‘The adrenalin got the better of me’: Cup-winning owner apologises for breaching COVID protocols
Verry Elleegant’s winning owner Brae Sokolski apologised for breaching COVID-19 protocols when he jumped into the mounting yard after his six-year-old mare and emerging champion Incentivise ran the quinella in the Melbourne Cup.
Sokolski watched the race on the lawn in front of the Hill Stand in the green zone with friends who lifted him above them in jubilation after Verry Elleegant’s triumph, before he ran towards the mounting yard and clambered over the fence near where the television broadcast panel was assembled.
Brae Sokolksi could hardly believe his luck as Verry Elleegant passed the post to win the Melbourne Cup.Credit:Getty Images
He moved towards Chris Waller’s Flemington foreperson Jo Taylor, who helped prepare the mare in Victoria while Waller stayed in Sydney, before Verry Elleegant returned to scale.
“[I’m] apologetic about the protocols, but I wanted to be with the mare and Incentivise,” he said. “Sorry, the adrenalin got the better of me. These moments are once in a lifetime.”
Owners are subject to the rules of racing, but stewards were yet to contemplate whether any action might be taken. The Victorian Racing Club take the protocols very seriously, having just had crowds allowed back at the races on Saturday after striking an agreement with the Victorian state government, and will review the day with all relevant parties.
Sokolski later re-iterated to The Age that his actions were impetuous and he again apologised for adrenalin getting the better of him as he wanted to “be with the horse”.
His emotional co-owner, Resimax’s Ozzie Kheir, stood just outside the mounting yard in the green zone and told The Age he was too emotional to speak. “I’m just overwhelmed,” Kheir said.
He moved next to VRC chairman Neil Wilson as he composed himself to revel in the achievement, having watched the horse that Darren Weir once trained before his suspension led to it being transferred to Waller. That horse has now won 10 group ones.
John O’Neill, who had been dancing on the lawn and having fun with friends as the horses circled the mounting yard, also watched on from the green zone as Verry Elleegant returned to scale. He remained cool as he spoke about the horse’s progress after she failed to live up to expectations in the Turnbull Stakes earlier in the spring.
“Sorry, the adrenalin got the better of me. These moments are once in a lifetime.”
“We’ve been in her since the start, and she’s been enormous,” O’Neill said.
“It’s just good to get a bunch of people together and have fun at the races and, seriously, the luck we’ve had in the last couple of years and all the work that has gone on behind the scenes…it has been unbelievable.
“Chris Waller has been fantastic, taking a horse-first approach the whole way through, so he just looked after her and he wasn’t even convinced she was going to run. Our form expert was always adamant she would be elite at 2400-3200 metres and the fact she was winning group ones [at shorter distances] was a bonus.
“James took the initiative this year and found the right spot, whereas last year she got a bit out of her ground so it was a huge win.”
Sokolski, who has owned Everest winner Yes, Yes, Yes and Cox Plate winner Sir Dragonet as well as Verry Elleegant, which won last year’s Caulfield Cup, said sharing such a moment with friends and family was why he owned racehorses.
Verry Elleegant charges to victory under James McDonald.Credit:Getty Images
His only disappointment was that he could not share the moment with his “New Zealand brothers”, the horse’s Kiwi connections which include Jomara Bloodstock’s siblings John, Mark and Rachel Carter. Mark is a former All Blacks rugby player.
“We have shared so many group 1 races together with her winning, and to not have them there felt like there was a missing piece of the puzzle,” Sokolski said.
Sokolski was full of praise for the VRC when accepting the owner’s trophy half an hour after the race.
The former Mount Scopus student was surrounded by some lifelong mates who used to punt with him as youngsters, and as Verry Elleegant crossed the line, one was heard to say: “Can you believe we used to bet with him around Hawthorn, and now he has won the Melbourne Cup?”
“I had 20 to 30 of my oldest schoolmates there,” Sokolski said.
“It feels like it’s their horse, it’s their Melbourne Cup and it is.
“It’s not about you, it’s about people who are close to you and you love, and it’s the shared experience that makes it so special. I’d rather not own horses alone.”
His biggest praise, however, was reserved for the mare, Verry Elleegant – now a champion of the turf.
“Honestly? She is incredible,” Sokolski said.
“To bring up your 10th group 1 winning a Melbourne Cup – that takes her, in my mind, to the upper echelons of the pantheon of Australia’s greatest racehorses.”
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