‘He was right’: Tralee Rose’s Wilde ride to the Melbourne Cup

A text message from Ben Casanelia a few years earlier led to a bunch of friends – all but one from Geelong – sitting together in Flemington’s Hill Stand on New Year’s Day to cheer home their horse Tralee Rose in the Bagot Handicap.

And yell they did as the Symon Wilde-trained four-year-old mare bolted in the 2800-metre handicap by seven lengths, to notch her fourth win at just her ninth start.

Melbourne Cup runner Tralee Rose at Breakwater Beach, Warrnambool.Credit:Nicole Cleary

As the group’s celebrations eased, words delivered from the firmament made them stop in their tracks.

“There is a race in November you might like to come back for,” the voice said.

Even with a couple of drinks under their belt this seemed too much, so they were relieved when they looked up to see the line had come from race caller Matt Hill, who was perched just 20 metres above them to call the race from the stand.

A quick wit from the group reminded Hill he had not tipped the mare that morning before the meaning behind the words started to sink in: perhaps a motley crew of racing fans could actually have a runner in the Melbourne Cup this year.

Handler Ellen Oliver takes Tralee Rose for a dip.Credit:Nicole Cleary

“When he said that, we lost our minds again and started to dream about the whole thing,” part-owner Dave Costa said.

That ragtag bunch has been living that dream ever since with Wilde – who also has a share in the horse – and a few other well-established owners who have also joined in the fun.

Casanelia – who now works as Wilde’s racing manager – discussed tipping into a horse alongside friends with Wilde when Tralee Rose, a filly he had bought in New Zealand for $50,000, came up in discussion.

Wilde told him the owners would need to be patient, with Casanelia, who also calls football for radio station K rock in Geelong, describing the horse at that stage as like “a skinny kid a club might select at pick 60”.

So they threw their money forward knowing Wilde, an emerging Warrnambool trainer, would need time to develop the horse the trainer described as a “very lean, tall, backward yearling” into a stayer.

Eyes on the prize: Cup runner Tralee Rose.Credit:Nicole Cleary

“She has developed very slowly. Every preparation we’d notice she would get a bit taller. She never stacked on the condition. She is a lean, athletic horse, huge levers, massive stride and great lung capacity,” Wilde said.

Still, the dream of a run in the Melbourne Cup remained just that for a long time as the horse finished fourth when odds-on in the Adelaide Cup over two miles. Whether she was showing the effects of a long preparation or was affected by a sore knee that required a minor scrape as she spelled is unclear, but Tralee Rose returned strong.

The Melbourne Cup was her target, but it was no guarantee she would get a run, particularly when Grand Promenade beat her in the Bart Cummings to deny her automatic entry after two thirds at Caulfield earlier in the preparation.

Her form was good and when those horses above her on the Cup’s order of entry started to fall away the dream became a reality. So much so that by the time the Geelong Cup rolled around, Tralee Rose was certain to gain a start.

But Wilde, who was captain of the rugby union team and the stroke in the rowing team at Geelong Grammar, decided to run her in the race anyway.

She won, fighting off a challenge from Dr Drill to outstay her rivals and send her owners, watching at the nearby Cremorne Hotel, into raptures. The COVID-restricted party got a second wind when the cup was delivered from the track to the beer garden.

Since then, the wait has been exciting and testing, with Costa feeling “a real nervous energy” as the prospect of having a Cup runner distracts him at work, when sleeping and even, remarkably, affects his golf swing (we’ve heard all the excuses now).

“I could not get off the tee. I have to put it down to that,” Costa said.

The excited connections of Melbourne Cup runner Tralee Rose.

Wilde is more proud than nervous that a horse trained and owned by Victorians remains a chance to run a big race on the first Tuesday in November given the dominance of bigger operations before COVID-19 travel restrictions interrupted the trend.

“We’ve taken our time and developed her and we’re now in the race that stops the nation. The dream in racing is always alive,” Wilde said.

“It’s been a real trouble-free preparation. She is right where we want her.”

That’s in the Melbourne Cup, the race that Hill put on her program on the opening day of 2021.

“He was right,” Casanelia said.

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