First runner locked in for The Archer

by Tony McMahon

Competition for The Archer is heating up, with prolific racehorse owner Max Whitby locking in Weona Smartone for the $775,000 race.

The announcement was made by Rocky Amateurs chairman Bill Reid and Whitby, who under slot holder Whitby Bloodstock becomes the first to have declared a runner in the 1300-metre race.

The second edition of Queensland’s richest regional race will be staged at Rockhampton’s Callaghan Park racecourse on Sunday, April 30.

Whitby said he was delighted to be affiliated with David Vandyke, the Sunshine Coast trainer and part owner of Weona Smartone, a winner of nine of his 13 starts.

“(Vandyke’s) happy and I’m happy to have done the deal from over the last six weeks,” Whitby said.  

The Archer is run along similar lines to Sydney’s $15 million The Everest, with 11 slot holders paying $50,000 and the 12^th auctioned off.

“Weona Smartone impressed my form man down here after we looked at four or five horses for The Archer,” Whitby said.

“You have to go early so I did the deal with David Vandyke.

“It wasn’t hard to do – it was very easy really especially as doing a deal is, when you know 99% of the players.“David and I will work well together…I think he was chuffed really.”

Whitby said he had learned from his experience in the inaugural The Archer last year when represented by the sixth-placed Chris Waller Sydney-trained Kubrick.

The 2022 edition was taken out by Robert Heathcote-trained Emerald Kingdom from fellow Brisbane trainer Desleigh Forster’s Apache Chase.

The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott Sydneysider Dawn Passage did the best of the six interstate horses by finishing third.

No doubt those stats were in Whitby’s mind when he went after the Queenslander in Weona Smartone, who has five Doomben wins on his CV.

Weona Smartone was spelled after a splendid fourth in the $3 million Nature Strip Stakes behind Private Eye at Rosehill on October 29.

“I believe he has prepped-up just fine,” Whitby said.

“He will either go a barrier trial, and then straight into The Archer or maybe a barrier trial, a race and then The Archer - that hasn’t been decided yet.”

Formerly located in Sydney, Whitby now bases himself on the Gold Coast and has as many as 80 racehorses on his books throughout Australia, as well as 20 breeding stock thoroughbreds and stallion shares.

He was one of 11 original slot holders in The Archer who invested $35,000 each for the 2022 concept, before all agreed to commit to $50,000 towards funding of the race over the next two years.

By doing so, The Archer’s purse was lifted to $775,000, making it Queensland’s richest regional race.

‘’The standalone Sunday meeting at Callaghan Park on April 30 this year promises to be spectacular at every level,” Rocky Amateurs Chairman Bill Reid said.

“It will bring stakeholders from across Australia. It will not only be big for racing here but also for the regional economy.”