Our Owner of the Month for April is Natalie Coomber for her horse Red Dazzle trained by her dad, Strathalbyn based Peter Moody.

Natalie takes up the narrative.

So this is my boy, my red boy, Kracka aka Red Dazzle. Our five-year-old gelding by Husson. Kracka arrived at our Strathalbyn stables late in 2012, after the owners of Justify That purchased him. He turned up at my father – Peter Moody’s stables full of curry, with an ego to match any champion galloper, but yet to prove himself.

When both my Mum, Rose and I saw him, we said ‘Wow, He’s a Cracker!” – hence his stable name Kracka. He certainly was a head turner! I had to have him but all the shares in him were taken, so I rang my brother in Alice Springs, race horse trainer – Nigel Moody, and convinced him to give me half of his share, put him on ‘lay-by’ with my Dad for 3 months and gave him to my husband as his Christmas present – the registration papers wrapped up under the Tree!

At his 4th start with us, Red Dazzle won his first race, on 11th September 2013, Mum and Dad were overseas,

Leaving Nigel in charge of his training. We secured one of our favourite jockeys in Libby Hopwood and she was able to steer him (hanging off of 1 rein!) across the line first. That feeling was unbelievable! I cried! Four starts later he won his 2nd race at Gawler, again I cried!

Kracka had 22 starts after that, staying in the money 11 times but not quite finding his 3 year old form. My ever patient father didn’t give up on him, others probably would have. We gave him time off in the family paddock with regular visits from the chiropractor, who confirmed he had issues with his neck and back and needed rest.

So after being away from the track for 260 days, and over 2 years since he’d last won, Kracka resumed with a win! With the expert guidance of Paul Gatt, Red Dazzle, chased the leaders down to score impressively. I screamed the stand down, nearly jumped the balcony and yes, cried my eyes out – again! I just knew my boy had that fire in his belly! And to prove it was no fluke Red Dazzle went on to win 2 weeks later on ANZAC Day, carrying the diggers on his back with a stencil I made saying “Lest We Forget”. This was his most significant win to date, taking his prize money to $52,000.

Both of these races were heats of the SA Sprint Series, Red Dazzle qualified for the Final on May 14, at Morphettville for a shot at the prize money of $100,000.

In all my years of racing, I have had numerous favourite horses, from our Darwin Cup winner Bellile, to our dearly departed Medal Contender, retired ‘Johnny’ Knoxville and my ol’ warhorse Justify That, but there’s something about the feeling of working with your own horse, their smell, the gleam in their coat, the quiver they give with excitement and the look in their eye when I unclip the lead rope just before they bounce out onto the track. If you could bottle that feeling and sell it, I’d be rich! Richer than owning a Racehorse! But that’s not what it is about, everyone should know the joy and love that these awesome beings bring to your life, I’m just one of the lucky ones. Red Dazzle part owned by Natalie Coomber with Peter Moody, Rose Moody, Nigel Moody, Chris Coomber, Craig Reid, Andrew Doyle.

You have to love Nat’s passion and much of what she says here encapsulates the reason most of us own racehorses, that emotional roller coaster that is racehorse ownership.