Hunt The Magic Photo by Pacepix
There was no more deserving winner on Friday night at Gloucester Park than Hunt The Magic, with the five-year-old and her connections overcoming one of the most traumatic situations a horse owners could experience, almost losing her to colic in June 2024.
“For her to survive the surgery and because obviously a lot of horses don’t, to get her through that rehab and back into work was a relief, and the fact she has come back as good as she was, it’s mind blowing.
“And Ian’s (Gossage) the one to thank for it, he’s done all the work with her.
“She’s been racing so well but has had no luck at all.
“She deserved that win, with every she’s been through, pushed through and survived, she never chucks the towel in, in a race, she give 110% all the time.” Sharon Gossage said
Hunt The Magic was racing in fantastic form in 2024, after stringing together three consecutive wins in March and April, followed by a third placing in the $100,000 4YO Westbred Mares Classic, Sharon and Brock Gossage made the decision to give her four week freshen up before setting her for the second half of her 2024 racing season, a decision they soon came to regret.
“Luckily, we were picking her up originally on the Saturday and then we changed it to the Thursday as the farrier was coming on Friday.
“Brock went and picked her up and was absolutely devastated.
“He got her home and the vet came out and drenched her, and the next morning, she wasn’t rolling or thrashing but she wasn’t right, so the vet came out and drenched her again and none of the oil was coming through, so we rung the vets again at two o’clock and they said you need to take her to West Coast (Vets), they tried to stabilise her and get everything moving, but they rang me at half-past-five and said she needs surgery, she’s deteriorating.”
By 6.30pm she was on the operating table, with Dr Max Hall removing 6kgs of sand and grass roots from her intestines, not only a costly operation but one that comes with plenty of further complications, but luckily for the Gossage family, their beloved Frankie came through with flying colours and just over a year on, she is back in the winners circle, an amazing feat in itself.
“But obviously it’s the recovery that’s the next thing; Ian did her rehab.
“We had her at the vets for just over a week, and then Ian did the rehab on her, I just said to him I couldn’t do her, I think I had just had a litter of puppies at the time, and I had just done it with the mare and foal, it’s time consuming because they’re locked up and you’ve got to hand walk them three/four times a day, so he did all her rehab, hers went smooth sailing, we had to have something go right.”
The Gossage family has had more than their fair share of vet bills and stressful times with their horses, with Hunt The Magics dam Playin With Magic requiring an almost identical surgery seven months prior.
“We had just done it seven months earlier with her mum, and her intestines had tight itself in a knot around her spleen, apparently it’s common in mares that have just had foals.
“I’ve worked in a lot of studs, and I’ve never had it.
“But her mothers was a nightmare, she got an infection and $25,000 later she was fine.”
Hunt The Magic’s dam Playin With Magic is due to have her fourth foal this year, by Poster Boy.
The family is proving very handy so far, with Seaside Magic taking out the 3YO Pearl in May for trainer Aiden De Campo.
Hunt The Magic gets the chance to surpass $100,000 in prizemoney this week, with the five-year-old currently sitting just $1244 short.
Ashleigh Paikos
