Hedley one of numerous Queenslanders daring to dream of Melbourne Cup riches

By Jordan Gerrans

Racing has taken Cairns’ Tom Hedley far and wide throughout his life and now nearing 73 years of age, he even admits to be caught up in the occasion of having his first Melbourne Cup runner.

The leviathan race horse owner and businessman in North Queensland has won a Group 1 as well as countless other feature and black-type races and premierships in his time in the industry.

The Cairns Jockey Club president will break new ground in his tenure in the sport when the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Hoo Ya Mal contests Tuesday’s famous Melbourne Cup at Flemington.

The FNQ-based Hedley has been in Victoria over the last week – attending Derby Day on Saturday – and even watching another galloper he owns - Cetshwayo – get the money at Mornington on Sunday afternoon.

The grandfather has been swept up in Cup week festivities with $7.75 million on the line.

“It only really hit home the other day that I was going to have a runner in the Melbourne Cup, with it being my first ever in a race like this,” Hedley said.

“I am looking forward to it and I am pretty stoked actually, to be lucky enough to have a share in a horse that is a Melbourne Cup runner.

“It is a big thing.

“I never thought I would be in a position like this and now that I do, it is starting to hit home now.

“We will get excited for the race on Tuesday and there is no expectations for the horse so we will not be disappointed."

As of Monday afternoon, the TAB has English import Hoo Ya Mal rated as a $15 fixed chance with the smiling and in-form Craig Williams booked to do the riding.

Hedley is not the only Far North Queenslander who has a slice of the four-year-old colt, who is set to have his first career race start in Australia on Tuesday.

Fellow Cairns businessman and big-time owner Darren Halpin is also in the stayer, as is Hedley’s close mate Bruce McDonald, among others.

The idea was hatched to buy into the Melbourne Cup hopeful at the inaugural running of The Archer at Rockhampton’s Callaghan Park earlier this year.

Hedley started his Stradbroke Handicap champion Tyzone in the first ever Weight-For-Age event out of Central Queensland while Halpin had Dawn Passage in the much-hyped race, who finished third.

“We connected from there and met Adrian Bott and we quickly said we would take a share in him and come along for the ride,” Hedley recalls.

“Gai thinks the horse is well set for Tuesday.”

Champion co-trainer Waterhouse will have a pair of runners in Tuesday’s race that stops the nation, with Hoo Ya Mal set to be joined by Knights Order.

Knights Order is judged a $17 fixed chance with the TAB as of Monday afternoon.

Speaking on Monday morning, the 2013 Melbourne Cup champion noted that she was pleased with new recruit Hoo Ya Mal’s work since he arrived at the Werribee quarantine centre in Victoria. 

“Every day he has improved,” Waterhouse said.

“He is still a preparation away but he is a lovely, lovely horse.

“He will be a horse to watch.

“This will be a serious horse the colt.

“They have all have done particularly well in quarantine and I could not be happier with the way they look.”

The legendary racing figure famously won the Melbourne Cup almost a decade ago with Fiorente and likened Hoo Ya Mal to the former winner.

“This is a horse that could come back and be a Cox Plate horse, he is a real Fiorente in the making,” she said.

A large and diverse ownership group paid a seven-figure price for Hoo Ya Mal after he ran second in the English Derby in June, as well as winning a Group 3 race at Goodwood in late August.

Cairns’ Hedley is excited to be at Flemington on Tuesday and soak in the atmosphere.

The Hoo Ya Mal crew will not be the only Queensland-based owners with a share in a 2022 Melbourne Cup runner.

More than half the field for Tuesday’s show piece race will have an owner living in the Sunshine State.

The Queensland part-owned Cup runners include: Gold Trip, Duais, Knights Order, Camorra, Vow And Declare, Young Werther, Hoo Ya Mal, Serpentine, Grand Promenade, Arapaho, Emissary, Smokin’ Romans, High Emocean and Interpretation.