“I still love racing horses and I still love gambling” – At 82, Singo retains the yearling bug

Six months after dispersing his entire bloodstock portfolio and his iconic Strawberry Hill Stud farm on the Central Coast, advertising icon John Singleton is still buying horses.

With the encouragement of trainer Kris Lees, Singleton led the charge in paying $700,000 for a filly by I Am Invincible out of triple Group 1 winner Lucia Valentina at Inglis’ Easter Yearling Sale.  

It followed purchases at the Magic Millions sales on the Gold Coast and Adelaide earlier this year with Singleton determined that his blue and white colours will continue to be carried on Australian racecourse for some time to come       

“I still love racing horses and I still love gambling. The breeding, and taking four or five years to see if they are any good, new stallions etc, there is a time when common sense prevails,” Singleton said.

“I don’t want to be the oldest bloke at the racetrack.

“I have about 20 horses I’m still racing, be they two-year-olds, or three-year olds or yearlings, so it gives me an interest.”

Singleton sold off $15.5 million worth of bloodstock last August through a Magic Millions dispersal, including 19 broodmares, 20 yearlings, 10 two-year-olds, three race fillies and three racehorses.

He also parted with his Strawberry Hill farm, with Coolmore Australia’s Tom Magnier the buyer in a deal estimated to be worth $30 million. Magnier has already turned it into a spelling and pre-training farm.

“I don’t want to be the oldest bloke at the racetrack.” – John Singleton

But any suggestion that Singleton, one of the highest profile media and advertising identities in Australia over the past 50 years, would wind down all interest in racing has been quickly dismissed.

He paid $800,000 for a filly by Wootton Bassett on the Gold Coast and another $100,000 for an Anders filly in Adelaide.  

His appearance at the Inglis Easter sale, where he hasn’t purchased a horse since 2017, is even more surprising.

Previously an owner of Magic Millions, Singleton shares a long friendship with that sales company’s owner, Gerry Harvey.

“I’ve been here a few years, but I usually buy at Magic Millions because Gerry is a mate and I was an owner there. Now I’m a free agent, my loyalty is with Magic Millions, but that horse is only for sale here and she is a special horse,” he said.

Singleton has a strong connection with Lees, who trained Group 2 winner Miss Fabulass for him, and, guided by the Newcastle trainer’s enthusiasm, was happy to hone in on Lot 115, who was offered by New Zealand vendor Elsdon Park.

“Kris had his eye on her right from the start, when the catalogue came out, so I said, let’s get her,” he said.

“Her dad’s a champion sire and her dam is a champion mare. She was a beautiful horse, I had a couple of wins on her.”

Lucia Valentina won a Vinery Stud Stakes, Turnbull Stakes and a Queen Elizabeth Stakes for Lees for owner Lib Petagna. She has had three runners to the track as a broodmare, including Group 1-placed Snitzel filly Luella Cristina.

While he has wound down his breeding interests, Singleton said he still prefers buying fillies with strong pedigrees.

“I found those fillies (with pedigrees) are the best, because even if they are no good, then it’s still worth half. So you con yourself there is a bit of residual value.  That’s worth twice as much as if they were a colt,” he said.

He would retain sole ownership of the filly, preferring not to partner up with anyone else.

The 82-year-old said he has his eye on a few other fillies at the Easter sale, but it would come down to price.

“There’s a couple there if they go at the right prices. That one didn’t go at the right price, went for about double what we thought. But I was sitting here all day not doing anything,” he said.