Four local women are riding a wave of success after their horse, Aitch Two Oh, won the Red Roses Stakes Group 3 held during Melbourne’s Spring Racing Carnival.
The Red Roses Stakes is a prestigious registered Victoria Racing Club Group 3 thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old fillies run over 1100m.
The race was held at Flemington Racecourse on Oaks Day during the Melbourne Cup Carnival and Kalangadoo’s Peta Rogers, who owns a share in Aitch Two Oh, said it was incredible when their horse won the race.
“For her to win a Group 3, it puts her up in quite another level now,” Ms Rogers said.
The race is worth $300,000 in total prize money and Aitch Two Oh won $180,000 for the win.
Aitch Two Oh is trained by father-daughter duo Richard and Chantelle Jolly at the Morphettville Stables in Adelaide.
Ms Rogers believed it was the duo’s good training and management that led Aitch Two Oh to success.
“They know how to prime their horses,” she said.
“If they did not have faith in her they would not have taken her to Melbourne.”
Ms Rogers said the decision to have shares in a horse came about when her husband, who had always had shares with his friends in horses with Richard Jolley, gifted her a voucher for her 50th birthday to buy into a syndicate.
She said her group of friends, including Helen Mules from Millicent, Jo O’Connor from Penola and Janeen Lepley from Kalangadoo, had joked for several years they should get shares in their own ‘girls horse’.
“When I got the voucher, I said to the girls ‘right, do you want to get shares with me, we will go in together and have our own little syndicate’,” she said.
Ms Rogers attended the annual Richard Jolly Racing Day at Morphettville, where people can put their name down to have shares in a horse.
“One of the women was up in Adelaide with me and we went up and we picked Aitch Two Oh because she was pretty,” she said.
The four women own 2.5% of Aitch Two Oh each, purchased at the sales for $60,000.
Ms Rogers could not make it to the race in Melbourne however the other three women, their partners and Ms Rogers’ husband attended.
“I could not believe that she actually won, I had to keep watching it on my phone, the replay, to make sure it was true,” she said.
“The group that went over to Melbourne said it was just such a buzz, it was amazing, it was a thrill of a lifetime.”
The three-year-old chestnut filly has raced in seven races so far and has now amassed $373,950 in career earnings.
“Fingers crossed she keeps going like that,” Ms Rogers said.
“It is mind-blowing to think we picked out a horse because she was pretty and we have managed to pick this one.
“We have scored a winner and we’re just having fun, we are just really enjoying it and the excitement of it all.
“To think that we are a part of that is just amazing.”
