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The Idol Horse team tackles the biggest events on the world horse racing calendar. Expect to hear interviews from the biggest names in the sport and insight, breaking news and forthright opinion from the Idol Horse team.
Michael Cox (00:02.61)
HKIR week in Hong Kong, culminating in the Turf World Championships on Sunday, is like no other on the region's racing calendar. The international trainers, jockeys, horses and owners, and media too for that matter, make up for a magical day and an electric atmosphere at Sha Tin. And whilst Hong Kong Jockey Club members are delighted to have any runner on the day, naturally most dream of having a runner, let alone a chance, in one of the four features.
That's the situation Antino's owner G2 Ramchandani finds himself in with a leading chance in this year's mile. Antino, trained in Australia by Tony Gollin, has flown in to try and make his Hong Kong-based owner's dreams come true. G2 joins me to talk about his passion for racing, the journey with Antino and his hopes for the big day. Enjoy.
G2, welcome to the Idle Horse podcast. And many thanks for your time in what is going to be a very exciting and busy week for you, I imagine. Yes, it's been very exciting. mean, it's going to be nervous at the same time. But it's one of those things that one can only dream of. You never really think that you'd have a $27,000 horse riding in a Hong Kong International Race. Double back to that in a second, where you got in from, a $27,000, that's incredible. is this, this will be your first, have you had runners on International Day?
before on the undercard at all? No, never. So this would be my first run on the big day. That's quite a way to start then with a live chance in the month. There's a lot going on this week. Of course, you've got barrier draws, social functions and all that sort of thing. Is that something that you sort of throw yourself into? Does that side of it appeal? Is it all part of the big day, I suppose? It is part of the big day. It's been interesting. I've been getting a lot of emails from the jockey club.
asking me if I'd like to attend a lot of events coming up, I'm more of a, you know, sit back and relax and let Tony go and my agent Boomer Roundsvold, Craig Roundsvold do all of that. And hopefully, you know, they pick the right berry for the horse. All right, so Tony's going up on stage as he can do the draw. so likely Tony or Boomer will probably be doing that. I'll probably just be watching on my phone.
Michael Cox (02:20.494)
I've got prior commitments that day so unfortunately I'll not be able to tend the barriers at all. So you touched on that then, 27,000 for Antino. Was that as a yearling or as a two-year-old? We bought him from the ready run sale at Caracas about four years ago or three years ago, I'm not quite sure but yes, $27,000. very, you know, feels very cheap, looks very cheap right now.
and his story since then. I mean he came to prominence quite quickly I think with Tony in Queensland. He won a couple of his early races and his CV built up quite impressively quite quickly. Yeah what I like about Tony is that he always had a big opinion of the horse throughout his early career. But what I love about Tony is that he didn't, you know, he probably knew more than any one of us how much ability the horse had but he gave him as much time as he could.
and took him through the ranks and, you know, letting him, giving him as much time as he could to mature, to become the horse he is today, without really having to push him early. Like you can, as you can see, he's only had 22 starts, so I'd say he's very lightly raced, being a 60-year-old, to be honest. And when was the dream hatched or the plan hatched as far as getting to Hong Kong concerned?
The dream's always been on the cards, as Tony said probably in his interviews early on and throughout the week. It wasn't enough, it was, you know, we've been talking about this for a year. It's a great story for a Hong Kong owner racing a horse in Australia and then bringing it back to Hong Kong and racing it on world stage. So I'd say probably a year in the making. I think this spring really kind of gave us an indication where he's gone to a new level. He wanted to rack by six and a half lengths, obviously.
Blake Shinn probably gave him the ride of century, I'd say. But Blake always said, to do that, you've got to have the horse underneath and you've got to give credit to him. He was strong throughout the line and he just kept going. A lot of jockeys and lot of horses tried to make those runs and they kind of just don't really finish off as strong as he has. And then obviously, there's a lot of question marks whether he'd be able to replicate that kind of run.
Michael Cox (04:42.542)
in the Wait For Age race against some of best marlars in the world and he was very unlucky not to win that day. Yeah, he's obviously gone to a new level. know, time's on the line, if I'm not mistaken. He ran some of the fastest sectionals that day. There was obviously thoughts after the race, you know, should we just step back and give him some time off and bring him back for the autumn? And it was obviously...
other thoughts of, know, when are we ever going to get this opportunity again to go up to Hong Kong while the horse is at the peak of his powers. It'll be silly for us not to take that opportunity. And obviously just for Tony as well, having his first ever international runner with a horse like Antino, it's quite big for him as well.
And you mentioned that just for anyone that's not aware, so you are a Hong Kong Jockey Club member, you're based there in Hong Kong, so you have local horses, but you also race horses in Australia as well? Yes, I had a horse with a syndicate called Willpower with Douglas White, I'd say that was my first horse up in Hong Kong. We bought it from Karak as well. He went on to win about $10 million in prize money, so was quite a good horse for me. And I do have a few more horses coming in this year.
I do have two permits. I do have a horse with Francis and I have another horse coming in. We haven't decided who that's going to yet. But I'd say a lot of my other thoroughbred interests are in Australia at the moment. Yeah, it's just hard to explain why Australia really. I guess it just makes it easier to own horses in Australia if that makes sense. I mean, it's quite difficult to have permits in Hong Kong. You know, you have to go through a ballot system and the chances of getting permits are almost impossible.
considering how many people are interested in racing horses in Hong Kong, especially with the prize money. Yeah, so, you know, I switched my focus to Australia and, you know, prize money in Australia is quite significant as well, I'd say. You know, it keeps getting bigger and bigger every year. Training fees aren't as high as Hong Kong. Obviously, horses are not in training throughout the year. As owners, it gives us a bit of a relief in terms of training fees.
Michael Cox (06:58.338)
you know, horses go out just about quite a bit. Yeah, there's a lot of a lot of different factors leading into that in why Australia. where does your passion come from in the first instance for racing? I always had a few friends who were quite interested in racing throughout, you know, throughout the early years of my teen years, but you know, owning a horse or ever dreaming of, you know,
having a run on an international stage was never really... It was just dream. I had quite a few friends who owned horses in Hong Kong. It was one of those things that if I could ever afford to own a horse, it'd be possible one day. Obviously, I went down to Rabbit Hole and started buying a lot of horses with a lot of other trainers. That didn't really work out because obviously I didn't have the right people guiding me. There's no knock on anyone, I feel like.
as an owner or as a person, know, whatever industry it may be, you have to have the knowledge yourself before getting into it versus, you know, trusting someone completely. But I'd say I'd spend about two hours a day on pedigrees and just horses in general, just learning every day. He would be watching races, watching sales, going back and looking at types. But being around, being with Blutstock, obviously Craig Ranswell has been a very
big influence in my journey throughout this whole experience so I've got to give all the credit to him. I wouldn't be where I am without him so it's been good. mentioned Will Power there as well. I remember him very well. burst onto the... I think maybe all of his wins came on the Orweather didn't he? whatever reason he couldn't quite translate that form to the turf. He could have done...
He could have got on and won some nice races, I think, but he was a of a dirt specialist. Yeah, he was a bit of a dirt specialist. I remember winning his first start and I remember Douglas came back and said, he's got a lot of ability. you know, like I said earlier, if the formula works, there's no point changing it considering how big prize money is in Hong Kong. So we just stuck to the recipe and just continued, you know, letting him race on what preferred
Michael Cox (09:25.358)
track was in terms of being on the dirt. So it didn't really bother us or the syndicate or the other owners in any way. He did end up winning about $10 million in prize money. So that was great. I think he did run over the turf a few times if my memory serves me right. But yeah, he didn't really go as well. And eventually in Hong Kong, as you're aware, once you get high up in the handicaps, it's just so hard to stay competitive. But winning $10 million in Hong Kong, think, that's job done.
to offer a hundred thousand dollar horse, a hundred thousand Newsy Kiwi. And that was that. think that was the last horse I owned as a syndicate. I've got a new horse with Francis Lowy now, it's called Magic Beans. We brought it off the Caracas sale as well. We've gone back to the same hunting ground. He's by Spilled the Beans. He had a few trials up in Sydney before coming down to Hong Kong. feel like we have a great system in place. We have a lot of horses that.
we buy at sales in the hopes of getting up to Hong Kong eventually if we do end up getting a permit but also have a system where if we feel the horses go well enough then Hong Kong is definitely on the agenda and if we feel that they don't really go as well as we think they do then obviously there's no point of bringing them up here because training as I said training fees are quite expensive up here so you definitely want to bring a horse up here that's going to be competitive. Yeah most definitely well back to Antino because he will be very competitive I'm sure on the weekend
and that incredible win in the track. So you had a good build up to that in the Memsie and the Maccabi Diva behind, you know, Mr. Brightside and then prior to Jenny, the start before that. But was there any hint before the tour act itself? Had Blake suggested that he might do something like he did? I don't really talk to Tony or Blake as much. I let Boomer do all the race planning and the planning for the horse and throughout the years. I mean,
Post race comments from Tony have always been horse can sustain a very long gallop, lot longer than most horses that he's ever trained. And I think Blake kind of took note of that after the last run and used that to his advantage to be honest, as you could see. was strong throughout the line and now, you know, we were all quite shocked as well, I remember.
Michael Cox (11:49.614)
I remember being at the racetrack and I was with a few friends and as soon as he missed a kick I was like, here we go. My heart just sank and I was just like, you know. And that was it, I lost hope. But like I said, my ride was probably one of the rides of the spring, I'd say, a ride of the century as some people would say.
Yeah, it was great to witness and great to be alive. It's once in a lifetime experience, like once in a lifetime opportunity having a group one horse but to witness ride like that, it's something else. Yeah, it was quite extraordinary. So even not being connected to the horse to watch something like that, makes racing exciting so often. You know, don't get that sort of opportunity as a jockey, I suppose, maybe to make a move like that. Blake, I'm very brave to do that as well because you can.
It could have all gone very wrong for him as well. But obviously he is one of the best jockeys in the world so I'm sure he probably knows better than a lot of us of how much the horse can deliver. And I feel like he has a great connection with the horse as well. He's ridden him quite a few times and I think he tries and learns more and more every time he sits on him. It's unfortunate he wasn't able to ride him in the champion's smile.
last start but no knockback on Mark Saro. Mark Saro gave him a perfect ride as well. It was just unlucky to be that far back when there was no genuine pace in the race with Pride of Jenny not going as hard as we'd like to go. So what about the race on on Sunday then? The great thing about Blake is there's really no charting back to front so you know that's the massive plus for him but
Just looking at the race, obviously got some of the other races, you know, potentially stand, well, not potentially, but stand out horses in a car, you can ride in a romantic worry, but the mile this year without a golden 60, it's still obviously a very good race, but it looks open. You've got to be going in thinking that you're, some sort of chance, haven't you? Yeah, absolutely. Like I said, this is my first time that I've actually traveled a horse to international stage. mean, there's so much that can go wrong.
Michael Cox (14:03.022)
know, routine for horse, how he settles in and how they are. It's just, there's so many different factors playing up prior to race day and Hope Touchwood, it's been all smooth sailing so far. So, can't knock the horse in any way. And obviously, you know, like I said, he went to a new level this spring. So, we'd be quite confident going up into the race. And I think Tony wouldn't be traveling a horse if he didn't think he was as confident, if he wasn't as confident. So, yeah, know, fingers crossed.
I do agree that Marlowe's probably the openest has ever been without one of the best horses to ever race in Hong Kong. Golden 60. But there's quite a few overseas horses coming. You've got Docklands coming. He's had a decent prep in Australia. We've got Sol Rush, he won a group one on his last start in Hong Kong. And in Japan, sorry. And you've got Chantamanta, who's a three-o-colt, if memory serves me right. I think he's a...
It's exciting telling coming up as well. And obviously the Hong Kong horse is like Galaxy Patch. He's been an absolute superstar. And Warwich Bubble, I mean, he was strong last time. It's just such a hard horse to get through on his day. So yes, it'll be, you know, I can't remember the last time that you went into a group one race on the world stage with so many live chances.
So it's quite exciting. just makes it competitive and just makes it interesting for every owner, be honest. And obviously Lazard as well, I completely forgot to mention him coming off here. Yeah, coming out of that good run here, French obviously, but coming out of that good run here in Australia last time. Yeah, he was unlucky not to win the Golden Eagles. So I'm sure they're quite confident going into the race as well.
Yeah, no, in some respects, I think it might actually be the race of the race, meeting in that regard. So, yeah, very exciting that that you're going in with Antino and hopefully has a great week and, we just get the race everyone, everyone hopes and expects. Well, what would be the plans beyond that? you got the travel bug with him now? Are you thinking of other overseas targets or would just be back to Australia? We haven't really. I leave all the decisions up to Tony and Buma to make those calls.
Michael Cox (16:22.574)
I did an easy job to pay the bills. I guess it'll be complicated once you kind of get a bit involved with all the other stuff. To be honest, we know the order was off the cards, so we'll take it race by race. I'm sure Tony has a few other plans, but he'll probably discuss that with us once the race is out of the way. Dubai could be fun in March. It could be. It all depends really on how the horse comes out of the race. he's obviously had, Tony's always said that he picks up fourth up.
and obviously he was strong last start so just his sixth run into the prep is quite unknown for all of us but the horse has been, you know, can't fold the horse at all so yeah it's quite exciting going through the race actually. We haven't really given other places much thought but you never know. Well we really appreciate you G2 sharing some of your thoughts and your background as well giving us an insight to Antino and the week ahead and really wish you the best of luck.
I hope he runs a massive race for you. Thank you. I appreciate your time as well. Who knows if he does continue on his, his world tour, you'll have to come back and, and talk to us again at some point. Absolutely. Thank you so much. You're right. Best of luck. We'll speak soon. Take care. Keep up. All right. Don't forget to like, share and subscribe to make sure you never miss an episode. Follow us on all the socials and head to the Trylingual websites, www.
www.idlehorse.com in the continued build up to HKIR. That's it for now though, we'll see you next time.