In an industry of headline-grabbing yearling sales and multi-million dollar speculative investments on the next big thing, it can be a daunting world for those either unable or unwilling to compete in such a steep bloodstock market.
One option is to buy tried racehorses — those that have either reached their level in another jurisdiction, are out of form, or simply haven’t raced to their potential.
In Western Australia’s competitive racing scene, where the pool of horses is limited by geographical constraints compared to other Australian states, finding a point of difference can unlock opportunities for success.
Chris and Michael Gangemi, like their father John before them, have become well-established names in the local training ranks. They often find success with horses unwanted by the east coast tycoons that once owned them.
Over the past decade, names like Durendal, Super Maxi, and Saracino have found new leases on life after being bought by the Gangemi family to race in Perth, while local purchases Massimo, Battle Hero and Phanta have gone on to achieve black-type success after changing stables.
The Gangemi brothers have found an operating model that works for them.
Chris is the one training the horses, while Michael’s business acumen and eye for a deal have seen him assume the role of sourcing the bloodstock that races in the family’s green, red and white silks, which is a nod to their Italian heritage.
“He (Michael) funds our whole operation,” Chris explained. “I’m the one hands-on all week long at the stables, but Michael funds the whole thing and is a massive part of it.
“He does all the research. He’s the one buying them so he picks them out as well.
“We did have a lot of luck early on, but it’s getting harder to buy a tried horse now. Michael may have gotten onto it before a lot of other people.
“It has gotten harder to do, but over the years we’ve had a lot of success with tried horses.
“A lot of the good ones we bought weren’t actually online, Michael just found them and got a deal done.
“Nobody sells a good, fast horse with no issues, so you’re buying someone else's problems these days.”
While there have been many successful purchases across the journey for the family, Rock Magic stands head and shoulders above the rest as a cult-like hero of the stable.
Arrowfield Stud retained the son of the legendary Redoute’s Choice after failing to meet his $200,000 reserve at the 2011 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, beginning his career with Paul Messara, where he won four of his first 11 starts.
In the autumn of 2014, a deal was done to move him west, into the care of Chris Gangemi.
Success was immediate, with the four-year-old winning four of his first five starts, including the Listed Farnley Stakes.
Over the next seven years, Rock Magic took his connections on the ride of a lifetime, with the Gangemis still proud of the sprinter’s achievements.
“Unfortunately I don’t know if we’ll ever have another one like him. He was a champion for us, he was a champion full stop really,” Chris said..
“He was placed in Group 1s at 10 and 11 years of age, which is almost unheard of in sprint races, he won nine stakes races and raced at the top level for many years.
“He was an absolute superstar of a horse and we haven’t had anyone nearly as good as him since, but at least we were lucky enough to have a horse like that.”
Rock Magic raced in Group 1 races on 17 occasions, placing three times and running fourth a further four times.
He contested the Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes six times, with the 2021 edition being his final race - as a 12-year-old.
The Gangemi family is the most closely associated WA stable with the second-chance purchase in the modern era.
But WA racing is decorated with stories of taking a punt on a horse from the eastern seaboard that found fame out west.
Over a century ago, Blue Spec arrived in WA with one Sydney win to his name before emerging as one of the country’s best stayers with his 1905 Melbourne Cup victory to go with successes in the Moonee Valley Gold Cup, Perth Cup and Kalgoorlie Cup.
The Kalgoorlie Cup win was undoubtedly a big deal for the man who took the gamble on Blue Spec, Paddy Connolly, a leading business figure in the Goldfields town at the time.
Fast forward to the 1990s, WA unearthed another equine star, this time Starstruck, who transferred from TJ Smith in the winter of 1993 after being purchased by the Miller family.
After claiming the Pinjarra-Bunbury Cup double in 1994, Starstruck established herself as a top-line mare on both sides of the country, with her crowning achievement being an Australian Cup victory at Flemington in 1995.
But with the tried-horse market exploding with a boom in online auctions, the Gangemi family has been forced to look at diversification.
With further competition from syndicators, studs, and east-coast raiders, tactics have been changed to ensure the viability of the stable.
One of the approaches undertaken, a purchase of stallion King’s Troop, hasn’t been the success the family had hoped.
Another son of Redoute’s Choice, King’s Troop has made a mixed start to life in the barn, siring just the one stakes winner in the form of the Trevor Andrews-trained All The King’s Men.
“We did have a lot of luck early on, but it’s getting harder to buy a tried horse now. Michael may have gotten onto it before a lot of other people" - Chris Gangemi
With a tight tried-horse market and a stallion yet to have an impact, Chris Gangemi is candid about the current plans for the family business.
“We’ve had a fair bit of a cleanout, with a number still to go, but we have about 10 nice yearlings that Michael bought at the (Perth Magic Millions) yearling sale by some really nice stallions this year.
“One reason we’ve bought these is because it’s getting harder to buy tried horses, and the other is over the last five or six years we’ve had a handful of King’s Troop yearlings each year and they haven’t fired, which is a big part of why the stable isn’t firing at the moment.
“They’re done with now, and we’ve got a few nice ones there.
“Hopefully in 12 months time we’ve turned it around and are becoming a force again.”
