logo
Bred by a billionaire, bought by a battler: The Jackal's remarkable Ramornie legacy

Bred by a billionaire, bought by a battler: The Jackal's remarkable Ramornie legacy

News.com.au15-07-2025
There have been some great horses win the time-honoured Ramornie Handicap; Razor Sharp, Mistress Anne, Cangronde and the greatest of them all, Takeover Target.
But why is it that so many people's favourite Ramornie winner – The Jackal – is the same?
He's one of four horses to have won the race twice but only the ardent racing scholars could name the other three.
Everyone loves The Jackal, the horse bred by a billionaire but bought by a battler.
'He was a life-changer,'' the horse's trainer Paul St Vincent told Racenet 17 years on from The Jackal's second Ramornie win.
'I bought him at the Magic Millions Sale in June (2004) so he was a fairly late yearling by then, nearly turning two.
'Gerry (Harvey) bred (him). I paid twenty grand for him.'
Not big money for Harvey but hardly an insignificant sum for any country trainer to spend on an unraced horse at the time.
'That's a fair few years ago and we weren't racing for anywhere near the prizemoney we're racing for now,'' St Vincent says.
'That's why he had to move about a bit and travel, Brisbane, Sydney whatever to chase the rich races.'
• Ramornie mission is Boom or bust Time for Heathcote galloper
Given St Vincent was stationed at Tamworth, The Jackal wasn't that much further from Eagle Farm or Doomben as he was from Randwick or Rosehill.
In fact, 27 of The Jackal's 74 starts were at Eagle Farm.
'He was in some pretty big races,'' St Vincent said.
'The thing about him was that he didn't like it if the track was soft.
'He was fairly sound. Towards the end, he had a few little niggles and has his issues that we had to manage continuously
'It wasn't 100 per cent with nothing ever not going wrong, there was always something happening here and there but that's training racehorses.
'I was lucky because we owned him, we could call the shots and if I didn't like the way he was, if I thought he's got something not right, I didn't go. I could pull him out and I didn't have an owner that I had to explain to.'

For the record. The Jackal won 15 times including the WJ Healy Stakes, Star Kingdom Stakes, Prime Minister's Cup and Falvelon Stakes.
But it was his two Ramornie's in 2007 and 2008 that elevated him to cult status.
'That's what country racing can do to horses,'' the man they call The Saint says.'
'When they're owned by country people and trained by country people and come out and beat whatever's the best on offer, they seem to get plenty of coverage from it.'
So with another Ramornie nigh upon us, plenty of racing fans of a certain age with tell those younger of a horse named The Jackal.
For those of us who admired the son of Bite The Bullet from afar, we think of him every Ramornie day every year.
But for The Saint, it's more often than that.
• Mitch Cohen's Blackbook: Five to follow from Randwick on Saturday
'I think about him every day cause I've gotta feed him,'' St Vincent said.
'He's still alive, you know. He's at my place at Tamworth. We've got a place out of town and he lives out there.
'He gets looked after pretty well.
'He's rising 23, it's not what you class as old, old, old but it's pretty good I can tell you.'
A $20,000 purchase who would go on to win a million bucks and win not just the lifelong devotion of one man but the admiration of so many more.
The Jackal, like the Ramornie itself, was always destined to become 'time-honoured'.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Ben Okri, Jana Wendt and Thomas Vowles on heartbreak, new beginnings and queer Melbourne
Ben Okri, Jana Wendt and Thomas Vowles on heartbreak, new beginnings and queer Melbourne

ABC News

time27 minutes ago

  • ABC News

Ben Okri, Jana Wendt and Thomas Vowles on heartbreak, new beginnings and queer Melbourne

Booker Prize-winning Nigerian author Ben Okri on his novella Madame Sosostris and the Festival for the Broken-Hearted, Australian journalist Jana Wendt on turning to fiction with her short story collection, The Far Side of the Moon and Australian writer Thomas Vowles shares why he's drawn to challenging stories in Our New Gods. Ben Okri is a Nigerian born, UK based writer who won the1991Booker Prize for his novel The Famished Road. His new novel has the wonderful title Madame Sosostris and the Festival for the Broken-Hearted. It takes us to a dreamlike masked ball in the south of France, a night of magic and mistaken identity. To attend this festival, you have to have had your heart smashed by love. Ben Okri shares the influence of Shakespeare and T.S. Eliot on his imagination and how he thinks of himself as a "listening board" as an artist. Jana Wendt is one of Australian best-known journalists and now has a new string to her bow. She's just published her first work of fiction, The Far Side of the Moon and other stories. While the stories, for the most part, are not linked her characters are almost exclusively older people remembering past loves, successes and failures. Jana Wendt shared with Claire Nichols why she made the shift from fact to fiction. Screenwriter and novelist Thomas Vowles talks about the pain that inspired his first novel, Our New Gods which is about a lost, gay young man whose longing to belong exposes him to deception and exploitation. It's set in Melbourne's queer scene, between share houses, bath houses and the pool and The Book Show's Sarah L'Estrange visits him in his own share house from where he "watches the world go by".

Hamish Blake's cake night stuns fans once again
Hamish Blake's cake night stuns fans once again

News.com.au

time4 hours ago

  • News.com.au

Hamish Blake's cake night stuns fans once again

Media personality Hamish Blake has won hearts once again after documenting his attempt at making a birthday cake for one of his children. Blake shares two children, Sonny, 11, and Rudy, eight, with his wife, beauty guru Zoë Foster Blake. Every year, on the eve of one of his children's birthdays, the 43-year-old father documents his endeavour to make a birthday cake, with Rudy's eighth birthday was no exception. It's a Blake family tradition that's become something that many Australians look forward to, with brands and fans alike weighing in. 'This is our Roman Empire,' one social media user added. One commented: 'This is our Super Bowl.' 'She's going to be a spectacular cake,' another added. One social media user said: 'I love the algorithm of Instagram. I don't see your face on my feed at all until it's cake night.' 'Cake night is life, excited to see the LOL cakewalk extravaganza,' another commented. Ahead of the activity, the Lego Masters star took to Instagram to wish people a good morning and 'Happy cake night'. 'Tomorrow is my daughter's eighth birthday party. Tonight, it is cake night,' he said. 'The brief is not impossible — it's a doll. They're called LOL dolls. If you've got young kids, you will know what they are. 'If you don't, good for you. It's a doll with a pretty big head and massive eyes.' Blake said the cake would require a runway, lights, a rainbow plait and an off-the-shoulder shirt. A swinging handbag was also part of the ensemble. Blake said the hardest part was that he was filming with Andy Lee in Melbourne and needed to fly back to Sydney, where he lived, at 5.30pm — which meant the cake process would be starting later than usual. But, the hands-on dad delivered and documented the while journey. He started by making the dolls head and attaching it to a pole, which would later form the body. Blake attached it to the store-bought cake, which he had iced, and then started on the hair. The fondant kept breaking on it. 'I thought it would be like a hair plait, but it's not hair and it's not behaving like hair so we're just going to move onto other stuff,' he said, according to Mamamia. Blake moved back to the runway and the outfit, which was a little smaller than intended. He remedied the issue and pushed along. Eventually, he came back to the hair. It did prompt a slight panic but he pulled through. While the cake did look like a doll, Blake was an extra harsh critic on himself and declared it was only 'Okay'. Finally, at 3am, he was officially done. 'Thanks for hanging in there gang. Happy birthday to the greatest daughter I could imagine,' he added.

Melbourne Vixens stun NSW Swifts in preliminary final comeback, grand final vs West Coast Fever
Melbourne Vixens stun NSW Swifts in preliminary final comeback, grand final vs West Coast Fever

Daily Telegraph

time4 hours ago

  • Daily Telegraph

Melbourne Vixens stun NSW Swifts in preliminary final comeback, grand final vs West Coast Fever

Don't miss out on the headlines from Netball. Followed categories will be added to My News. Melbourne Vixens are riding high after a last ditch effort to beat the NSW Swifts by 66 to 65 points, to book their place in the 2025 Super Netball grand final. They came from behind in the dying seconds of the game, having trailed 51-41 after the third quarter, and will go into next week's match full of confidence having won eight of their last ten games. Watch every game of the 2025 Suncorp Super Netball season, LIVE on Kayo. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. Standing in their way however, will be the formidable West Coast Fever, who demolished the Swifts by 32 points in last weekend's major semi-final. Speaking post match captain and MVP Kate Moloney said, 'I'm exhausted but I'm so bloody proud. We were down by ten goals and we found something in that last quarter and they just never stopped fighting.' Coaching her second last match with the Vixens, Simone McKinnis, added, 'We weren't going to walk away from here afraid to take risks. They saw a glimpse and a hope and away they went.' It was the greatest preliminary final comeback in Super Netball history, beating the nine-goal market the Vixens set in 2022 against the Giants. It was a dismal end to the season for Swifts, despite the return of inspirational captain Paige Hadley who has missed the last two rounds with a foot injury. While she provided a calm head and safe pair of hands, the Swifts have been bundled out of the finals in straight sets, after looking untouchable as they went undefeated through the first eight rounds. Melbourne Vixens players celebrate. (Photo by) Simone McKinnis inspired her players. (Photo by) There was immense pressure from the opening whistle, causing fumbles, stray passes and uncharacteristic missed shots. The Swifts were first to take advantage of those errors, going long and high to Grace Nweke in the circle. Despite her athleticism, some balls were sprayed over her head or swatted away by goal keeper Rudi Ellis who finished with six gains, allowing the Vixens to shift gears and take a three point lead into the first break. The Swifts hit the front in the second quarter as their confidence grew, with Helen Housby raising the bar after a quiet few weeks. Passes started going in more smoothly to the circle, with Nweke lifting her shooting from a subpar 77 percent in the first quarter to a total of 53/58 at 91 percent across the match. With the Swifts' Sharni Lambden applying enormous pressure at wing defence, Vixens' skipper Moloney did everything she could to pull her side over the line. She had a strong connection with Sophie Garbin under the post, who picked up the slack while the hero of so many victories, Kiera Austin, struggled for influence early on. The Swifts couldn't believe it. (Photo by Mark) The Vixens seemed down and out of the contest with the deficit sitting at 11 points and their penalties twice their opponents, until Lily Graham sank consecutive supershots to bring the margin back to single digits. In an inspirational last quarter Austin finally switched on her radar when it counted, firing in three long range shots to finish with 12/16 including four from five supershots, while her partner Garbin had a solid 46/47. The Vixens found another gear and rolled over the Swifts in highly emotional scenes. MCKINNIS MAGIC Simone McKinnis will make her final appearance as Vixens' coach in next weekend's grand final, after 212 games in charge of the club. Across 13 years, she's taken them to two titles, three minor premierships and a further three grand final appearances, and will leave massive shoes to fill. It looked like it was going to be McKinnis' final game in charge at the end of the third quarter but an inspiration and emotional final address helped inspire the Vixens to life. 'We have nothing to lose here! Except for throwing our best selves as this contest,' McKinnis said. PAIN FOLLOWS A POINT Remarkably, the previous three Super Netball preliminary finals have been decided by a solitary point, with the Vixens taking out two of those wins, and the Swifts the other. Despite moving on into the grand final, neither side was then able to steal the ultimate victory. Originally published as Super Netball stunner as emotional speech sparks all-time Vixens comeback

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store