Syndicator Steve Vardy says his four runners at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday are ‘proof you don't need to pay big money to have a chance in racing'
Sydney racing needs a good news story so welcome to the stage syndicator Steve Vardy's 'Fab Four' of Winning Proposal, Crafty Eagle, Hell Of A Fox and Hellbent For You.
In the last few weeks, the racing news cycle has been dominated by the failed Rosehill sale proposal, talk of boardroom coups and industry disunity but these four racehorses are a welcome and positive advertisement for the sport.
Winning Proposal, Crafty Eagle, Hell Of A Fox and Hellbent For You were each acquired for a modest price, have already returned a profit with considerable interest for their owners, and are winning chances at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.
'I only set up the syndication business (Vardy Thoroughbreds) five years ago and this is the first time we have had four runners at a Sydney Saturday meeting,'' Vardy said.
'For a syndicator, it is a dream to have your colours going around in Sydney racing and these four horses are proof you don't need to pay big money to have a chance in this game.
'We try to buy horses at value prices and hopefully provide our clients with some fun at the races and a return on their investment.''
The cheapest of the 'Fab Four' is Winning Proposal, a $50,000 purchase from the Inglis Premier Sale who has already amassed $217,900 prizemoney. She's a $13 chance in the Asahi Super Dry Handicap (1100m).
Then there's Hell Of A Fox, a $60,000 Inglis Classic Sale graduate who has amassed $95,600 in earnings. She's chasing a fourth consecutive win in the TAB Highway (1400m).
Vardy purchased Crafty Eagle for $70,000 at an Inglis Ready2Race sale and he's the clubhouse leader of the quartet with prizemoney of $235,625. He's at $19 for the Captivant At Kia Ora Handicap (1300m).
Hellbent For You was the most expensive Vardy purchase although she was knocked down for only $75,000 at the Inglis Classic Sale. She has won four races and $167,850 already, and is rated a $15 chance in the Toyota Forklifts Handicap (1300m).
Be honest... who had given up on Hellbent On You before she snuck through to win with @mcacajamez in the saddle for @JTRacingRwik?! That's a win and a half ðŸ'° @aus_turf_club pic.twitter.com/XksbKdxcCM
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 14, 2025
Vardy said all four were 'good each-way chances'' at Rosehill.
'Winning Proposal ran really well at Gosford first-up, she ran third and was unlucky not to have won, then she couldn't pick her feet up in the very heavy going at Randwick last start,'' Vardy said.
'Hell Of A Fox took a while to break her maiden but she has been such a success story since we sent her to Luke Pepper to train.
'Crafty Eagle is a quirky horse but John Thompson has taken the winkers off and mixed his training. If he's on his game, he can run a really good race.
'Hellbent For You is another who found the track like glue at Randwick last start but she never stopped trying. She's such a genuine mare and we expect her to run a competitive race.''
Hell Of A Fox with a hell of a finish! ðŸ'¥
The Luke Pepper trained filly makes it back-to-back wins! ✌� pic.twitter.com/2agtlNWuU7
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 18, 2025
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Bookies cold on Smith galloper's chances
Icebreaker is undefeated in three starts this season, he's drawn the rails barrier, is trialling well – but he's the rank outsider at $41 for the Racing And Sports Handicap (1400m).
Trainer Matthew Smith isn't worried the price assessors have dismissed Icebreaker's chances as the grey four-year-old has done everything right in preparation for his Rosehill return.
'He's trialling nicely, I can't fault him, he's coming up 'good','' Smith said. 'He likes wet tracks which is a help to him, too.''
Icebreaker is resuming after reeling off three successive wins over the Canberra 1600m course late last year.
'There was a perfect sequence of races for him so we kept going back to Canberra,'' Smith explained.
'He started off in a class 1, then he ran in two (benchmark) 70 races. They just fitted nicely into his preparation.
'After he won his third race in a row, we gave him a good spell and he's come back in great order.
'The 1400m on Saturday might be a bit short but it might not either as he's nice and fresh. I think he can run well.''
Jockey challenge favourite @djgibbons22 kicks off the @WyongRaceClub card with a win on Icebreaker 🧊 pic.twitter.com/21kXMOwkl0
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) April 11, 2024
Icebreaker is Smith's solo Rosehill runner while the trainer also has just the one starter at Eagle Farm – tough stayer True Marvel in the Group 2 $400,000 Brisbane Cup (3200m).
True Marvel, rising 10-year-old, is a specialist at the marathon trip and two years ago ran second in the Sydney Cup behind Explosive Jack, third in Selino's Brisbane Cup, and ran a commendable eighth in the Melbourne Cup won by Without A Fight.
But after missing all of 2024 with injury, True Marvel has had six starts this preparation and indicated he was close to his best again with his fourth behind Diwali in the Sandown Cup at 3200m last start.
Diwali relishes the two-mile test of the Listed Sandown Cup â�ï¸� @GavinBedggood 's strong form continues ðŸ'¥ pic.twitter.com/JjppYe0uvg
— Racing.com (@Racing) June 1, 2025
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'True Marvel is going super, he's a true stayer and needs those genuine staying trips,'' Smith said.
'He ran well last start when nothing really went right for him during the race and I think he can run a very good race in the Brisbane Cup.
'He's been a ripping old horse, he loves training and racing but there are not enough 3200m races for him. But he's won a lot of money for his owners ($942,715) and it would be great if he could get to $1 million on Saturday.''
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Another Group 1 win? That'd be Cool
Max Whitby has enjoyed plenty of success as an owner-breeder in racing but admitted it would be 'next level' if his brilliant two-year-old Cool Archie can win the Group 1 $1 million JJ Atkins (1600m) at Eagle Farm.
'I can't tell you what it would mean to me if Cool Archie can win the JJ Atkins,'' Whitby said.
'I've waited 20 years since Savabeel to get another potential stallion and if Cool Archie wins the Group 1 it would be really special.
'Cool Archie is a grandson of Savabeel and he's trained by Chris Munce, who used to ride Savabeel, so it's all there. I'm just super proud of this colt.''
After reeling off four successive wins including the Listed Dalrello Stakes and back-to-back Group 2 wins in the Champagne Classic and BRC Sires Produce Stakes, Cool Archie is the $3.60 favourite for the JJ Atkins.
A barnstorming win by Cool Archie in the G2 BRC Sires' Produce Stakes, and that's four in a row to the @munceracing galloper! 🙌 @BrisRacingClub pic.twitter.com/lIjGc5tTiN
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 31, 2025
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'I'm never short of confidence in anything I try to do in life but I'm trying to rein myself in a little with Cool Archie,'' Whitby said.
'All I can tell you is my trainer is very happy, the horse is the same weight as he was last start, he's drawn OK in nine, he handles good tracks and we think he will run the 1600m easily.
'And my jockey, Martin Harley, is so optimistic it is unbelievable. He's going over to ride at Royal Ascot after this weekend so I hope we can give him a Group 1 win before he leaves for England.''
• 2025 JJ Atkins tips, runner-by-runner form analysis
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5 YEARS AGO
Tyzone, runner-up in the Stradbroke Handicap to Trekking the previous year, went one better when he scored a popular win in Queensland's premier race for trainers Toby and Trent Edmonds, defeating Madam Rouge at Eagle Farm. It was a dual celebration for local trainers when Rob Heathcote's brilliant Rothfire raced away with the JJ Atkins. Love You Lucy, a $41 outsider, won the Dane Ripper Stakes but the Brisbane Cup was not run that year due to the Covid pandemic. At Rosehill, the Chris Waller-trained Wu Gok won the Winter Cup.
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A thrilling finish in the TAB Stradbroke Handicap as Tyzone who ran second in last year's race has come back to win the 2020 edition for @EdmondsRacing and Robbie Fradd @TrentEd1 @RaceQLD @BrisRacingClub pic.twitter.com/dwVpIcchUu
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 6, 2020
10 YEARS AGO
The Ciaron Maher-trained Srikandi scored a career-best win over Boban in the Stradbroke Handicap, run that year at Doomben. Srikandi backed up two weeks later to make it successive Group 1 wins in the Tatt's Tiara. Chris Waller's Press Statement maintained his unbeaten record in the JJ Atkins. Later that year, Press Statement won a second Group 1 in the Caulfield Guineas. Jetset Lad was an upset winner of the Brisbane Cup and the Lee Freedman-trained Hazard won the Dane Ripper Stakes. Kerrin McEvoy rode Kapour, also trained by Maher, to win the Winter Cup.
20 YEARS AGO
St Basil saved the best for last with the 13th and final win of his race career in the Stradbroke defeating Perfect Promise and Shamekha. Darci Brahma finished powerfully to win the TJ Smith Stakes (now JJ Atkins), the first of five Group 1 wins during his career. Darci Brahma then became a leading New Zealand-based stallion. Portland Singa, trained by Neville McBurney, won the Brisbane Cup and Gerald Ryan's Our Sweet Moss won the Dane Ripper. The late Jack Denham prepared Verb to win the Winter Cup.
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Strata lawyer Amanda Farmer said since the closure of Project Remediate to new applications, owners had largely been left on their own. 'As far as I'm aware there is no state or federal grant program to help strata buildings cover the cost of replacement,' she said. 'What we're seeing is individual owners are now having to shoulder 100 per cent of these costs coming to them in the way of large special levies at are running into $30,000 a lot, $50,000, up to six figures. It's sickening.' Ms Farmer cautioned against taking the legal route. 'The problem with suing is it takes many years to progress through the court system and you may end up with something of a Pyrrhic victory if the builder and developer have nothing, are straw companies by the end of it,' she said. Other owners have previously sought remedy from builders and developers alleging breaches of statutory warranties under NSW's Home Building Act 1989. In 2020, NSW passed the Design and Building Practitioners Act, which imposed new statutory obligations to ensure designs and building work are compliant with the Building Code of Australia (BCA), with a 10-year duty of care period. 'There may be now in NSW the opportunity to claim under a 10-year warranty period, [but] that's very new and still being tested through the courts,' Ms Farmer said. 'I think buildings should rightly be very careful commencing any litigation now. It can take years to resolve and in the meantime you're sitting in a building with potentially dangerous cladding.' The harsh reality is owners in affected buildings have few options. 'A building has a very strict legal obligation to properly repair its common property, so if it has received advice from an expert fire safety engineer that this is dangerous combustible cladding then the law is very well settled, the owners corporation has to act on that and protect its occupants,' Ms Farmer said. 'It's a really unenviable position for strata owners to be in but from a legal perspective they don't have a choice.' With remediation quotes typically running into multiple millions, many buildings are opting to take out strata loans offered by a handful of boutique lenders. 'It can be a 10 or 20-year loan at interest rates over 9 per cent,' Ms Farmer said. 'In my experience that is usually what most buildings are opting for because they're finding most owners don't have the cash funds. Having a strata loan on the books then impacts the value of everybody's investment. Purchasers looking to buy [will knock the price down].' Ms Farmer said many owners were being forced to simply sell. 'That is sometimes the only option, and as I said it's a really difficult decision because you're going to be taking a hit on your sale price,' she said. 'If you're in a position you have to sell, you have to take what you can get. I'm definitely seeing more of that, not just in the cladding context but all around with our ageing buildings that need a lot of work very fast.' In NSW, former Building Commissioner David Chandler oversaw the most extensive reforms to the state's defect-plagued apartment building sector in response to years of high-profile disasters, like the mass evacuation of residents from Opal Tower in Sydney Olympic Park on Christmas Eve 2018. While the crackdown on dodgy developers was long overdue, concerns have been raised that the onerous requirements under the Design and Building Practitioners Act have sent remediation costs for older buildings soaring. 'The side effect of that very strict legislation is that it also applies to existing buildings, much older buildings that are doing remedial work,' Ms Farmer said. 'Works are now three times, four times more expensive under this new legislation. A leaking balcony that may have cost $50,000 to fix in 2020 is now costing $200,000. That is a big problem, and there's a fair bit of advocacy being done to government at the moment trying to get some relief.'
