MARE'S BREAKTHROUGH A SPECIAL JOY FOR 93YO OWNER
- John Curtis
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
The rising seven-year-old mare was having her 34th start in the Country Music Raceday 5 September Provincial Maiden Handicap (1300m), and understandably gave her 93-year-old owner Tom Smith a huge thrill.
Ridden by Jeff Penza, Share The Joy ($19) gamely defeated Gosford trainer Jake Hull’s debutante Sono Immortale ($5.50) and Hawkesbury trainer Marc Chevalier’s Cape Douglas ($2.70 favorite).
Share The Joy, a $10,000 purchase as a yearling in 2021, is trained at Hawkesbury by husband and wife Mitch and Desiree Kearney.
“We don’t normally get so emotional after winning a race, but there was no shortage of emotion yesterday,” Desiree Kearney said today.
“Tom has been such a loyal supporter of our stable, and he was at the track to see his mare win.
“Share The Joy had been placed 12 times (five seconds and seven thirds), and Tom asked us one day whether we felt we could win a race with her whilst he was alive.
“Tom seeing his mare finally break through made this result all that more special.
“He lives for his horses, and Mitch and myself were so excited to get a win with Share The Joy for him.”
Whilst the six-year-old daughter of Overshare has taken so long to shed her maiden status, Team Kearney has never given up hope of granting the owner his wish.
“We were very determined to win a race with her,” Desiree Kearney said.
“Share The Joy wasn’t broken in until four years of age, and she has come back a more mature mare this time in work.
“As we were busy with two-year-olds and yearlings, we put her out in a paddock earlier in the year for a break.
“We left her alone and it seems to have worked.
“Share The Joy tried so hard to win yesterday, and has pulled up well.
“Now that she has broken through, we won’t be surprised if she puts a couple of wins together.
“Here’s hoping she can do that, especially as she seems to at last be a real racehorse with great determination.”
Share The Joy is the third foal of the High Chaparral mare Joylean, who never raced and was retired from breeding four years ago.
