ERIS Dooner promised his share of any prizemoney from Melbourne Cup runner Tac De Boistron’s cup run to local Armidale charities in an amazing selfless donation yesterday.
Dooner, a well-known local retailer in Armidale for many years, made the selfless declaration on Melbourne radio yesterday morning and then confirmed it to The Leader later in the day.
“I have an interest in Tac De Boistron ( a French-bred stayer) ,” Dooner said.
“He was pretty disappointing in the Geelong Cup the other day but any prizemoney he wins in the Melbourne Cup I will donate to local charity.
“He’s 20th in order of entry I think so he will get a start.
“Racing’s been good to me but I want to give something to people who really need it.”
He said the six-year-old European stayer, now prepared by Mick Kent in Melbourne, “kept going” in the Geelong Cup won by Gatewood last Wednesday.
“He did run 33 something for his last 600m down there and still got gapped,” he said.
“But Mick Kent has him going well.
“He did go over to France or whereever he was being trained to work with him for six weeks before coming out.”
Tac De Boistron will be his first Melbourne Cup starter although he has had “two near misses”.
“I had two possibilities over the years,” he said.
“One was a mare called State Crown and trained by Tim Donnelly.
“She went up to the Stradbroke meeting one year and won a race that day in class record time but when she came back to Sydney she smashed both cannon bones and that was that.
“Then I saw an ad for shares in a filly, a half sister to her that was going to be trained by Peter Moody (the trainer of superstar Black Caviar).
“So I bought shares in her.
“She raced as Flying Monty and after she won at Flemington one day Moody rated her the best stayer he had trained.
“He was setting her for both Cups (Caulfield and Melbourne) but she had a bleeding attack and was retired.”
Dooner’s relationship with master trainer Moody has been fruitful too.
He also has a share in Brambles, who, under Moody’s guidance, became the first horse to win the Rough Habit Plate, Grand Prix and Queensland Derby in Brisbane last year.
Monton has also been a noted metropolitan winner.
He was a game sixth in the recent Epsom Handicap in Sydney for trainer Ron Quinton.
“I’ve had some good horses,” Dooner said, “but none of them compare to So Torrid.”
So Torrid won the 1987 Armidale Cup, a vibrant, vital and cherished memory for Dooner.
He has a picture of the post-race celebrations with him and trainer, the late Keith Swan, holding up jockey Neil Paine between them.
“He died last year,” Dooner said of So Torrid, who also won a Uralla Cup and should have won a Country Cup in Sydney.
“He was a freak of a horse with a big finish,” he recalled.
“I still think his effort after winning the Armidale Cup over 1900m and winning a 1000m sprint at Gunnedah 12 days later in 57.4secs was his best performance though.”