MERRIN ROBSON
My husband and I were both born and bred in Newcastle, NSW. We used to live right near the track in Hamilton, Newcastle, and would walk to the end of the street of a weekend with the kids and watch the horses jump from the barriers. It was usually only on major race days that we would go along for the day. My husband had always had an interest in horse racing because he had grown up around horses and his father was a bookmaker, my husband as a kid, the runner. He’s taught me a lot of what I know today and I think he secretly enjoys being able to teach me the ins and outs of racing.
We moved to the Gold Coast back on Australia Day, 1999. Before moving, I had spent 12 years working in bakeries, 9 of those as a cake decorator. My first job on the Gold Coast was as manager of a health food shop in Broadbeach. It was there that I got my foot in the door in shopping centre management. I’d gotten to know the centre management staff quite well and when a position became available they approached me. I’ve since worked in a number of centres on the Gold Coast, most recently as a Marketing Manager for 3 shopping centres. My husband and I married, finally, on 13th April 2013 up in the Whitsunday’s, 5 days before our 21st anniversary together. It was also the same day as legendary Black Caviars last race so needless to say we got them to put the race on TV so all of our guests could watch this momentous event. I still have a betting ticket for $1.00 each way on Black Caviar just to keep as a souvenir.
How I got into horse racing
Although I’ve always loved a day at the races, getting frocked up, socialising with friends and having a few drinks, it wasn’t until around 6 or 7 years ago that I started to get right into horse racing.
Why? Because my husband and 2 mates had the bright idea of pooling their money and buying a 10% share in a race horse. We bought into a pretty little chestnut filly, she was a real little diva, that we were lucky enough to name, called Geneva Gold. She was an honest little thing and gave now champion jockey, Tegan Harrison, her start in racing. Tegan was an apprentice to Bruce Hill and at the time he was struggling to get rides for Tegan as it was a real boys club back then, look how things have changed. Anyway, we were happy to give Tegan a go because we knew our little Peaches (her stable name) was no real champion, only winning 2 races over her career, but it gave Tegan much needed experience, plus Peaches paid her way and for us it was more about the social side we loved.
Since those days we’ve had several horses and I’ve learnt so much about the industry. We’ve learnt the hard way who’s fair dinkum and who’s not. Then out of the blue a fantastic opportunity presented itself. Katie Page had just announced the year before a $500,000 bonus was on the line for the 2yo Magic Millions race if it was owned by all women. Anywho, at the end of a long and entertaining day at the races myself and 1 or 2 others got talking to ex jockey, now local trainer, Kelly Purdy about getting a horse with all women and she should train her. Well you know how these things can go, a drunken evening talking ourselves up and the next thing you know most of the GCTC Committee Members wives were on board and we were off to the sales to buy a horse. To cut a long story short, for personal reasons the horse manager resigned and somehow I was voted in as manager without even nominating myself and I spent the last 12 months of her racing career managing our beautiful filly. Sadly we realised our million dollar dream was slipping from our grasp as we discovered Aster Bloom was not a sprinter which is what you need for the Magic Millions, but instead a stayer. This didn’t deter us and for 2 ½ years we had quite a bit of fun with her until an injury put her out of racing and we sold her at the June 2014 broodmares sale.
Over the course of the last 6 or 7 years we’ve had shares in a total of 8 horses and currently have 3 horses in our ‘portfolio’. We’ve had a couple of really good horses over the years, some we’ve sold for breeding, others we’ve had to retire due to injury, but that really is the luck of the draw. These are such beautiful and amazing animals and no matter how hard you try, they always feel like part of the family.
I love living the social lifestyle that racing creates, we’ve met some truly wonderful people through horse racing and I am looking forward to sharing my experiences and knowledge with all of you.
Merrin Robson
0408 252 030
merrin@pinkhorseracing.com.au