Collingwood premiership coach Craig McRae laid his hands on an unexpected piece of silverware just a week before the start of the AFL season.
McRae was beaming from ear to ear at Flemington on Saturday when a horse he part-owns, Feroce, won the $1 million group 1 Australian Guineas over 1600 metres.
The Magpies boss was one of the first to hug and congratulate trainer Dom Sutton in the mounting yard as it was the up-and-coming horseman’s first group 1 victory.
Craig McRae, along with wife Gabrielle, was all smiles holding the Australian Guineas trophy after his horse took out the feature race.Credit: Getty Images
“I haven’t been involved in a horse that has won like this. It is an incredible feeling,” McRae said in the winners’ room after the race.
“It is a different experience to others I have had in my life, but one I will never forget.”
McRae owned a horse back in his Brisbane days with triple premiership teammate and captain Michael Voss, but had slipped out of the racing game for the past 15 years.
His recent decision to revisit his “hobby”, one that wouldn’t prove too consuming away from the heady world of football, has paid early dividends.
Feroce finished second in last year’s Caulfield Guineas and then went one better at Flemington on Saturday.
“I was lucky enough to get this one with Dom – I am in a couple of horses with Dom – and he’s a good young trainer and this one has been an exciting ride,” McRae said.
Three others in Feroce’s ownership group included Western Bulldogs premiership player Tory Dickson, McRae’s former Lions teammate Justin Leppitsch, and Melbourne Racing Club chairman John Kanga.
“I just rang him [Leppitsch] before,” McRae said. “He was at a pub somewhere watching it, and he said there were about six people in there, and he was jumping up and down and no one knew what he was jumping up and down about.
Trainer Dom Sutton poses with the trophy after Feroce’s big win.Credit: Getty Images
“It is a shame he couldn’t be here today because we have enjoyed some great times together already.”
McRae said it would be his last chance to spend a day at the races, given the home-and-away season is about to start, but he was hoping the victory was a sign of things to come.
“Any time you get your hands on some silverware it’s a nice feeling,” he said. “So we’ll be aspiring to something like that.”
The involvement of the decorated AFL coach and the coming-of-age moment for Sutton provided a welcome feel-good boost for what had been a sombre week in racing.
McRae with jockey Billy Egan at Flemington.Credit: Getty Images
The Victoria Racing Club and the wider racing industry had been mourning the loss of popular Flemington trainer Mike Moroney, who died in his sleep on Thursday morning after a short battle with cancer.
Moroney’s name still appeared alongside co-trainer Glen Thompson in Saturday’s race book fields and many prayed that the Guineas would provide a sentimental farewell.
It wasn’t to be. Moroney’s runner Plymouth dropped out of winning contention at the 300m mark and ran a creditable fifth, but one suspects that gentle giant Moroney would have been content looking down from above.
McRae will be hoping for more silverware later this year.Credit: Getty Images
Sutton, who took over Mathew Ellerton’s Flemington stables in December and has boxes at Ballarat, showed his class by paying tribute to Moroney during his greatest moment at the track.
“Everyone’s very emotional, especially the guys who shared a [trainers’] hut with him for the last 20-odd years,” Sutton said.
“He was a champion bloke, and it’s extremely unfortunate for him to have his life cut short to a horrible disease, but he’ll be long-remembered by everyone in the training ranks.”
“I hadn’t heard of Collingwood before I come out here.”
Feroce’s trainer, Dom Sutton
Sutton, 29, moved to Australia from England as a teenager 10 years ago on a three-month working holiday to broaden his experience, but never went back home. He then became a trainer in the early months of last year.
Acclimatising to life Down Under took some unexpected turns.
“I hadn’t heard of Collingwood before I come out here,” he said. “So that was something that I had to learn – AFL.
“I still don’t know what the rules are, so I try not to bug Craig too much about it. But yeah, it’s great to have him involved in the horse.
“He’s obviously a very busy man with a high-pressure job, himself – trying to deliver a team for the big stage. But we talk here and there, and he’s just bought into another horse with us, so hopefully the ride continues.”
Feroce ($14) sat fifth in the run, one off the fence, and had an economic run before jockey Billy Egan shifted out and pounced at the 300m mark to edge out Kiwi raider Savaglee. The Andrew Gluyas-trained Goldrush Guru finished strongly for third.
“I’ve got to thank so many people behind the scenes that have got him here, especially my fiancee Raquel who is such a big part of the team and I couldn’t do it without her,” Sutton said.
