BEING part owner of a racehorse doesn’t guarantee regular paydays but Phil Gutzke’s gelding Stampe has proven yet again he has the goods when it comes to reaching the finish line first.
On Saturday Stampe took first place at Eagle Farm Racecourse in Brisbane and in doing so earned his owners almost $50,000 in prize money.
“Stampe is an open class horse, which means he has gone through all of his grades, he participated in an open handicap of 1,400 meters in the metropolitan class race,” Mr Gutzke explained.
“In Queensland the metropolitan races are worth $85,000 in prize money so for first place it was $48,800 for the winner.”
It’s an impressive purse for a race that would’ve lasted less than a minute.
“The trainers get 10 percent, the jockey gets five percent and then they also have a percentage for the jockey’s trust and animal welfare these days, so a percentage gets put away to look after those aspects of the industry,” he said.
“Then whatever is remaining we split 50/50, we get roughly $20,000 each.”
Stampe continues to impress his owners with 45 starts to date, Saturday’s win was his eighth.
“Of those 45 starts he has either run first, second or third, nineteen times which is pretty good and just under 50 percent strike rate at placing,” he said.
“He has won a total of $680,000 in prize money.”
Stampe’s success is equal to his drive to win with the seven-year-old gelding displaying all the key signals that he loves to compete.
“Racehorses can compete right up until they are 12-years-old,” he said.
“In racing you can see when they are losing enthusiasm.
“Stampe had a full brother named Paperclip and we retired him about six months ago because sometimes they just get to a point where they’ve had enough.”                                Paperclip was gifted to a young girl who was into equestrian eventing and competitions.
“He will have a wonderful life going to shows, pony club and being pampered,” he said.
“Racing is actually very good for horses because they get looked after in every way possible.
“Sometimes you look at your bill and think ‘well they’ve had the farrier so they’ve got a new set of shoes, a massage, they go for a swim at the beach and see the chiropractor and go ‘ah, I haven’t had any of those things’.”
He said his horses were well looked after and came first.
“They tell you when they’ve had enough but at the moment Stampe is loving his racing and is in a great open environment where he has been trained and very competitive.
“He has been a very sound horse and never missed a day of work, and a bit of a freak when it comes to that really.”
Stampe’s sire was known as Whittington and his dam as Envelope.
His next race is in two week’s time at Doomben Racecourse, Brisbane.