Our Owner Spotlight series continues this month with Keith Chambers. We sat down with Keith and asked 10 questions to learn a bit more about his involvement with our stable! Keith talked to us about his connection with the Chambers family, his enjoyment of the sport, and a special story from a visit to Royal Ascot! (5 min read).
We’ll start with asking what is your connection in the Chambers family tree?
Well, I’m cousins with Bruce (Adam’s father), my dad and his dad were brothers and were very close to each other growing up and throughout their lives. Our grandfather lived in Warrnambool in Timor Street, so every school holidays my family would always be going down to visit. We grew up in Essendon, and I spent three years teaching in Melbourne before being posted up in Redesdale (near Bendigo). I’ve been around that area for a long time now, but as our kids grew up we would continue the tradition of having holidays down at the beach in Warrnambool to stay close with the family.
How did you get into racing?
I suppose the main reason was that I’ve always known people involved in the game and have always enjoyed following along and keeping an interest in it. I’ve known people like Jimmy Bligh for a long time and he’s always had horses so I’ve followed them along the way, as well as taking an interest in events like the May Carnival in Warrnambool. I’d also have to say that racing dot com has got me a lot more interested in racing recently. Twenty years ago, the coverage was nowhere near as good and you had to listen to the radio, but now I’ve got the racing channel on a lot – much to my wife Carol’s distaste sometimes!
How long have you been an owner with AJ Chambers Racing for?
I’ve only become an owner with Adam over the past few years, but all the time that I’ve known him, from when he was a young lad, all he wanted to do was become a trainer. We’d see him once or twice a year, and whenever we saw him all he wanted to do was talk about horses – so we knew he had a real passion for it! As soon as he got his ticket we started following it all a bit closer. Glenferrie Girl was the first horse that I owned with him, an opportunity came up to get involved and we did that and she’s had a few wins now which has been great.
What current horses do you own?
Just the two, which are Glenferrie Girl and Rich Paris. For Paris, I remember Adam ringing me one day to tell me he was going up to Euroa to look at some horses. As he was driving through my area, he picked me up and we went and had a look at a few horses together. I told him that he was on a hiding to nothing as it was no good asking me about horses, I can hardly tell their rear end from their front end! We both funnily enough agreed on Paris as being a really nice horse, but I like to say that if she’s no good it’s on him, and if she is good then it’s on me!
What’s your favourite horse owned and why?
Would have to be Glenferrie Girl as she’s won a few for us and we had a great day when she broke her maiden. I only probably knew about half a dozen of the other owners on the day, but the best part about it was meeting all of them. It was my first time attending the races as an owner and I got to walk away a winner! Heather Rivett is in Glenferrie Girl as well and I remember on the day she said, “the last time I think I saw you Keith, you would have been about 10!”, so you can see it’s a great way of catching up with people and meeting new people, it’s great fun.
What’s the best bit about owning a horse with AJ Chambers Racing?
Adam is really personable and keeps in touch regularly, not just through the Prism system, but we also love chatting on the phone. As a family member we are very proud of him, he’s always been such a nice person, very engaging and has plenty of time for everyone. It’s great to see him doing so well and for us to be able to support him, hopefully he can keep growing into the future. Adam’s also always good for a game of golf when I visit, even if I do let him win each time!
What is your favourite racing memory?
Well, it actually doesn’t involve a race day, and it was around this time of the year three years ago. Carol and I were staying in Windsor, which is only a few miles from Royal Ascot, and we thought we might as well go into town and see if we could have a look at the track the week before the big event. We eventually found our way there after asking a few locals, and basically found ourselves near the running rail at about the 400m mark. I was taking a few photos and then one bloke come walking down the centre of the track, so I yelled out and asked if we were allowed to go anywhere else. He had the work shorts and seemed a laid-back character and said, “come with me”! He took Carol and I out to the centre of the track, walked us 200m up the track and showed us the workers yards. He had a bloody flash dual cab Ute with Royal Ascot written on it, and as we got talking we found out he was the Head Groundsman! He ended up spending about an hour and a half with us, driving us all around the place, showing us the stables. We left the racecourse and were going along the beautifully manicured driveway; I remember the golden gates with two houses on each side. As we headed off he gave us his phone number and email address and said anytime you’re here, give me a bell. We stay in touch with an email every now and then, and we were so grateful for how accommodating he was to a couple of Aussie tourists when he would have been very busy.
What is the race you most want to win as an owner?
There’s probably a couple, a winner at the May Carnival would be special and I really enjoy the Friday nights at Moonee Valley as well. May Carnival especially as I don’t think he’s had a winner in one so far, so that would be special for him to do at his home base, and you’d surrounded by a lot of people that you know.
What is your favourite racehorse of all time?
I remember seeing Nature Strip down at the beach in Warrnambool, as I used to run along there a bit when I would visit. You would see this big chestnut bounding along and you knew it was going to be a fast horse and win some races but seeing him go on to win at Royal Ascot is pretty special. My best day at the races would have to be when I watched Winx win her 4th Cox Plate. I’ve been to a number of AFL Grand Finals, but the atmosphere on that day was just as good. There was a lot of nervous tension, everyone was anticipating the result, and once she came home around the turn to win it was brilliant.
What advice could you provide to owners looking to get involved for the first time?
Having a good trainer who is personable is important, and just being able to enjoy the journey. Another good thing about being in the horses, is the kids are always asking “how’s it going to go Dad”, which shows it gets a lot of dialogue open with a lot of people. They used to sort of say who’s Adam and how are you related, but now they’re the ones keeping an eye on all the other horses he’s training and are telling me about them!
