Almost two decades after winning a racehorse in a raffle, Steve Smith continues to carve out a niche in the thoroughbred industry with Shehasattitude his latest promising galloper.
Smith’s was one of racing’s fairytale stories in the mid-2000s when his ticket was drawn out in a Star City Casino promotion, the prize a young colt.
Hand-picked by top jockey Jim Cassidy and trained by Anthony Cummings, the horse was named Casino Prince and he took Smith on the ride of a lifetime.
Capturing the 2008 Chipping Norton Stakes and placing another five times at Group 1 level, Casino Prince retired to become a stallion and remains active on the Vinery Stud roster.
Smith, a former ambulance services co-ordinator, also continues to play an industry role as the manager of Langdale Park, a breeding and adjistment farm in the Upper Hunter, while his ownership passion remains.
A shareholder in Shehasattitude, the filly will bid for her third successive win in the James Squire Handicap (1300m) at Randwick on Saturday and fittingly she will do so under the tutelage of Casino Prince’s former trainer Anthony Cummings.
“Steve Smith and his family raced Casino Prince and they have been supporting us since then,” Cummings said.
“He’s got a farm up in the Hunter now, so they put the money to good use.
“His son is quite keen on the whole breeding process, so they put something together and they’ve got a bit of a following because they have been quite successful.
“She is a home bred for them. She came to the stables and has been through the processes and has turned out to be quite good.”
From the last crop by Spill The Beans before his untimely death in 2019, Shehasattitude has won half of her six appearances, including back-to-back victories at Newcastle and Canterbury to start her campaign.
Her most recent victory has proven a handy form reference with the horse she defeated, Know Thyself, posting an emphatic Highway Handicap win at Rosehill last weekend.
“That form looks better this week than last week,” Cummings quipped.
“She has beaten a horse that is obviously a talent and close to being in the right form so that speaks well of her, and she hasn’t taken a backwards step since.”
Shehasattitude will be facing her first test in Saturday class, but Cummings is quietly confident she can rise to the occasion, and he has been happy to stick with apprentice Madeline Owen, whose three-kilo claim will reduce the filly’s impost to 53kg.
