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As Vow and Declare raced to Melbourne Cup glory there were plenty of locals cheering for the horse which has a strong Bundaberg connection through the Lanskey family.
Anthony and Siobhan Lanskey, and sons Ben and Lachie, are among the 13 part owners of the Danny O’Brien trained four-year-old gelding.
The Lanskey family now live in Gympie after spending time in Bundaberg where Anthony was a teacher at Bundaberg State High School.
Ben and Lachie attended Shalom College between 2007 and 2011 with Ben the School Captain. Both boys were outstanding local sportsmen.
The horse, which had won just over one million dollars from 12 career starts heading into today’s Melbourne Cup, picked up a staggering $4.4 million and a trophy valued at $150,000 from the prize pool of $8 million for winning today’s Cup.
Vow and Declare is the first Australian-bred horse to win the Cup since Shocking in 2009.
The horse gave notice of a strong showing in today’s Cup with a solid second in the recent Caulfield Cup run over 2400 metres.
The horse was retained by the breeder following an unsuccessful attempt at sale with the result that family and friends were invited into the partnership. The rest, as they say, is now a part of Australian racing history.
