THE SUNSHINE COAST NEWSPAPER COLUMN: BIRKIN BLACK'S DOUBLE SPARKS MASSIVE CELEBRATION

By Graham Potter | Sunday, July 28, 2019

Graham Potter writes a weekly column for the Sunshine Coast daily. Due to demand from those having trouble accessing the paper these columns are now also published on HRO courtesy of the Sunshine Coast daily.

If you had been at the Sunshine Coast Turf last Sunday afternoon around 2.15pm the chances are you would have felt like buying a racehorse. That is how infectious the celebrations of the owners of Birkin Black were after they had watched their horse make it two wins from two starts.

It was a Sunshine Coast celebration. Trainer Bette Harden is based at the Sunshine Coast while the bulk of the owners are also locally based family and friends who live and work in the area.

“We bought the horse on an on-line auction,” said Bette’s son Luke Harden, explaining how the horse came into the Harden yard. “We then told some friends that we purchased a horse … this is what it is … would you like to come in?

“I play for the Caloundra Cricket Club and a friend of mine presented it to the rest of the boys and people at the club and, within an hour, fifty percent of him (Birkin Black) was taken up. Most of the around twenty owners are from the cricket club. The rest are family and friends.

“About seven of those are new owners. They’d always liked the social aspect of racing and they all knew that side of it and liked a punt, but it was a big thing for them to take that leap of faith to invest in a racehorse.

"Obviously, Birkin Black wasn’t overly expensive so for these first-time guys to have a crack seemed ideal … and, well so far, it looks like being financially rewarding for them.

“Having said that, what I tell everybody beforehand is that if you want to come into a horse don’t come into it to make money, come in to enjoy the social aspect of watching your horse race … and they’ve already got that enjoyment in buckets and spades.

“While we all know there are ups and downs in racing for some of the owners it is already a dream come true. It is quite amazing to see what one horse has done for these people and their mindset.

“And that positive vibe has a roll-on effect.

“Mom says it makes her feel a bit younger as well now having a whole lot of people coming to see the horse and all of the excitement that is going on around it.

“The family has been involved in racing for so long. We’ve had a lot of downs and a few ups … but, hey, you take the ups where you can … and if you can find one like Birkin Blue who can give you joy for twelve months or more then you can forget about all of those years of battling and knuckling away for a while and just enjoy it.

“Happily, that’s where we are at the moment,” concluded Luke Harden.

And just a final word about Bette Harden.

At seventy-three years of age with only two horses in work, the role she has played in getting Birkin Black, a horse with pre-race attitude which turns into fighting spirit in the finish, to score successive wins stands to her credit.

It might not have the flashing lights and razzmatazz of the big-name stables and owners but this is an all-around feel-good story bringing into focus the fact that the true core of racing has many levels and all are as important as each other.

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