits on the racetrack would go on to prompt a change in tact for Cunningham Thoroughbreds, but not before her race career could be enjoyed to its fullest.

“We had quite a good little racehorse for our first one, which tricked me into thinking that they were all going to be good,” Cunningham quipped. “She had a couple of wins as a 2 and 3-year-old and performed well in some Group races. She was a lovely horse.

“We loved being involved and the people who we met were great, but I realised that with racehorse ownership, there aren’t many strong economic arguments for it.

“I looked at breeding and thought that it’s a science and a business, and I understand how that would work. I decided that, if we were going to stay in racing, we should also go into breeding, and breeding has actually become more of our interest.

“It has involved a couple of my sons, who are passionate about it, and we bought into Ridgmont Farm, so the breeding has become the focal point - the racing is the entertainment.”

By his own admission, the opportunity to involve his family was a huge factor in why Cunningham chose to invest in racing and breeding over the multitude of other potential avenues.

Much to his delight, his eldest son, Mitchell, is now a director of both Cunningham Thoroughbreds and Ridgmont Farm, the latter of which the family are partners in, whilst his youngest son, Xavier, already boasts experience at Godolphin and Gollan Racing, to name but a few.

“I have a very strong sense of family, and one of the things that struck me as I started to come to understand the breadth of the industry is that very often it is multi-generational,” Cunnigham explained.

“Often a trainer is a trainer because his or her father or mother was a trainer and the same with jockeys and bloodstock agents. Breeding families seem to go back generations and that appeals to me a lot.

“I could have invested my money in all sorts of things, but I had two sons who were very interested in racing, and I thought that this was an opportunity for us to have a multi-generational business, that my children, and hopefully their children and their children’s children, can be involved with. Not all of them will be, of course, but those who don’t want to be in the business can enjoy the racing and the benefit of the association with people who are in racing and breeding.

“If that continues, I think that it’s a great thing. It involves the love of the animals, love of the country and the competition.

“Having my sons involved is the cream on the cake for me.”

Going the distance

Creating a breeding dynasty may have taken priority in recent years, but Cunningham hasn’t forgotten the aspects of the industry which first captured his imagination as a schoolboy.

One race above all others continues to hold special significance for the Brisbane-based businessman, and you get the impression that he won’t rest until he has won it.

“The boys keep telling me, ‘Dad, the Australian market doesn’t reward yearlings that have Cox Plate potential, everyone wants to win the Golden Slipper’ - well I want to win the Cox Plate, so we’ll have to find a way through that,” he said.

“All of my hero horses have won the Cox Plate. Starting out with Gunsynd, So You Think, who was a magnificent horse, Makybe Diva, Winx - it seems to me that all great horses win that race.

“I’m more of a traditionalist in racing. I love the way a distance race unfolds and all of my heroes raced over a mile and above. I’d love to win a Melbourne Cup, as would everybody, and I love the 3-year-old Classic races.

“There’s nothing wrong with sprint races of course and they’re fantastic to watch, but if you’re in a sprint race and you get a bad barrier or miss the start by half a length, you’re already out, whereas if you’ve got 2400 metres, you can get yourself back in the race and give yourself another opportunity.”

Given Cunningham’s affinity for the Cox Plate and distance races in general, it was no surprise that he jumped at the chance to be involved with globetrotting sensation State Of Rest (Ire) after being approached by Newgate proprietor Henry Field, who purchased the entire in conjunction with China Horse Club, Ireland’s Rathbarry Stud and a who’s who of Australian breeders following his victory in the Moonee Valley showpiece last year.

Injury may have prevented the son of Starspangledbanner from defending his Cox Plate crown and realising his part-owner’s long-held ambition, but the opportunity to join such exalted company in his Southern Hemisphere ownership group is a privilege that is not lost on Cunningham, whose appreciation for those who have mastered thoroughbred breeding continues to grow by the day.

“I’m deeply respectful of these people who understand the essence of breeding - the genealogy, the biology and the medicine that goes into it,” he said. “That part of it has my great respect and I think it’s essential.

“If you were sticking pins on a horse’s tail like at a kids' party, I wouldn’t be involved, but when you see how much effort, energy, understanding and insight goes into marrying the science of breeding with the success of racing, and then how the farms contribute and how the horse is raised and cared for, all that sort of stuff, it makes sense to me.

“There is a science, I think, to success. It also requires talent, hard work and luck, but I think everyone who is involved understands that success doesn’t just fall in your lap. You’ve got to work hard and you’ve got to wait, so people respect each other’s success.”

Mindful of the fact that such a competitive and cut-throat industry could so easily induce the opposite outcome, that sense of collegiality is something that resonates with Cunningham.

“It’s almost like the antithesis of the tall poppy syndrome,” he added. “In life, you find that sometimes if you’re successful, people can be inclined to resent it. In racing, what I have found so far is that people enjoy each other’s success, and I love that.

“If you throw a bet on every now and then and you don’t have the interest, you might tend to take a different view of other people’s success, but when you’re working in it and know how hard it is to achieve success, it’s very nice to share that with everybody else.

“Success breeds success. If people are having success on the track and enjoying the experience of racing, then the industry will thrive. There’s a recognition from everybody that there is nothing to be gained from pulling others down.”

Years in the making

Right from the very start of Cunningham’s involvement in the industry, a helping hand has never been far away. The likes of Gollan and bloodstock agent Jim Clarke have proved an invaluable sounding board and source of support, as have Andrew Dunemann and Neil Douglas, with whom the Cunninghams are partners in Ridgmont Farm.

The 530-acre property situated on the Segenhoe Road is a great source of excitement for Cunningham, and after years of investment in high-quality stock, infrastructure and personnel, Ridgmont is gearing up for its maiden Magic Millions sale as a vendor on the Gold Coast next month.

“I think the future is very rosy,” Cunningham concluded. “We are doing very well with Ridgmont - the people, the development and infrastructure and the quality of animals are all very good.

“It has been a developing process over the last five or six years, but we have our first cohort of yearlings going through Magic Millions in January, which is exciting.

“We are expecting the fruit to really ripen in 2024/25. That’s when we can consider ourselves at that first level of maturity in terms of the product that we are producing, but these are our first cabs off the rank and there are some pretty nice horses among them, so we’re confident.

“We really want to be identified at the quality end of the market. Maybe not the extreme end, but we’d be very happy producing quality animals which race well for their owners and provide them with some residual benefit post-racing.”

Should Ridgmont’s first Magic Millions sale as a vendor be like Cunningham’s first as a buyer, they will achieve that goal quicker than most.