Queensland based owners Gordon and Marlene are enjoying the ride of their lives (and clocking up plenty of kilometres) with $4,500 buy Widgee Turf.
Google will tell you a small Queensland town named Widgee is 1,755 kilometres or 19 hours by car away from The Valley. Last Friday night it has never felt closer as Widgee Turf strode clear to make it four wins on end in the $120,000 VOBIS Gold Star.
Gordon and Marlene McIntosh are the envy of all racehorse owners, not only in their small town of 1000 people in Widgee (26 kilometres west of Gympie), but across Australia. The retired Queensland couple admit it still ‘hasn’t sunk in yet’, and you can hardly blame them, with a return on investment 114 times their original stake, something only rivalled by winning Tattslotto.
So what prompted a Queensland couple to spend $4,500 at the 2014 Melbourne Weanling Sales on a colt whose mother’s name is Greyhound and finished last in her only race start?
“He was an extremely good walker and I mean that good the handler could hardly keep up,” explained part-owner Gordon McIntosh.
“It’s probably no surprise but I think I got him in one bid.”
A quick image search of Widgee Turf’s sire, Turffontein, shows a strong resemblance to his father, deep rich chestnut in colour, but the comparisons don’t stop there. They both have a pretty big motor. We first saw that motor from Patrick Payne’s charge on August 8, 2016 when Widgee Turf was sent out $15 on debut at Swan Hill. In fact, that was the first time the McIntosh’s met their trainer, as before then it was phone conversations (and brief ones as well) with a pretty tight-lipped trainer.
Widgee Turf won by 2¾ lengths. The 17-hour road trip had been worth its while.
“Paddy doesn’t get carried away but that day he said to us ‘this horse could be the buy of the century’,” McIntosh recalled.
18 months on and with $513,800 in the bank, some could call Payne a fortune teller. While his owners may be unfamiliar to the city lights, Payne is simply reliving his past. The 2002 W.S. Cox Plate winning jockey aboard Northerly rode 35 winners at The Valley.
“We just love night racing and being so close to the action it can’t be replicated – we’re even bringing down friends with us each time to show them how good it is… we don’t get this in Widgee,” laughed McIntosh.
Gordon and Marlene rarely miss a race, so much so Gordon says they have the flight plan from Sunshine Coast airport pretty well ‘down pat’ as they embark on their almost fortnightly adventures south.
Through the lucrative VOBIS Gold scheme, Widgee Turf has banked over $117,000 in bonuses and is likely to follow the race series this campaign.
And while there is no certainty as to when and where Widgee Turf’s winning run will come to an end, two things are sure to be certain, the McIntosh’s will keep making the pilgrimage south and their decision to bid on a racehorse that one time is now seen as a masterstroke.