Matt Forys, who became an Owner Ambassador for the Wildcard runner thanks to a TAB competition, has walked away with $250,000 after the Mugatoo saluted in a thrilling contest at The Valley on Saturday. The TAB competition was simple to enter. All customers had to do was vote via the TAB Poll, go into the draw and be selected at random to be allocated the Wildcard runner.
In what will go down as one of the most memorable All-Star Mile renditions, which has now completed its circuit across the three metropolitan tracks, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Owner Ambassador and the TAB runner, with Forys admitting he was extremely nervous watching the race, but knew he was in good hands with jockey Hugh Bowman.
“It wasn’t where I thought they would put him when I pictured it in my head, no doubt they probably wanted him a bit wider. But Hugh is one of the top riders in Australia and he knows what he’s doing,” said Forys.
After facing a hard luck story at the top of the turn and Russian Camelot concurrently sweeping the field, the star hoop who’s navigated The Valley circuit memorably with Winx kept his cool and waited for the seas to part before kicking clear to win by half a length, much to the delight of Forys.
“I absolutely jumped out of my seat with 100 metres to go. I have no idea who ran second or third, I just had eyes on Mugatoo.”
“We are currently finalising house plans, so it has come at a perfect time. This will allow us to get a few extra things that will come in handy. We are very grateful to everyone involved and had a great day.”
The arrival of the rain was welcomed by a number of TAB customers as the money came for Mugatoo throughout the day, becoming the second most popular runner behind Probabeel. Some big bets placed on Mugatoo included a $5,000 bet at $8, and $2,500 bet at $7.50.
