I Wish I Win winning the Golden Eagle at Rosehill (2022). Photo / Supplied
Trying to win one of the richest sporting events in the world is surprisingly like many other things in life.
“It is definitely easier the second time around,” says Mark Chittick.
Chittick would know because he is the majority owner of I Wish I Wish, one of the two Kiwi joint-favourites for the A$20 million Everest slot horse race at Randwick in Sydney on Saturday.
Chittick owns Waikato Stud and bred I Wish I Win, who had bad legs but a big heart and, as it turns out, the latter matters more than the former.
This time last year I Wish I Win was the horse on every Kiwi punter’s lips as he was the first ever New Zealand rep in the Everest, the most Australian of races first run just seven years ago.
He raced in the Trackside Media slot, which was the brand name used by the NZ TAB and Entain but make no mistake, I Wish I Win was running for New Zealand.
A sticky barrier 1 and rival jockeys who were too smart to let him off the rail until too late conspired to see I Wish I Win just miss as a fast-finishing second.
Chittick had climbed to the summit but not stood on top of the mountain. Today he flies to Sydney again, a few days later and a lot more relaxed than last year.
“Last year was very intense,” he told the Herald. “There was so much anticipation around him being the first New Zealand horse and Entain were still very new in New Zealand and we were all still learning about each other.
“So we had so many camera crews down home and then went to Sydney earlier for the barrier draw and it was all-encompassing and then we just fell short.
“This year is different. People are more used to the idea and we know what to expect. Everybody now knows the story about him being a crooked-legged little foal and what he has become so we can just go and race and not get too much into that.
“We still realise it is a huge deal, it is one of the biggest races in the world and a huge sporting event. But I feel a lot calmer.
“I’d still love to win it. For us, for the horse and for the country and I love the fact the Entain guys have asked us to team up with them again. But we are going there to enjoy our day.
“We can’t control the result so let’s have fun.”
I Wish I Win can, of course, win with this year’s barrier 9 better than the claustrophobic barrier 1 last year and if any of the rain forecast for Sydney falls it will suit him better than many of his opponents.
“Moods [trainer, Peter Moody] couldn’t be happier. He says the horse is spot on and now we just need some luck.”
While the money matters, the winning owners and slot holders share A$7 million minus trainer and jockey percentages, Chittick says I Wish I Win is racing for something even closer to his heart.
Chittick would love New Zealand to breed the winner of Australia’s most glamorous sprint race, especially his Waikato Stud stallion Savabeel.
“He has been with us 20 years and we love him,” he says of Savabeel.
“That would put a real exclamation mark on his career, maybe he doesn’t really need it because he has done such a great job.
“But a Kiwi stallion siring the Everest would be the icing on the cake.”
It would also be some good news after a tough month for Savabeel who last month injured his money maker at work. Yes, his fifth leg got a cut in it and that is about as much fun as it sounds.
“I felt sorry for the poor bugger but he is all better now and almost about ready to go back to work [serving mares].
“Not only has he been sore down there but he has had to watch his mate Super Seth going off the work a few times every day and he hasn’t been happy about it.
“So let’s hope things are looking up for both father and son.”
Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.