Ride of their lives

By Danny Buttler
The proud owners mostly hail from Melbourne’s south east, growing up around Keysborough and living and working in Narre Warren, Harkaway and Dandenong.
Of the five families who hold a share in the horse, two met through having children at St Margaret’s School in Berwick and trainer Peter Moody also has a daughter at the school.
It would be tempting to think that solid local citizens like these would be keeping their feet firmly on the ground, but owning the world’s greatest sprinter means they are all floating on air.
Black Caviar has captured the public imagination in a way not seen since Phar Lap in the 1930s. The mare has won 10 out of 10 races and seems, literally, to be unbeatable.
This Friday night’s William Reid Stakes at Moonee Valley will see the champ take on just four opponents, having scared off most sensible owners and trainers.
Jannene Madden, who owns a share with her husband Colin, said the Black Caviar team are loving every minute of the ride.
“It is a wonderful journey, who would have thought we would be part of it?” she said.
“I think this horse has captured the spirit of Australia. I have a daughter who lives in Townsville and she is amazed at the amount of coverage they get up there.”
The close-knit local families have been enjoying waterskiing holidays in Echuca for many years, some of them having met through St Margaret’s (Ainslee Madden and Dana and Shannon Wilkie were all students there at the same time), while others have histories that go back many decades.
“We (fellow owner Neil Wherret) met at Sunday school in Keysborough, and as the years progressed, we met others through St Margaret’s in Berwick and then another couple are friends from Berwick as well,” Jannene said.
Husband Colin said the local connections went back to the days when Melbourne’s south east was still farmland.
“One of the guys, Neil Werrett, who now lives in Sydney, his grandparents knocked around with my grandparents,” he said.
Colin, who has worked as a solicitor in the Dandenong area for more than 30 years, said the joy of owning a once-in-a-century horse was made even greater by sharing the experience with family and friends.
“There’s not a fortune in it, it is just a heck of a lot of fun,” he said.
A dream for many in the syndicate would be taking Black Caviar overseas, not only to challenge the world’s best racehorses, but to enjoy the experience of the syndicate on tour.
“If she stays sound and she gets through the year, it would be wonderful to go overseas and tour with her,” Colin said.
But Jannene is not so sure about taking her beloved mare on such an arduous trip.
“There is some talk of Hong Kong and it would be a dream to run her at Ascot, but I do have some concerns about taking her out of the country, there is a degree of risk,” she said.
Whatever happens from here on, there’s a small group of suburban families who have been taken for the ride of their lives by a very special horse.
To Jannene, being an owner is all about enjoying the show.
“On a personal level, I just want her to do well for herself, she is writing the history.”