What's the Story

It isn't that I haven't been going anywhere or doing anything, I just haven't written about it! And now I am writing about something unexpected and quite exciting, for me a least.

Some of you already know that in 2014 I bought a 10% share in a race horse. I had read about syndicated ownership in a magazine and found out more about it, speaking to management and asking lots of questions. It looked like fun and while I've always liked the races I've not been a regular attender of race meetings.  Time for a new hobby!

It was just after the yearling sales that year so there were lots of syndicate shares available. I'd like to say I extensively researched all the horses, but when I saw this horse's lineage, that was the choice made.  A Savabeel colt whose sire was Zabeel, whose sire was Sir Tristram.  Genes will out!

So I have 10% of What's the Story - excellent name especially for Oasis fans.

And he's been doing well - very well.  A win on debut in September 2015 drew an offer of $500,000. The syndicate (correctly) assumed if he was worth that then it could only get better. And it has.   He had a few lacklustre performances while he got used to racing and worked out what he was supposed to do - that is run and not spend all his time eyeing up the fillies.
So we got a good win and then a brilliant 2nd in the New Zealand Derby a couple of weeks ago (beaten by a very very short margin) after which we were offered $1.3 million. Which we didn't take.

It was an extremely exciting race and as owners we had rather mixed feelings when he was second by half a head. As the trainer said, you’d rather lose by a length than a nose. 

If you want to relive the glory go here https://www.nzracing.co.nz/RaceInfo/44627/9/Race-Detail.aspx and about a third of the way down the page you’ll see a video tab. He is number 10, blue and white silks and white helmet. The last 200m is a nail biter. 

Before the NZ Derby

He is now entered in the $AUS2million stake Australian Derby run in Sydney on 2nd April. I hope he does well cos this new hobby is costing a fortune in travel, shoes and new frocks! Luckily I have friends who own hats I can borrow.

Or here's an attractive 60's number I bought at a second hand shop for $10, thinking I could repurpose it! I'm told it makes me look like my mother. So far I have taken all the apricot flowers off and that's all the progress I've made. My career as a milliner may be very short. 

An Australian jockey has been lined up for the race - Blake Shinn. He has won multiple Group 1 races including the Melbourne Cup in 2008,  is 3rd in the NZW Metropolitan jockey premiership "league" riding 43 winners and $5 million in prize money so we hope he adds another couple to it!  He knows the course, how the other riders operate and is very experienced.

Answers to FAQs
I don't know exactly how many people are in the syndicate. For example, some couples own 10%; a father and son own 5% between them; some, like me, own a share on their own.

I can't remember what he was bought for at auction, I think it was around $NZ90,000.  The 10% was a bit more than $9,000 as it includes sale fees, vet fees and Xrays, rugs, breaking in etc etc.

When he places and collects money, the trainer gets 10%, the jockey gets 5% then what's left is divided according to ownership percentage. Unless you are building a war chest to take the horse to bigger races offshore. For example, to take What's the Story to the Australian Derby is about $NZ25,000 in costs.

He is still a stallion (hence his interest in fillies). Stallions often have to be gelded as they get too stroppy or grow too heavy, but this doesn't seem to be the case. This is a bonus for the future, as if he gets injured his lineage and good racing form mean he will still be worth good money out to stud.

No, I actually didn't go into it for the money - that would be a very false hope! I went into it for fun and that's what I'm having. Winnings are a nice bonus - and if he does well in the Australian Derby, a very nice bonus!

Taken before his very first trial

Land of Ouzo and illegal immigrants

Until recently I thought  the Peripherique out of Paris was the road of no escape, but I've revised my opinion: getting out of Mytilene, the capital of the Greek island of Lesvos would try a saint's patience.  This is a very small but crowded town looping around a port, and everyone is out and about the day we attempt to navigate our way out.  Every narrow street is a dead end or one way, generally the wrong way.  I almost miss that bitch Marija - the GPS we had in Croatia - but even though I navigate us into a dead end car park, I've done a better job than she would have! 

Once we'd managed to get the hell out of town - incidentally everyone else we spoke to had the same problem - it was only 40kms to Plomari, our destination on the south coast. Forty kms of a long and winding road that traverses several mini mountains.  

Plomari on the south coast of Lesvos

We were here in early June for a friend's 60th birthday celebrations which she wanted to have in Plomari, her grandmother's birthplace. Over the week we enjoyed gatherings and parties which involved lots of food, lots of ouzo, a seemingly unending number of local relatives (none of whom my friend had met before) and some energetic Greek dancing - oompah!  However no plate smashing - the fun police have outlawed it.

Crystal clear water and a pebbly beaches

Lesvos is the island Greeks go to holiday - it is no Mykonos or Santorini, with their picture postcard whitewashed houses and churches, long sandy beaches and thigh to thigh bronzed German tourists in too small swimsuits. The island is rocky, steep and covered with thousands of ancient gnarled olive trees, and beaches are pebbly rather than sandy. It has a certain rustic charm. 

Molyvos, clinging to the north coast

One day we drove north over more mountains to Molyvos, a beautiful little town perched on the coast. Here, just 10 kilometres of ocean separate Lesvos from Turkey. 

octopus - the true meaning of hung out to dry 

After yet another delicious lunch of crispy little fried fish and squid we took some of the the roads less travelled along the coast. 

As long as you don't mind slamming on the brakes to avoid a head-on with a beat up local car hurtling at you, this is picturesque countryside. In the narrow village streets a good natured (mostly) battle of wills determines who backs up.

these little fried sardines became an obsession for the h-g

It was on one of these steep side roads down to the coast for an after lunch swim that we encountered the dark side of Europe in 2015. 

In the sweltering early afternoon sun a large group of people were slogging their way uphill. They appeared to be Muslim (women in headscarves) and we wondered where they were going.  When we got to the beach we found the remains of a couple of inflatable dinghies and lifejackets on the beach.  The coast of Turkey is clearly visible and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out these are refugees/ illegal immigrants (see linked news item from April 2015). 

On our drive back we passed the same group. They made it the 3.5 kilometres to the top of the hill and were heading towards Mytilene. Then we passed another group, and another, and another, carrying packs or bundles; family groups or groups of young men, sometimes taking a break from walking by sitting in the shade on the side of the road.  We must've passed more than 100 people - and that was just one day.  Many looked too Arabic to be Turkish and we assume they're Syrians who have fled to Turkey then onwards.  

If you haven't already gathered, Lesvos is a quiet island. In the early 1900s it had a thriving soap industry, and continues to produce olive oil and lots of Ouzo.  Of course we had to visit a factory and take a tour of the museum and the production plant and do a tasting.  Making ouzo is a basic distilling process and just uses locally grown aniseed, alcohol and water.  

We learned quite a lot about Ouzo but the only thing I remember  - possibly as the result of an over enthusiastic tasting - is that you mustn't add ice, just a dash of cold water to bring out the aroma and flavour (like a good Malt Whiskey)

the original stills in the museum, over 100 years old

modern stills in use

As we were famously travelling with just carry-on bags we couldn't pack any to bring back. Ever resourceful, the h-g convinced the distiller to siphon 100mls of the highest quality Ouzo from one of the vats into a small bottle. Take that airport security!