Cover image courtesy of Torryburn Stud
It was April last year, around the time of The Championships, when Racing NSW announced the concept of Equimillion. It would be a weekend showcase for off-track thoroughbreds that would guarantee, across a range of equestrian disciplines, at least $1 million in prizemoney.
Shortly after, things went quiet. Several months passed and critics were scratching around, asking why it was taking so long for Equimillion to be detailed, scheduled and announced. Racing NSW remained tight-lipped until late this winter, when it was confirmed that the event would occur across the October long weekend at the Sydney International Equestrian Centre (SIEC).
Sydney International Equestrian Centre (SIEC) | Image courtesy of Equimillion
In partnership with Equestrian Australia (EA), Racing NSW had created a three-day event for retired thoroughbreds across the disciplines of showing, dressage, eventing and show jumping. The event, with its 44 classes, was designed to complement already existing off-track events, of which there are many the length of Australia.
But the big lesson here was that a large prize pool would draw the headlines and the engagement, and, like it or loath it, Equimillion has done just that.
Stud farms, training stables, riding schools and race clubs have all got involved. The event is splashed across social media and news venues, channelling rare and welcome interest into retired thoroughbreds. Each of the weekend’s 44 classes will offer $30,000 in prizemoney, with EA declaring it ‘an unprecedented opportunity to compete for significant prizemoney, even at lower levels of competition’.
With only a couple of days to go until Equimillion, the thoroughbred industry has largely bubbled in support. And that’s not to say there hasn’t been criticism. In an Op-ed in The Thoroughbred Report in August, Godolphin’s Sharon Manning said the event was catering for ‘those 10 per cent of elite competition people and horses that have the money already’.
Manning’s point was that the entry fees for Equimillion (which include stabling, it’s worth noting) were very steep, The nomination fee for a class is $600 (plus GST), while an additional competition entry fee is $400 (plus GST).
In August, Peter V’Landys replied to the fees criticism, saying entry into Equimillion “was like any other product you purchase, you need to look at the value you’re receiving. At the moment, you can enter a competition for a $100 entry fee. However, the prize may be a ribbon. No one is stopping you from continuing to compete in the existing events. If you wish to compete for $60,000 though, there is naturally a higher fee.”
V’Landys confirmed that the $1000 (plus GST) entry fee allowed participants to compete in two events, for a collective prize pool of $60,000. It’s likely that any participant will at least earn their entry fee back by placing in the top five of any class.
Eligibility for Equimillion has also been a point of conversation around the equestrian community.
“(Equimillion) is like any other product you purchase, you need to look at the value you’re receiving. At the moment, you can enter a competition for a $100 entry fee. However, the prize may be a ribbon... If you wish to compete for $60,000 though, there is naturally a higher fee.” - Peter V'Landys
Horses must have been bred in New South Wales and raced, or bred with the intention to race. However, thoroughbreds that were bred interstate can have been trained, trialled or raced in New South Wales, along with those bred internationally. In other words, Racing NSW has tried to keep Equimillion as state-centric as possible, which it is probably entitled to do.
Either way, Equimillion is going ahead with as much publicity as a thoroughbred-exclusive equestrian event has ever had. That was the wisdom as its mostly amateur riders compete this weekend for a total pot of $1,320,000.
Torryburn involved
At Torryburn Stud, manager Mel Copelin thinks that most farms across the Hunter Valley are involved with Equimillion in some way or another.
Torryburn itself is sponsoring three riders to compete on off-track horses that were all bred at the farm and that carry the Torryburn brand. However, in total there are four Torryburn-associated horses competing, the extra one being the million-dollar Hong Kong earner Hot King Prawn (Denman).
Now known as ‘Chili,” the grey Hot King Prawn was bred at Torryburn in 2014 and he arrived back in Australia last year after his prolific Asian exploits. He is now a show horse with widespread re-homer Rebecca Brown, located at Hillview Thoroughbreds.
But the three other Torryburn horses were not high achievers on the racetrack, showcasing that Equimillion isn’t just about the track stars like Hot King Prawn.
Among the set is the 12-year-old gelding Gordon Gekko (Magic Albert), who was also in Hong Kong but utterly luckless and promptly returned to Australia. He has become a talented eventer with rider Rachel Lollback.
The mare Always Roses (Dawn Approach {Ire}) had two starts on the track before she stopped co-operating in the barriers. Though talented, she was retired, rehomed and will compete this weekend with Isabel Hughes in show jumping. This pair has competed across the interschools circuit for some time.
Always Roses and Isabella Hughes | Image courtesy of Torryburn Stud
Lastly, the Starcraft (NZ) gelding Suman The Yak will compete with rider Laura Jane Enks under Torryburn sponsorship. This 12-year-old horse was a vintage campaigner, racing 54 times across the country circuits of New South Wales before his retirement in 2019. He won just three races.
Torryburn has paid all entry fees for each of the three competitors, and supplied branded rugs for each of them. According to Copelin, a great bulk of Equimillion’s competitors have done similar, chasing sponsorship and an alliance with a stud or racing stable to offset the expense of getting into the event.
“To me, Equimillion has been an opportunity to present a nice side of the industry, a side that the equestrian communities, for example, might not otherwise see,” Copelin said, speaking to The Thoroughbred Report. “Everyone, not just us, has put so much effort into supporting the horses that are entered, and it’s been a community thing.
...a great bulk of Equimillion’s competitors have done similar, chasing sponsorship and an alliance with a stud or racing stable to offset the expense of getting into the event.
“Equimillion will be an opportunity for people to meet up from all places of the state that have that common interest in thoroughbreds. If we can get it out to the non-racing community to see what we do, it might help our welfare cause going forward.”
For Copelin, Equimillion is a new chance on several fronts. The wider agenda is thoroughbred welfare, and specifically providing an avenue for racehorses after racing, but it’s also an opportunity for the breeding and racing industry to be better understood. That could drive a healthier appetite for thoroughbreds, in the long run.
Earlier this month, it was reported that the demand for retired racehorses had slowed considerably this year, likely due to household pressures re the economy, and rehoming institutions were struggling to get horses into new homes.
“But Equimillion is also an opportunity for future employment, you’d have to say,” Copelin added. “These are young riders or otherwise who might not have had any interaction with stud farms before this event. That’s got to be a way of looking at it, right?”
“...Equimillion is also an opportunity for future employment... These are young riders or otherwise who might not have had any interaction with stud farms before this event.” - Mel Copelin
Copelin said it’s possible that the future of Equimillion might lie in riders reaching out for sponsorship to studs where their horses were bred. On most accounts, she said the farms have been happy to be involved.
“I've heard nothing negative and we were thrilled to get involved,” she said. “We gave away Always Roses to Isabel Hughes, and others have gone through the Hong Kong system, like Hot King Prawn. Another was bought straight from the trainer, so they’ve all come into their new careers in roundabout ways.
“Their riders reached out to us because of the Torryburn brand on the horses, and in most cases, Hot King Prawn aside, they were ordinary racehorses that had the potential to be superstars in their own competitions. It honestly doesn’t matter if the horses have been slow or unsuccessful on the track; they can be very successful in the next life.”
A necessity for the industry
Stories of Equimillion competitors have been flooding the industry for the last fortnight. The Wyong Race Club, for example, has no less than eight sponsored horses, while local trainer Kim Waugh is sponsoring three, as is Hawkesbury trainer Brad Widdup.
Among the Wyong riders is jockey Jenny Duggan, who will compete in show jumping and eventing classes, along with trackwork rider Jessica Rae. Speaking this week, Wyong Race Club CEO, Greg Purcell, said the Equimillion concept was strong.
“It’s a great concept by Racing NSW and will definitely create more awareness for people interested in rehoming racehorses,” he said. “We are excited to throw our support behind this talented pool of competitors who have the best interests of rehomed horses at heart.”
Among the horses that will compete under Wyong’s sponsorship are the 7-year-old gelding Fly Blue Peter (Ustinov), who raced five time for no wins, finishing last in almost all of his outings. He will compete in dressage as ‘Japan’.
Dealtadeel (Dundeel {NZ}) also didn’t win a race during his career, finishing last in both of his races, and he will take his place as ‘Vatican’ in the show horse and led-gelding classes. This horse has already been a winner at Canberra Royal and Sydney Royal Easter Show.
“It’s a great concept by Racing NSW and will definitely create more awareness for people interested in rehoming racehorses.” - Greg Purcell
There are plenty of others, including the three horse-rider combinations that have achieved sponsorship from Thorougbred Breeders NSW, and the great majority of them were ordinary racehorses on the track who have excelled or gelled in equestrian disciplines.
Copelin said it’s essential that the industry has a platform like Equimillion to broadcast this fact.
“It’s a necessity for the industry,” she said. “It’s a necessity to highlight that these horses aren’t being wasted. It’s also a necessity to have the horses doing something. At Torryburn, we always take a horse back that has come from our farm, and we wouldn’t be alone in having a paddock-ful of retired racehorses that either aren’t sound enough to race, or haven’t found a suitable next home.”
“It’s a necessity for the industry. It’s a necessity to highlight that these horses aren’t being wasted. It’s also a necessity to have the horses doing something.” - Mel Copelin
Torryburn is hopeful that Equimillion will stand up for years to come. Copelin said there are shades of The Everest about it; a big-money concept that might have been initially polarising but that eventually garnered mesmerising support.
“From what I can see, nearly every farm is participating in some way, getting behind the horses,” she said. “And the trainers too. I think their involvement is wonderful, and they might be supporting ex-horses from their stable or even their staff.
“I think people have got past how stunned they were initially at how much it would cost just to get in, but people have worked their way around that with sponsorship, so most of them are keen and happy now.”
Copelin said there is room for expansion of Equimillion every year. Why not get the horse’s original racing owners involved, groups like syndicates and so on, for example?
“It will get better every year,” she said. “Racing NSW seems to know what to do and they proved that with The Everest. I think they’ll prove it with Equimillion too.”
