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Jeremy Sylvester – Bargain Buys His Specialty
By John Curtis
TO say he “collared” a bargain would be some understatement!
Cessnock trainer JEREMY SYLVESTER could not have spent a better $65 to get a tried horse scoped he had bought out of the blue at a Gold Coast thoroughbred auction in September, 2013.
That horse was Collar, whom he initially purchased for $15,000 and subsequently clinched a new deal for $10,000 cheaper after the gelding failed a veterinary examination.
The former Victorian had won two of his first nine starts (on debut as a two-year-old at Swan Hill and a Listed 1400m race for three-year-olds at Flemington four months later in 2011), and also was runner-up in the Group 2 Moonee Valley Vase (2040m) before failing in the Group 1 Victoria Derby (2500m) at Flemington a week later.
“My wife Carolyn went shopping, so a mate and I decided to go to the sale at the Magic Millions complex at the Gold Coast for a look,” Sylvester explained.
“We were sitting in the grandstand, and I didn’t know I had to be registered beforehand when I decided to bid on this horse (Collar) and bought him for $15,000.
“When the girl from the sales company asked for my number, I thought she meant my mobile number.
“I told her I would go and get a cheque straight away, and when she asked if I would like to get a scope done on Collar, and said I definitely I did.”
It was Sylvester’s lucky day as that proved a godsend. Upon returning with the cheque, he was advised Collar had failed the vet examination.
“They asked me if I wanted to renegotiate, and told them I would offer $4000. Collar was owned by Lloyd and Nick Williams, and we settled on $5000.”
Collar underwent throat surgery, and the following year won the Mornington Handicap at Tamworth and Gunnedah Cup.
“He also won both the Wellington and Ballina Cups in 2015 along with a midweek race at Warwick Farm on heavy ground, and overall earned more than $220,000 in prizemoney for us,” Sylvester said.
“My wife and I raced him with our two children, Jack and Lucy.”
Sylvester made a name for himself winning eight Cessnock Jungle Juice Cups – including a record-breaking four with Youthful King – and his great mate and neighbour, the now retired Robert Thompson, rode six of them amongst his remarkable tally of 11.
Trainer Jeremy Sylvester (Pic: Bradley Photos)
Youthful King also had breathing problems and beat Collar in his fourth victory in 2015 to give Sylvester a treasured “rehab quinella” in his hometown feature.
Including Youthful King, Sylvester has consistently bought discards and turned them into bargain buys.
He secured well-bred youngsters Three Sheets and Snappy One (both unraced) in a package deal for $20,000 after the pair were originally purchased by Hong Kong Jockey Club in Australia as yearlings for a combined $630,000 to race overseas – but didn’t make the cut.
“They also had problems and underwent surgery,” Sylvester said. “We won a combined nine races with them (each won a TAB Highway Handicap at Royal Randwick, and Three Sheets also won a Benchmark 78 Handicap there), and they collected $360,000 in prizemoney.”
Buckmoore was another protégé of the Sylvester stable, becoming a prolific performer over sprint trips for his trainer.
“I got him after he had raced a few times and won his maiden at Narromine,” he said. “He won 13 races for us, including victories in Sydney and Brisbane.”
Sylvester says the horses enjoy the environment at his property at Kitchener (not far from Cessnock racecourse), which includes a 1700m sandy/dirt track through the bush.
“It’s something different; they’re happy here,” he said. “They’re out during the day and stabled at night.
“I enjoy the challenge of getting them going, and don’t mind travelling anywhere to try to win races.
“There’s no point running seventh or eighth at the provincials or Muswellbrook and Scone if you can go an extra hour or two further and be competitive.
“The prizemoney in NSW is so good than even a Sky 2 race in the bush is now worth $7500 to the winner.”
Just recently, he went beyond the black stump to land the Woop Woop Cup at Wauchope on Boxing Day with $30,000 yearling buy Harry And The Duke, whom he purchased early last year for $1500 plus $500 from his first win.
The eight-year-old gelding’s victory by a widening six lengths was his fourth (the others being at Armidale twice and Gunnedah) for his new trainer.
Sylvester usually has between six to 10 horses in work, and takes them to Cessnock (now owned by RacingNSW) for fast gallops only.
The late Arthur Thompson and son Robert pushed him into taking out his licence after he started going to the former’s stables as a 14-year-old.
“I learnt everything from Arthur about training racehorses,” Sylvester said. “He could see I had a real liking for the horses, and said I should get myself one.”
That “one” was an $8000 New Zealand yearling by Noble Bijou, the sire of Thompson’s 1981 Grafton Cup winner My Star Sapphire, with whom Sylvester slept at the stables for a few nights in the lead-up to ensure nothing untoward happened.
Named Noble Mellay, he won 15 races. Robert Thompson rode him in 14 of those wins and “Jock” Gollogly in the other.
Sylvester and Thompson are neighbours and such great mates that each was best man at the other’s wedding.
Thus it’s not surprising at all that “RT”, Australia’s winningest jockey with 4447 to his name (all recorded in scrapbooks from the very first of those at Wyong on May 8, 1973 when not quite 15 years of age), has been easily Sylvester’s most successful rider.
It’s well above 100; perhaps even 200 or more. Sylvester isn’t sure.
“Robert wants me to go to his place and go through his books to find out the exact number,” Sylvester said. “I reckon it would take me a day to find out.”
