Syndicating horses began as a side hustle for Steve Travaglia but it has quickly become serious business for the director and co-founder of Roll The Dice Racing.
A week after their mare Krone raced away with the Group One Coolmore Classic, Travaglia and fellow Roll The Dice founder Leigh Saville will be back at Rosehill on Saturday hoping Golden Slipper favourite Profiteer can do likewise.
While a stake in the colt was sold to Newgate Farm prior to his runaway victory in the Inglis Millennium, his original owners have retained a share and they are enjoying the ride of a lifetime.
Travaglia had his own printing and picture framing business for 25 years while racing a few horses on the side with trainer Darren Weir, but five years ago he decided to focus fulltime on thoroughbreds.
Roll The Dice has mostly concentrated on buying slower-maturing horses, which are usually priced more attractively, but at last year’s Classic sale they changed things up.
“We went to the sale still looking for three-year-old types then for one reason or another, we decided to have a crack at buying a two-year-old,” Travaglia said.
“The first horse we picked up was Profiteer.”
The fact he was by a first season sire in Capitalist – a horse Travaglia recalled Weir once predicting would make a good stallion – made appeal, while Travaglia also knew something of his dam, Athena Lass, who was placed in a race they sponsored at Moonee Valley in 2017.
“She beat one of Weir’s horses (for third) in the Roll The Dice Handicap so I followed her after that,” he said.
“She was a knob in the wet.”
Connections are hoping Profiteer has inherited a similar affinity for rain-affected tracks with heavy conditions looking increasingly likely for Slipper day.
Punters are keeping the faith and have backed the Victorian colt into $3.50 outright favouritism since Tuesday’s barrier draw, where he came up with gate five.
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