Fred Noffke looked at his horse in the mounting yard at Cluden, and thought, “this is big time”.
The Central Queensland grazier had headed up to Townsville for the richest two-year-old race in the North, the Great Northern, and had already put $100 on her at $5.
“When you look at horses together, you can tell, which one is the strongest. I looked at all of them that day and only the favourite looked anything like her,” Noffke said.
“We went there and were taking on their star, but I thought my horse was better, but that might have been a proud owner talking.”
Satisfied Mugs was sent out the $1.65 punters’ elect while Sheza Alibi was still $4.80
“I went back in the betting ring and had another $100 on her and thought if she wins, I’m really going to celebrate this,” Noffke said.
“My dad owned a lot of horses, he never won in Townsville.”
Sheza Alibi was more than a match for the favourite, winning by 1-1/4 lengths and earning $57,500 and a trip to Brisbane.
Not bad for a $10,000 daughter of Saxon Warrior, purchased online.
But the real big time was still a year away for Noffke and his filly.
They will both be in Sydney on Saturday, this time the purse is a $1 million in the Randwick Guineas.
Just how far they have come can be measured in miles or prizemoney, either way it is a long way from Townsville.
Sheza Alibi was in the care of Rockhampton trainer Kris Hansen when she ran into Autumn Boy in the Tatts Stakes at her next start.
She was no match for him that June afternoon, but still ran second without much luck.
She was an $18 outsider compared to Autumn Boy the $2.70 favourite that day. At Randwick on Saturday, Sheza Alibi is the $2.50 favourite and Autumn Boy, already the Caulfield Guineas winner, is rated $2.70 by bookies.
Another indication how far Sheza Alibi has come.
“I thought we were shortchanged in Brisbane. I thought we could have got closer to Autumn Boy,” Noffke said. “We get another chance at him on Saturday.”
Noffke knew he had a good one, and returning to Rocky would have been foolhardy. The grazier had a chat with Autumn Boy’s trainer Chris Waller, who confirmed a few things Noffke knew.
She was too good for Central Queensland and he shouldn’t sell her.
“I got into racing to have some fun, but I run it like any other business,” Noffke said. “There is a tax deduction in it, but I want to watch my horses race. I want to be there when they race.
“I don’t think you can go from Rocky to Brisbane all the time and be at your best, so I decided to give her her best chance down south.
“I got given Chris Waller and Peter Moody’s numbers and asked both of them if they would take her on.
“Peter Moody got back to me first, so he got Sheza Alibi.”
The journey has just got better once she headed to Victoria. A win in the Vanity on Derby day at Flemington was followed by the Sandown Guineas and an explosive first-up win in the Angus Armanasco Stakes last month.
“I don’t know what her ceiling is yet. Since we put the blinkers on her, she is a different filly and is unbeaten,” Moody said. “She’s bloody good and we have yet to find out how good.
“Saturday will be a good test against the boys, but I’m not scared of them.”
Noffke will make his way down to Sydney and stay out near the airport because he likes it. He tries hard “not to get ahead of himself” because that only leads to disappointment.
“It is like going to Townsville, if she wins I’ll be pretty excited,” Noffke said. “But this is different. It’s a Group 1.
“I have been to Randwick before, whereas I had never been to Flemington or Caulfield. What great places they are.
“But it was hard to celebrate.
“We had the trophy at Flemington, and I want to fill it with rum and coke, but I was only allowed to buy two at once.
“That was probably smart, because we might have got ourselves in trouble.
“We are going to a Randwick Guineas, that’s amazing.
“If she was to win. and I will celebrate like Townsville. I carried on a bit there.
“This is the big time, but when you have a horse like Sheza Alibi you have to enjoy it.”
