Here's a Leek about this year's unique Cox Plate at Flemington!
The Moonee Valley Club runs with “Legendary” tagging Australia’s greatest race, their now century old William Samuel (well now Ladbrokes) Cox Plate.
But because the land (Feehan’s Farm) that W S first purchased in 1882, is now under a $2b facelift, they had to go with “Legendary… on a new stage.”
Flemington is some stage to be sure - vast, expansive, sweeping vistas, monumental even, housing many racing monuments. Yes colossal but no colosseum like the Valley of old.
Which means this new stage was delivered from a different backdrop and a very different atmosphere. Not that intimacy or energy, but then the Cox Plate franchise would never fail to laud a unique script. Legendary indeed.
Plot twists are the norm as often a good story requires. One had racing’s first lady Gai Waterhouse finally winning her first Plate with easing $5 chance Sir Delius. This one instead had former jumps jockey Andrea Leek (nee Beveridge) joining trivia quiz answers Deidre Stein (Rising Prince) and Moira Murdoch (Solvit) as the only female Cox Plate winning trainers.
Whether the club was satisfied with the 34,617 crowd will be left for a debrief as they hope that next year’s version at Valley 2.0 captures some of that old :you can almost them them” connection and a moshpit like fever with the “Horses” singalong more than Michael Paynter's vain effort on Saturday.
But there was one person experiencing an intimate Cox Plate moment a long way from Flemington, that was John Leek Junior, the 72-year-old former plumber, and husband to Andrea (some years her senior), watching a giant television screen in a lonely house at Nar Nar Goon meaning native for koala or bear but a great name).
“I have never been more excited about anything in my life, I just sat here not missing anything that was going on, and that’s the best experience I have ever had, I’m so proud of her and she deserves this more than anyone else,” Leek said
That house is where Leek lives these days, about two kilometres away from the family farm he and Andrea built together, but banned from even visiting as he serves a three-year disqualification for “stomach-tubing” a horse, somewhat appropriately called The Storyteller, as he starts to tell this one without any hint of being hard done by.
“This is the best day of my life. I remember Andrea walking into my stables when she was about 14 or 15 looking for work experience. Things took a while and she came back when she was about 21 to work for me and eventually we finished up together,” Leek said.
Leek giggles that they married on Valentine’s Day in 2004 suggesting that his tough exterior hides the inner-romantic.
“We’ve been together 35 years and things have never been better.”
Well except for the current living arrangements, which is now the subject of some legal argy bargy with Racing Victoria.
“Obviously I can’t go to our farm at all, she (Andrea) has to come to me, it’s obviously very inconvenient, but I’m her husband and there is some discretion within the rules we can hopefully work through,” Leek said.
“We’ve had the property for 27 years, when we bought it all it had was a house, Andrea and I built everything, the paddocks , the dams, the sand rolls, the treadmills, the water walkers, absolutely everything.
“It’s 73 acres, but only 10 acres are part of the horse training facility, I’d never ask Andrea to leave there, she’s trained Cosmic Crusader on those grass hills there to win the greatest race, but I’ve got 100 head of cattle, and now have to ask Andrea to feed them, as well as the dogs, because I can't go near it, let’s see what happens, but right now this is all about Andrea and her achievement.”
Saturday night was when the close-knit Leek’s got together, at Shanikas Italian Restaurant in Pakenham, that’s including first daughter Zoe (named after the flying juvenile Clever Zoe, nabbed by Schillaci in the 1993 Lightning as a two-year-old when trained by John) and son Mitchell, now undefeated middleweight boxing champion and chasing the WBA and IPF world titles next month. Of course he trains horses on the side and had a winner Sale Sunday, Mr Tickles, which wouldn’t be his ring name!
Sunday morning was breakfast with the champions, Andrea and John Leek and Willie (The Wizard) Pike and his wife Jessica, before John Jnr talked Andrea out of Sale, a good idea as the Cosmic Crusader colour of Peters could only run fourth with So Brave in a BM 66 over 2200m..
But Leek Junior the Senior, remembers the phone call that led to this Cox Plate in those ubiquitous colours but still feared he had fielded a prank call.
“The best part is that when all this was looking a bit grey for me, Bob wanted Andrea to train the horses. To look back and think of this girl who had broken legs that could possibly be amputated, punctured lungs, broken shoulders, broken bones, and to remember she won Grand Nationals and Great Easterns, it’s an amazing story of dedication and commitment by Andrea.
“This is for her, the emotions Saturday were real, we were all in tears, that is what it means.”
Then there was normally measured Bob Peters, the architect of all this in tears and stumbling for words at his greatest reaching achievement, some recognition, given a lifetime of achievements on and off the track.
The man who grew up in Dalwallinu, riding horses bareback in wheatbelt country north-east of Perth and he’d be a greater graduate than Hawthorn’s Max Bailey or Eagles’ Mark LeCras.
While he made his fortunes in cars (real estate), never forget he worked a horse drawn milk-cart at nights while installing water bores across the country before studying economics, psychology and maths while also one-time president of the WA Hunt Club.
All helped when he joined Premier Motors and expanded a dealership group in Perth that led to BMW franchises that became Auto Classic on valuable land while allowing him to develop Yelebra Stud on lands of Robert Holmes a Court.
And those cerise colours, well Bob went to the registrar office for advice abd was recommended that as the easy to see base, added the white cross sashes and an original white cap that is now black which is apparently easier to spot, but they are all easy when it gets to the number of races he wins.
Leek Junior, the senior still marvels at the ride, the near $400,000 trainers percentage allowing Andrea financial freedom for the future, one he waits on finding out on where he sits.
But where he sat on Saturday, he never had a better view, it’s just that it wasn't at The Valley's Cox Plate at Flemington.
And to think Andrea called herself an “imposter’. Those don’t win Cox Plates, they are legendary.
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But Cox Plate Day delivers so many other subscripts Try Caddington for Liam Howley as a better tale (and tearjerker), or more so Nicole Strang in the Crockett Stakes, five syndicates, well let's go 100 people from Nicole’s native Kyneton with 1% shares in memory and raising funds for the Breast Cancer Network with horses leased off Ki Ora Stud. Never has pink and red hearts seemed so right in the winner’s yard on Cox Plate Day at Flemington.
In Nicole's memory, the punt is forgotten, as these relationshaip are about raising funds for the Breast Cancer Network with the horse leased off Ki Ora Stud.
Ciaron Maher keeps doing Ciaron Maher things (first, second, third and fifth in the Moonee Valley Cup). Much made that Joseph O’Brien, Aiden’s son, may have 10 in the Cup next Tuesday. In reality now, he will have three, Maher, has at least eight, after the Moonee Valley Cup won by Jujja Kino won - named after original owners and their family, Juliet James, Kitty and Bob.
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