Mystic Storm winning her maiden Our Owner of the Month award winner for August is Eric Kennewell, part owner of Mystic Storm, Eric shared this with us: My involvement in the joy of horse ownership began in 1980’s with my first luckless investment being Lady Be Sharp, her only claim to fame being was dumping the jockey in the mounting yard first start. For next 20yrs we had very moderate success but our patience and persistence paid off when my sister-in-law (Lynette Day) became involved in breeding. She purchased Bronquill (in foal) and the subsequent foal raced as Saratoga Dreams, a dual city winner. She also bred Willego who was named after my family (Williams) and epitomised the reason horse ownership is so rewarding, in his 99 starts he was a great money spinner and gave us our “Melbourne Cup” with success in the Mt Gambier cup and winning the Country Horse of the Year award. The Mystic Storm involvement was a result of Jimellie (Willego’s full sister) who we also raced but had an injury filled career with limited success. At present Jon O’Connor has Mystic Storm showing promise over short distances, I am confident with maturity she can follow the bloodlines and get out to 1600/1800m. My belief is based on Stormy’s breeding lines going back to her great grandmother being a Melbourne Cup winner (Empire Rose) and her family racing history indicates middle distances. In summary the biggest fulfilment in ownership is that you get to share the excitement and atmosphere with family and friends and to experience the ups and downs of horse racing. My best advice to potential owners is to treat race horse ownership as a hobby and enjoy the ride that the racing industry gives you. We all “Live in Hope”   Mystic Storm (by Ambidexter) has at the time of writing raced 12 times for one win and 3 minor placings with earnings of almost $40,000. As Eric tells us she is out of the Belvic mare Jimellie, who raced 14 times for one win. She had only one other progeny wich did not race. Mystic Storm’s granddam is the Gold and Ivory mare Black Spectre whose race career was undistinguished. As Eric mentions, she was the dam of Willego (by Blevic) the veteran of 99 starts highlighted by his Mt Gambier cup win and stakes earnings of just shy of $180,000. The connection to the mighty Empire Rose goes back to Mystic Storm’s fourth dam the New Zealand mare Summerosa (by Oakville) who was the granddam of Empire Rose (by Sir Tristam). We are in total agreement with Eric’s comments on the joys of race horse ownership and the view that owning a share in a racehorse should be treated as an enjoyable hobby to be shared with friends and family. We wish Eric and his fellow owners the best of luck with Mystic Storm and with the other horses they share.