THERE are many excellent racehorse names – and then there are names!
Some contain a combination of their sire and dam’s names or even portions of them, some have taken very little thought at all, and others have taken much greater thought to be cleverly named.
But what happens when the suggested names you have submitted are rejected?
That’s easy. You simply put together part of the names of your owners and have a crack with that.
And it worked. That’s how yesterday’s $61 Scone winner Paji Briway got her monicker.
At first glance, it seemed as though Wyong trainer Wayne Seelin and his fellow owners had perhaps named the mare after some exotic European destination - but not so.
“I asked my three co-owners to come up with some names, but none of them were accepted,” Seelin explained today.
“In desperation, we took part of the first names of the four of us (Paul, Jim, Brian and myself) and came up with Paji Briway.
“But it wasn’t approved until the authorities questioned us about it. They wanted to be sure there was nothing underlying which might be embarrassing.”
It was the now five-year-old mare’s rivals who were embarrassed when she broke through, with Jenny Duggan aboard, in the $50,000 Super Maiden Handicap (1400m).
Coincidentally, Paji Briway carried the No 15 saddlecloth at her 15th start (after only one placing) in defeating Sabana ($9) and The Favorite Son ($20) to pick up the $20,000 first prize.
Though naturally delighted to see his mare finally shed her maiden status, Seelin had one regret – and not that he didn’t have a bigger bet.
“One of our owners Jim Thorne passed away last August, and sadly didn’t live to see Paji Briway win,” he said.
“He had been in a few slow ones, and it would have been fitting if he was here to see this result.”
Seelin paid only $2500 for Paji Briway as Lot 318 at the 2020 Inglis Scone yearling sale held in Sydney.
“I didn’t go to the sale intending to buy a horse, but went with a chap who wanted to buy one and was prepared to play plenty,” he said.
“That didn’t work out, but I liked this mare when she came into the ring and she was cheap, so I bought her.”
Paji Briway, a five-year-old daughter of Artie Schiller, is now raced by Seelin, his father Brian and Paul Watson (the latter both former Wyong Council workmates); the same combination which raced the $7500 marvel buy Isorich, who raced 155 times and won 16 races and was placed 37 times for earnings of just over $826,000.
Whilst Paji Briway has a mighty long way to go before getting even close to emulating Isorich’s deeds, Seelin says she is one of the unluckiest horses he has ever trained.
“She put a leg through a fence after I bought her, and then again after she was broken in,” he said.
“Fortunately, but for a small scar, those mishaps haven’t left a lasting effect.
“But she has drawn so many ordinary barriers and has often been her own worst enemy in races.
“When she was resuming from a break on the Beaumont track at Newcastle last September and drew the inside, she ran second at $151.
“Paji Briway has always shown some ability, and I nominated her a 1400m Maiden at Tuncurry last Saturday, but decided to head to Scone.
“I was chatting with fellow Wyong trainer Rod Bailey recently about the Super Maidens, and thought it was a good concept, but wondered if we would ever win one.”
HOOFNOTE: The remarkable racing story of the now retired 13-year-old Isorich came to an end when he finished third in a Benchmark 64 Handicap (1350m) on his home track on April 27 last year, a week after he had run second there in a Provincial Benchmark 68 Handicap over 1200m.
Seelin reports the son of Choisir is happy and healthy spending his days on his Wyee property. “He is loving life,” he said.
Story John Curtis, January 22, 2024 - Pics Bradley Photos
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