Trotsynd Syndicate 23 owners Photo by Photography by Jodie Hallows
Continuing on with the Trotsynd/Harness The Dream success that we’ve witnessed over the past few years, Paint The Palette did not disappoint, with the Vincent-Moon Ovr Manhattan 2YO winning impressively first-up for the Justin Prentice/Trotsynd combination on Monday at Pinjarra.
Late last year, The Trots WA held a competition for non-owners to get the chance to win a 5% in a ready to run rising two-year-old who was purchased at the 2023 APG Yearling Sales by the Trotsynd group, which led to 12 eligible participants drawing a runner in the WA Pacing Cup, with their runner determining whether they won the ultimate prize, Paint The Palette.
Matt Wilson would have felt a slight confidence when he scored Magnificent Storm NZ as his runner, and although a protest held up presentations, he ultimately was crowned the winner of the 2023 Ultimate Sweep competition.
Yesterday he made the trip to Pinjarra to watch Paint The Palette make his debut, with his kids in tow, and they did not leave disappointed, with a win first up for his very first starter.
Wilson isn’t necessarily new to the industry, with his wife Cartina Wilson, and father in-law Vince Vinciullo quite heavily involved, but racehorse ownership is definitely a new venture for himself, and Monday’s win was everything a beginner could have hoped for.
“It’s the first one I’ve been a part of, and a new environment for me to be amongst and a part of, so it’s a bit of a learning curve and I’m not the most forward person, I tend to stick to myself a bit, but I jumped out of my shell a bit and said hello to a few people, it was a good day.
“You always hope for the best I suppose a lot of things tend to unfold on the day, so there is a lot of unknown there,
“But you always get a lot more excitement when that hope comes true.”
The Trotsynd Syndicate 23 is a very large ownership group, and they were not disappointed with their first up effort, and with plenty of longtime harness racing lovers involved, they were more than happy to welcome Matt Wilson into the group.
“It was nice down there (at Pinjarra) and very welcoming, had a couple of chats with people,
“The ones I talked to have been involved in a few syndicates and are involved with a few other horses, so it’s a good thing for them to get out and enjoy the countryside and watch their horses.”
There was a few jokes thrown around on the day amongst the owners, with it mentioned that Matt is the youngest one involved in the syndicate.
The Harness The Dream initiative has been extremely successful with their past three to four purchases, with Valedictorian impressive at his limited race starts as a two-year-old.
Sadly, ill-fated after just 10 starts, he was a winner of five, with stakes in excess of $130,000 (not including bonuses), taking out the APG 2YO Colts and Geldings Sales Classic final in 2022, then later finishing second in the Pearl Classic Final behind stablemate Never Ending by just a 4.9m margin.
Blaze Away was one of two horses involved in the 2023 Harness The Dream initiative, with the now three-year-old running second in last year's APG 2YO Colts and Geldings Sales Classic.
