As the AFL’s match review officer, Michael Christian knows a thing or two about pressure, but nothing compares to having a runner in the Everest – not even the furore over the Isaac Heeney case.
Christian was persona non grata at the SCG after dashing Heeney’s Brownlow Medal hopes with a controversial suspension, but this week he is a special guest further down the road at Randwick Racecourse as an owner of Everest hopeful Bella Nipotina.
Bella Nipotina is one of the leading contenders in this year’s Everest.Credit: Getty Images
The seven-year-old mare is one of the leading chances to take out the $20 million sprint, the richest race on the Australian turf.
Though a prominent figure in racing as the general manager of Longwood Thoroughbred Farm, Christian is better known for his deeds in football, firstly as a member of Collingwood’s famous drought-breaking 1990 AFL premiership team, then as a commentator, and now as the MRO, who has the thankless job of handing out suspensions to players who fall foul of the laws of the game.
No case this year attracted as much attention as the one-game ban handed to Sydney superstar Heeney for a high fend to St Kilda’s Jimmy Webster, which drew blood.
Match review officer Michael Christian suspended Isaac Heeney for this incident with St Kilda’s Jimmy Webster.Credit: Channel Seven
The Swans were unsuccessful in overturning the suspension at the tribunal and at the appeals board, and Heeney, then the Brownlow favourite, was out of the running for football’s highest individual honour.
Christian said he did not feel the pressure leading into his adjudication of Heeney’s actions, despite the high public interest in the case and what was at stake in his ruling.
In Heeney’s case, Christian was in control. But when the gates crash in the Everest, he is just like the hundreds of thousands of punters watching from the stands or in front of the box at home or the pub.
“It’s completely different,” Christian said. “I’m there to do a job, make a decision based on the incident and the rules. He’s such a wonderful player, Isaac, it’s not easy to say ‘look, I’m sorry you’ve done the wrong thing’.
“This is going into the unknown – not knowing what will happen, what barrier she will draw; she loves the wet, will there be rain that helps her cause?
“Will she jump from the barrier? She’s got this propensity not to jump well, which might see us back in the field. Will we get into the right spot? It’s all over in 69 seconds.
“It’s completely out of your hands. You’ve got no control of the situation.”
Bella Nipotina has run in pretty much every major sprint race in the country, but this is her first start in the lucrative pop-up race, which has transformed Australian racing.
As he has for each of her starts in the past 18 months, Christian and his family are treating this race as if it could be her last.
Michael Christian with a colt from Deep Field and Bella Sorellastra. Credit: Joe Armao
Christian and trainer Ciaron Maher met in June last year to discuss whether to retire the sprinter, who has raced at the top level since she was two – a feat rarely achieved. Their call to race on, instead of retiring her to stud, was wise. She has since collected $7.35 million in prizemoney.
This week is particularly busy for Christian, his co-owners and their families as they attend the numerous functions that accompany such a marquee event, now in its eighth year.
The hospitality offered by the TAB was one of the factors why Christian, on behalf of other owners, chose the wagering firm as their slot holder. Coincidentally, it reunites Christian with his former boss Gillon McLachlan, now the TAB chief executive.
Victory on Saturday would be particularly special, and not because of the $7 million cheque, which would take her career earnings to $18.26 million and third on the all-time list in Australia behind Nature Strip and Winx.
Bella Nipotina’s dam Bella Orfana, which means beautiful orphan in Italian, died this year with nasal cancer, leaving behind an orphaned foal, which Christian has kept to race and breed. Bella Orfana had also lost her mother shortly after birth.
“It’s going to be a challenge to hold it all together,” Christian said.
