Gundagai local Marty Hay is heading to The Kosciuszko after reinvesting a winning place bet on his horse into tickets for the sweep.
“Scott Kennedy from Racing NSW rang and told me I’d won (a ticket),” Hay said.
“I thought it might have been a gee-up at first but then it started to sink in.
“I got quite emotional to be honest, you don’t expect things like this to happen.”
Hay’s winning ticket into The Kosziusko gives the self-confessed racing tragic the opportunity to select a horse to run in the $2m country flagship on The Everest day.
But the Gundagai local didn’t need long to ponder, choosing the Todd Smart-trained Love Shuck, who he part-owns, to contest the feature slated for Royal Randwick on October 17.
And as fate would have it, the six-year-old gelding essentially booked his own place into the 1200m showcase.
“When he finished third at Randwick last start I had $100 a place on him,” Hay said.
“But I had it with TAB and his $10 place price got boosted to $30 so I collected $3000.
“I reinvested that $3000 into buying tickets.”
Love Shuck is $26 in The Kosciuszko betting and while his place in the race is already locked away, so is his jockey.
“When I told Todd he was in he asked if I’d be happy for Sairyn (Fawke) to ride him,” Hay said.
“I said of course. He rides him in all his work and has done a good job on him so why change.
“We are a loyal bunch out here at Gundagai.”
With over 210,000 tickets sold, Hay admits to not giving Wednesday’s draw a second thought.
“It just shows anything can happen,” he said.
“We are all over the moon and just to be a part of such a big race day is very exciting.
“And we won’t be making up the numbers either. He’s a very good horse and Todd will have him trained to the minute.”
Confirmed runners for The Kosciuszko include Graceful Ellen (Peter Joseph, Bombala), Love Shuck (Martin Hay, Gundagai), Band Of Brothers (Jessica Tillett, Murwillumbah), Considered (Peter Yammine, Minto) and So You Pence (Tattersalls Hotel, Inverell).
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