Melbourne
based Rob Harding has been a successful owner for over 20 years and he's
embraced the new VOBIS Gold initiatives with New Zealand mare Orutan.
She was covered by Bullbars at Highview Stud in Hamilton last year and was then
sent to Victoria so the foal will be VOBIS eligible.
Orutan (6m Pins – Naturo by Postponed) is due any day now at Rosemont Stud but
Harding and his wife June will miss the birth having just flown out for a
holiday in Europe.
"We've brought the mare home to specifically take advantage of the extra
bonuses funded by the Victorian Liberal Government," Harding explained. "VOBIS
Gold is revitalizing the industry and the ripple-effect will benefit the
economy as a whole.
"In our case, it means all the products and services for Orutan and our other
mares will be provided by Victorian based businesses."
Harding is a successful businessman in his own right having owned and operated
Hardings Hardware until selling a majority stake to a Woolworths subsidiary
last year.
"Our philosophy is to try and treat people exactly how you would like to be
treated," he said. "We need to maintain high service levels because prices are
very much the same, especially throughout the hardware industry."
There are similar parallels between the racing and breeding industries in NSW
and Victoria but prizemoney and bonuses up to $19 million in 2014-15 is a point
of difference that favours the VOBIS State.
Harding bought his first horse with Deniliquin trainer Tom Loy back in the
1980s but his first fair-dinkum crack was Davington who he owned in partnership
with good mates Sonny Wright, Geoff McGrath and Wally Pratt.
Davington (Hula Chief) won five times around the provincials for a young
Epsom-based trainer named Mick Price and the partnership has remained rock
solid for over 20 years.
"It's been a wonderful association," Harding admitted. "And not once in all
that time has he given me a reason to change."
Price won the coveted 2013/2014 Fred Hoysted Medal and he says it's fantastic
to get results for the Hardings.
"Rob copes with both loss and victory – he reckons it's because of his Scottish
personality," Price said. "To be a long-term owner in this industry, to be
able to deal with the losses, is a test of character and he has not missed a
beat."
There have been many major winners along the way including Gallica (Redoute's
Choice) who was Group 1 winner of the Thousand Guineas and SAJC Oaks in
2008-09. She has a yearling filly by More Than Ready and foaled another filly
by Street Cry in August.
Chattanooga (Scenic) was a stable favourite winning 14 races between a Kilmore
maiden in September 1999 and a Flemington welter in April 2005. Along the way,
he won a Moe Cup plus a Sandown stakes race and he was also beaten a nose by
Dash For Cash in the 2002 G1 Futurity Stakes at Caulfield.
Rob and June raced him in partnership with Geoff and Cilla McGrath and, after a
well-earned retirement, he went on to carve out a successful show-jumping
career with Melissa Robertson.
Another feature winner for the Canterbury couple and the Queensland based
McGraths was Gotta Have Heart (Show A Heart). He grabbed a couple a of Group 3
trophies in the Victoria Hcp and Sandown Stakes.
Captious (Istadaad) won a second Moe Cup for the Hardings in 2007. They raced
him with Larry and Trish Bartle and the gelding doubled up in that year's
Bendigo Cup.
The Bartles were also part of the syndicate in Pre Eminence (Encosta de Lago)
who won the G2 Alister Clark Stakes and G3 Norman Robinson Hcp in 2008-09.
The decision to stand a stallion was the catalyst to buy Bullbars two years
ago.
Bullbars (Elusive Quality) scored a barnstorming Group 3 victory in the 2011
Colin Hayes Stakes at Flemington joining a roll-call that includes champion
sires Zabeel, Starcraft and Mossman.
He's a half-brother to multiple Group 1 winners Helmet and Epaulette and
Melbourne bloodstock agent Sheamus Mills brokered the deal that saw him
installed at Highview Stud in New Zealand.
"We targeted Orutan at Karaka and it's a good match for Bullbars with VOBIS in
mind," Mills said.
"She won three races and was Group 2 placed as a two year-old in the Wakefield
Challenge at Trentham.
"It's a well-credentialed family - her dam Naturo was a Group winner at
Matamata and Hastings. Rob has booked Orutan to Unencumbered at Three Bridges
after she foals to Bullbars."
The Hardings have seven grandchildren and Rob is hoping they will carry on the
tradition.
"I'm a racing tragic and June loves it, too," he declared. "I don't punt. It's
the horse that hypnotizes me. I love the animal and racing them really gets the
adrenaline pumping."
TBV Release