Off The Track - Magic Mover

This article is from the March 2020 Horse Deals magazine.

Horses are full of surprises, as we know from the many horses that appear in this feature every month. Bred to do one thing, they excel in another, and our subject this month is no exception. Some horses just get it, and certainly, Red, as Magic Mover is called in the stable has that kind of can-do attitude that Thoroughbreds seem to have. That is an opinion based on a lot of anecdotal evidence rather than scientific study. But of course, the horse cannot do it alone and Red has been trained up to be one of the country’s most successful barrel racing horses by 25-year-old apprentice jockey, Kate Patch from Oakey in Queensland.

All you can do is breed a good horse to a good horse and hope for the best, and that is just what the successful Kambula Stud in South Australia did to produce Magic Mover. Foaled in September 2007, Magic Mover is by the Snippets son, Snippetson out of the Rubiton mare, Lady Biton. Snippetson won over a quarter of a million and Lady Briton certainly paid for her keep by bringing home over $130,000. Magic Mover, however, had 36 starts for just $16,765. It was not for want of trying either, as he started racing in December 2009 and finished in August 2012, having had three trainers, finishing up with Sheree McEwan in Goondawindi. Where is his can-do attitude now, you ask? Wait, it is coming.

The McEwan stable worked out quite quickly that he was not going to be a successful racehorse, but also knew that he was a good horse, as he was kept on for a time to trial prospective apprentice jockeys, and it was here that his fortunes improved dramatically. “I was apprenticed to Sheree and I got to ride Red,” explains Kate Patch. “He had been around the country a bit from Brisbane to the Gold Coast and to Goondiwindi and I learnt a lot from riding him. The time came and he needed to be moved on and I bought him for the cost of the fuel it took to deliver him to my place! He was a no-fuss type of horse and that made everything easy and pleasant with him, and that’s really what attracted me to him. He just seemed happy to do whatever you wanted him to do. He was called Red in the stables, because he had no white on him at all, just plain chestnut.

“At the time I was living on a property out of town and I just wanted a horse that I could ride around the property. When I started to ride him seriously, I realised he was a better horse than I had ever imagined. I was doing pony club competitions at the time and I had just retired my good horse and was looking for something else. I come from a campdrafting, reining and cutting background, and having qualified for the Queensland Pony Club State Championships I took Red along, and he came second in the State Campdrafting Championships! That was in 2013 and he had never been on cows before in his life.

“When I got him, Red was just a leggy, lean Thoroughbred. I started at home just messing about in the paddock with him around some barrels, but then I put time into establishing a foundation of training and we found something that works and he has just continued on from there. Despite our early success, I did not want to pursue campdrafting with him, as I prefer barrel racing; campdrafting takes too long. From that work he has built up into quite a stocky strong horse. In the beginning, because he ran pretty well around the barrels, I told mum that I wanted to nominate him for the local rodeo that was coming up. We competed in the Local section and it turned out that we beat the times in the Open Barrel Racing section. I was getting a bit old for pony club competition, and with the confidence of that first competition, I decided to do more local barrel racing. We went to a few more rodeos and even though I did not have the luck I had at the first one, I stuck with it. I went to about four or five rodeos and Red started to get really consistent placing and picking up some prize money, and once I started winning some money I couldn’t really stop. At the beginning no one believed he was and ex-racehorse and doing what he was doing. Now he has quite a lot of fans and a lot of people know him. I think he is a good looking horse, too.

“I got him when he was six and Red is 12 now and he is a seasoned horse. 2018 was our most successful year so far. I stepped out of my comfort zone and went to a few of the bigger rodeos and he really stepped up and demonstrated he could do it. That year we went to the richest paying Rodeo in Australia at Nebo and he ran fourth there from 60 of the best barrel racers in the country. It was run indoors with 7,000 spectators, big TV screens and a lot of atmosphere. I did not think he would handle the pressure, but he sure did. Every weekend he has his mind on the job and he is very consistent.

“He wasn’t a trier on the track, but he is now and he has been barrel racing for four years and has been NRA Barrel Racer of the Year for four years! Red is light on the ground, long striding and can get out and over heavy ground. He is courageous and makes up ground on the run home.

“This year I would like to back up what I have done with him already. I am keen to keep achieving with him, but most of all, I want him to stay sound and in good health. He was a sound horse when he came off the track and without wishing to jinx him, he has had nothing go wrong with him since. I would like to get to the Mt Isa Rodeo this year in August, as it is one of the biggest rodeos in Australia with a lot of overseas competition flying in and I think I have the horse to handle it.

“Going from racing to barrel racing is quite a transition, but we have made it work.”

Some of Red’s Major Achievements:

• 2017 QBRA Finals Average Champion
• 2017 NRA Overall Champion
• 2017 Western Buckle Series Champion
• 2018 NRA Overall Champion
• 2018 NRA Finals Average Champion
• 2018 NRA Barrel Racing HOTY
• 2018 Western Buckle Series Champion
• 2019 NRA Overall Champion

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