Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Byford trainer Ron Huston visited the 2022 APG Perth yearling sale with the firm intention of buying a Sunshine Beach colt out of Falcons Gem. But after a keen duel he was resigned to being the under bidder, with the colt, now named Menemsha, being purchased for $47,500 by Aiden De Campo.
“I wanted to buy him, but I didn’t have enough money,” said Huston. “Trevor Lindsay, the breeder, knew that I was keen on him, and he knew that I was disappointed on missing out on the yearling I wanted.
“He then recommended that I took a look at a colt by the American sire Betting Line. The colt was a bit small, but I liked his conformation, and I was able to get him fairly cheaply for $20,000, and now I have to thank Trevor for steering us this way.”
Huston named the colt, now a gelding, Bet The House, who he owns with Patrick O’Boyle and his brother Jamie, Lou Zecca and his son Justin, and Busselton breeder and trainer Reece Kaptein.
Menemsha, the winner of the Group 1 Westbred Classic and the Group 2 Pearl Classic as a two-year-old last year, and with earnings of $189,758, was the $1.60 favourite from the No. 1 barrier in the $50,505 WA Gold Bullion for three-year-old colts and geldings at Gloucester Park on Friday night, with Bet The House the sole runner on the back line and the third favourite at $6.40.
Menemsha was smartest to begin before being crossed by $26 chance Heez A Vibe 200m after the start. This left Bet The House three back on the pegs with $9.50 chance Opal Hunter in the breeze and Ten To The Dozen ($6) in the one-out, one-back position, leaving Bet The House firmly hemmed in on the inside.
However, Chris Voak was able to ease Bet The House off the pegs and forced Ten To The Dozen three wide about 870m from home. Voak then sent Bet The House three wide with 270m to travel and the gelding sprinted strongly to burst to the front at the 100m on the way to winning by just over a length from the De Campo-trained $19 chance Grevis, who ran home strongly for reinsman Trent Wheeler from sixth on the inside at the bell.
Menemsha was badly blocked for a clear run in the closing stages and finished a half-head away from Grevis in third position.
“It certainly was a funny story how I bought Bet The House,” said Huston. Bet The House went into Friday night’s race as the most inexperienced runner in the field, with three wins, a third and a fourth placing from five starts.
“Maybe that was a concern because Bet The House hadn’t had a lot of hard racing. He has had a few health issues, nothing major, a few stomach issues and some ulcers.
“About six to eight weeks ago we were struggling with him. It was a matter of trial and error before we found the key to him, and since then it has been onwards and upwards.
“Bet The House will run in the Caduceus Club Classic in three weeks, and then will have a short break before being prepared for the Pearl, the Westbred and other classics.”
Bet The House now has earned $72,730 from four wins and a third placing from six starts. He is the sixth foal out of the unheralded mare Katesplace, who managed one win and four thirds from nine starts for stakes of $6828. Katesplace’s dam Kates First was a star whose 65 starts resulted in 19 wins and 19 placings for earnings of $624,023.
Bet The House gives every indication of developing into a top-flight pacer. The quarters in Friday night’s event were covered in 27.9sec., 29.2sec., 27.9sec. and 28.7sec., with Bet The House rating a sparkling 1.52.8 which was a race record and also the course record for a two-year-old over 1730m, with the previous record rate of 1.53 being held by Howard Hughes (September 4, 2020) and Machnificent (November 26, 2021).