Widden Stud are in mourning tonight following the passing of Golden Slipper winning sire Sebring, who died quietly of a heart attack on Saturday afternoon.

Bought for $130,000 from the Magic Million in 2007 by Denise Martin's Star Thoroughbreds, Sebring was the syndicators dream horse come true. Prepared by Gai Waterhouse, Sebring won five of six starts including the Group I ATC Golden Slipper and Sires' Produce Stakes to be crowned Champion 2YO of 2007/2008.

Bred by George Altomonte of Corumbene Stud, Sebring earned in excess of $2.5 million in prizemoney for his adoring owners before embarking on a lucrative stud career at Widden that would prove every bit as successful as his racetrack achievements.

"Sebring was the horse of a lifetime, as a racehorse and a stallion, he changed lives," said Antony Thompson.

Welcome to TDNAusNZ’s ‘It Takes A Team’, brought to you in conjunction with Thoroughbred Industry Careers. Here we highlight and celebrate some of the heroes of our industry. The strappers, riders, stud-workers and people behind the scenes of our champions. The people who are up late into the night foaling or up at the crack of dawn to trackwork, working tirelessly to keep the industry running.

Today we talk to a graduate of the Godolphin Flying Start program, who has used all of the contacts and experiences offered to him through the course to gain a leg up in the industry. Dane Robinson is the Racing Manager of Highclere Racing and attributes the success in his career so far to the Flying Start course and the mentors he has met along the way.

Dane Robinson - Highclere Racing Manager

TDN: Can you tell us a bit about yourself, how did you get started in the industry?

Dane: I grew up in a family of horse men and women on the South Coast of NSW. My grandfather Kevin Robinson and father Terry have been training for decades. Pop was a legend in his day in harness racing and along with the help of his family, steered the stable towards thoroughbreds in the 90’s, before his passing in 2005. Dad still trains thoroughbreds out of his Shoalhaven Heads property where we have access to Seven Mile Beach to work the horses. In my opinion, it’s one of the world’s best surfaces and environments to train a racehorse.

While sport and school took priority, I got involved doing weekend stable shifts and took every opportunity to be at the races with either Dad or my uncle Robert Price, who trains with my cousin Luke out of Kembla Grange.

A new formula is making racing accessible to hundreds of new owners. We sat down with CEO Steve Brown to find out what that formula is and to hear about 500 new owners' journey to the Magic Millions.

Over 500 owners, many of whom have never owned a horse before, will embark on what miRunners CEO Steve Brown hopes will be the journey of a lifetime when Not a Royal Doubt (Not A Single Doubt) debuts in Saturday's Magic Millions Clockwise Classic at Ballarat.

miRunners' unique model breaks horse ownership down into 1000 units, with buyers able to purchase as little as one unit for a small initial outlay and an ongoing monthly fee.

In the case of Not A Royal Doubt, it has given a wealth of small-time owners the opportunity to have a share in a $250,000 (ex-gst) filly, trained by the legendary Gai Waterhouse and her co-trainer Adrian Bott.

Not A Royal Doubt is co-trained by Gai Waterhouse

Widden Stud's exciting young sire Zoustar always looked to have a strong hand in the Group I VRC Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) at Flemington on Saturday with three top chances and they delivered the dream result with a sensational win for Sunlight, the lone filly in the field over Zousain and Lean Mean Machine. 


Winner of the Magic Millions 2YO Classic, the Tony McEvoy trained filly was dominant over the colts last season so it wasn't the hardest choice for him to allow Sunlight to take her chance against the colts in this elite sprint worth $1million.