Ashley and Courtney Jones at the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday.
The Harden-Murrumburrah community will benefit from $50,000 after Knight’s Choice stormed home to win the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday afternoon, with the 5 year old gelding’s dark coat looking resplendent against the green turf of the Flemington straight. Standing at 15.1 hands he was well back at the clock tower but found and continued to find, as he weaved through the field with Jockey Robbie Dolan Aboard.
It was the second Melbourne Cup win for Sheila Laxon who has suffered three near death experiences in her life. She trained Ethereal to her first cup in 2001.
The Times caught up with Courtney Jones, President of Harden Pony Club who announced that the Harden-Murrumburrah community has won the $50,000 to benefit the Harden Pony Club.
“It all just started when Mum saw it advertised on the Today Show. She rang me and said you should enter the Pony Club as you could win $50,000 and I was like, ‘ah Mum, I don’t know.’ She said it wouldn’t hurt, just have a go and community groups could enter, so I did.
The Melbourne Cup came to Coota, Boorowa and Harden across two days earlier this year and Courtney and husband Ashley were flown to Melbourne by the VRC for the celebrations on Monday as the representatives of the club.
“As part of the tour they flew us down on Monday and we went to Government House the night before the celebrations where we met the Governor General and there were 840 people present,” she said.
“It was amazing, just the food and the whole atmosphere. The building is magnificent, you can’t believe the detail in it.
“On the Tuesday we went over the the course at about 9:30am and met up with the VRC reps that were organising the tour and they showed us where to sit as it was a designated seating area with tables and chairs for during the day, and then there was a spot in the grandstand for all of us 24 reps, so there was 48 of us in total as there was two reps from each town and we all sat together to watch the actual race.
“We had members tickets so we were able to go and check out everything around the ground, up and down through the grandstands, down to the Bird Cage and checked out the stalls and all the horses, it was amazing.
“When the actual race came to happen we were all sitting there and the race started and we didn’t think we had any chance so we were just taking in the atmosphere because the crowd was just going crazy and then when they came down the straight I put my camera on and started videoing it just to take in the atmosphere of all the crowd as the noise was unbelievable and it was roaring as they were coming down the straight and we were probably 100m back off the actual post so we couldn’t see who won and I no sooner pressed stop on the video as they crossed the finish post and dad was ringing me. I thought what is dad ringing for, so I answered it and I looked up on the big screen and here is Number 11 written as the winner and I turned to Ash and said Number 11 is us, that’s us! It was unbelievable.
“Imagine if you owned the horse. It was an awesome feeling winning it for the community, but if you owned him I can only imagine how they felt.
What started as Janet Howe’s idea has turned in to a miracle for the small club.
“They emailed us to say we were part of the tour and then the tour came to town in July and that was pretty amazing just for the community to have the Cup in town. It did Boorowa the day before us and Coota on the same day as us, so they were down in Melbourne for the running of the Cup as well.
“From Coota the rep was Di Williams and Jeff Bristow and from Boorowa it was Judith McGuiness and Anna Org.
“People from as far as Tasmania, a couple from Katherine and Tennant Creek and ones from over in Perth and Esperance and guys from Gregory, which is 400kms north of Mount Isa.
There were lots of different personalities and stories behind all the people involved in the tour. Both Courtney and Ashley spend a fair bit of time in their respective saddles in behind the earthmoving equipment Ashley drives and Courtney training horses and teaching kids how to ride.
Courtney said, “We didn’t even back the winner. I wouldn’t let Ashley put any money on it.
“On the way to Canberra to catch the plane Ash was looking up the Sportsbet account and it came up that he was paying 151/1 and he goes ‘it wouldn’t hurt to put a bit of money on him’ and I said ‘no, don’t worry about it.’
“About twenty minutes before the race at the actual track, he was only paying $15 and Ash said he might be in with a chance and the bookies must have been on to something as he was back to $15 and he said she would go and whack some money on him and I said no, you will jinx us if you do that.
“I wish we had of put even $10 on him when he was 151/1. It would have been a nice little bonus.
“Overall the experience was amazing. The VRC sure know how to look after people and put on a good show that’s for sure.
“The atmosphere in Melbourne, there’s just something about it. We have never been before, so to go for our first time and be treated like Royalty almost, was great. It would be hard to beat it.
“And to meet the horse, we went to the stalls after he headed back from the mounting yard. The strapper was lovely, we had a chat to her and she said would you like a photo with him and we said we’d love a photo with him, so she brought him over to the fence and let us have a pat and a couple of pictures with him. It was really nice. She rides him track work as well, so she had lots of info on him.
“It was a horse that had just won $5 million and he was just standing there, you wouldn’t have even known he had just run in the race. He’s only 15.1 hands, so only a little fella.
“He was a beautiful looking horse, but just tiny and standing in the stalls like a pony club horse. “I said he’d make a good pony club horse and she said keep your eyes off him as I’ve already ‘bagsed’ him.
“That’s when she said ‘I ride him’ and that’s when she continued on to say she’d ridden him on the Sunday and that he felt the best he’d ever felt and from then she felt they might have been in with a chance.
“He was just standing in the stalls quiet as quiet, chewing on his lead. He’s a very cool, calm, collected little horse.
“He spent a fair bit of time in the mounting yard while the presentation was on, so probably half an hour or so after the race and he was very relaxed. He looked like he could have done it again.
“We will have to put a bit of thought into how we will use the funds, but I think we will end up using it to improve the grounds. I think it will be an infrastructure thing I would imagine.
“We have always dreamed of a covered arena, so whether we can find another grant somewhere, but we have a good base now, a good little deposit. Hopefully we can find a bit more funding and make that dream come true of an all-weather covered arena.
“That dream of that undercover arena would be great for the grounds and the community and the whole of NSW because then we can have bigger events on the grounds.
What an amazing story. Dreams do come true.
