Horse Racing: Eight Grafton tradies select Scone horse Fender for Kosciuszko

"We're planning on winning," said syndicate organiser Phil Warby. "We know we're David up against a few Goliaths. We understand our position, we haven't got one of the favourites, but there's been a heap of rain in Sydney so if the track's heavy it brings everyone back level and we'll have a chance.

"The boys I'm with, we don't mind having a beer and a good time, so win, lose or draw, we'll enjoy ourselves.

"We're the best of mates. A lot of us played footy together for the local Grafton Ghosts and many of the blokes have known each other since being toddlers. Myself, I've been mates with the rest of the guys for 27 years and they're just the best blokes. I'm so glad to be doing this with them."

After buying $5 tickets in the TAB slot draw as individuals for the first several years of The Kosciuszko, the group got organised last year and pooled their resources.

"We threw in $50 each last year and this year I suggested we up the ante," Warby said.

"I said, 'Come on boys, we can all afford it, let's have a throw at the stumps'. They were all willing, so we all threw in $250 each and bought two grand's worth and, yeah, we had a crack and we got lucky. We're all equal partners in it."

The rush from winning slot-holders for most of the obvious chances in The Kosciuszko was on as usual after last month's slot draw and the group missed out on their first couple of preferences.

But Fender, trained by Brett Cavanough, was among their leading preferences anyway so they soon headed in that direction.

"When we drew a slot, Racing NSW gave us a list of likely contenders," he said. "We looked at a couple and tried for those, but they went quickly.

"But because we have a strong affiliation with Grafton and we'd seen Fender run well in the Ramornie Handicap up here this year we watched a few more of his videos and checked out his form.

"He'd had a few runs over 1400-to-1600 metres in the last couple of years, but it looked like he was still better off at 1200 and that was the distance of The Kosciuszko. Plus, he was a pretty good wet tracker and his third in the Ramornie was good.

"We thought, 'Let's jump on him'. I rang Brett and he said what the owners thought was a fair split of the prizemoney. He said there was another group interested as well.

"I talked to our guys and when I went back to Brett he said there were some more groups interested, but there was no deal done yet because they were going back and forth about things. Our idea of the split wasn't complicated, so we were able to get the deal done."

Warby said he and his wife, Kathryn, had recently moved to the seaside town of Wooli, 50km from Grafton, but that much of his work as a plumber remained in Grafton so he was regularly travelling back and forth to there.

He said the tradies group regularly gathered for a beer at the Village Green Hotel at Grafton and had planned a big weekend with their partners in Sydney for the race.

"Scott Kennedy from Racing NSW has really looked after us," he said. "Most if not all of us will be bringing our partners, so I asked if we could get 16 tickets and he said that wouldn't be a problem. I believe we've got a set-up in the Winx Stand, so looking forward to that."

But whether Warby will be accompanied by his wife is up in the air at this stage because the middle one of their three daughters - Ashley - is due to give birth to Phil and Kathryn's first grandchild on the day of the race.

"Ashley and her partner, Tom, live at Ocean Shores, near Byron Bay," Warby said. "Kathryn is going up to be with them for the birth. If the baby arrives a couple of days early then Kathryn will fly down on Saturday for the races, but if not she'll stay.

"I'm super excited about becoming a grand-dad. It's going to be fantastic. They don't know if it's a boy or a girl, they opted to keep it a surprise and I love that idea. When you think about it, there aren't many surprises left in life.

"Becoming a grandfather and winning The Kosciuszko on the same day - what a surprise that would be!"

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