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Ahead of the fifth Everest, Everest Diaries speaks to the era-defining owner and Everest’s founding slot holder, Max Whitby about their 2021 contender – Masked Crusader, the rationale that shaped his decision to buy his Everest slot, and his dramatic career choices that made him one of Australia’s colorful racing identities.
Q: Please tell us more about your Everest contender, Masked Crusader.
A: We are very impressed with him. We are very happy with him and we're very optimistic that we've got a very good Everest horse.
Q: What has the Everest experience been like for you? When you started off, you supported the Everest concept because of a regional rivalry. But overall, it's evolved, the concept has evolved, slot holder ship has evolved. How do you feel about how The Everest has evolved?
A: I think there was a perception of what a challenge it was to take on Victoria, there is no doubt about that.
But we have moved on since then and New South Wales Racing under the leadership of Peter V’landys has gone from strength to strength. So New South Wales is just moving aggressively away from the rest of the country without being too biased to making that statement. But we are all in this together. It's been a great experience.
I have no regrets at all for being very early in the game. I can't believe it's already been five years and now, most importantly, with COVID, I hope we can be there live for the race.
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Q: How did you come together with Neil Werrett to purchase the slot?
A: Well, originally, I wanted to do it by myself and Neil and I were racing together and we started to talk about it and he was very happy to get involved. He then introduced me to one of his other partners from Black Caviar who also wanted to be involved. At one point, I was also going to do another deal with another slot holder but that did not proceed.
I must emphasize that when the 12 original slot owners had a foundation debrief with Peter V’landys after the first year to see exactly where the concept would go in the future, he showed great leadership by saying as all the original slot holders showed a strong sense of loyalty by supporting the event when the Slots come up for negotiation, the original slot holders would be given first priority.
This is the fifth year of the original slot holders’ tenure but even if they open it up to the world, we will be given first priority.
Q: Could you tell us more about your conceptualisation of the Mi-Runners concept, which has brought thousands of new owners into the industry? How is Mi-Runners doing today?
A: My business partner Steve Brown, his stud manager Mick Malone and I were brainstorming one evening. We looked at a lot of different concepts. But we kept going back to our original concept, and that is, being in the horse breeding business. we are aware that as a community we need to find more ways to get more participants. I am a very strong advocate for the strength of owners and I believe owners need a quality syndicator.
Despite having access to homebreds from Kitchwin Hills, we went out into the open market as a buyer to maintain the integrity of the syndicate.
Consequently, today we have something in the order of 7,500 owners who don’t pay much and they part-own some great horses in the Southern Hemisphere trained by some of the best trainers in the world.
We ensure great communications with our owners. So they remain informed every step of the way. Sometimes we can have 50 - 60 people at barrier trials.
Q: Please tell us about your favourite racehorse and stallion, of all time.
A: Savabeel of course. I raced Savabeel. We sold him after his racing career, but I bought shares in him. Today he is my principal stallion in New Zealand. He is also the leading sire in New Zealand, for the ninth year. He is an unbelievable success story; he has thrown over 100 group winners and he has been phenomenal. I am so proud of him.
Q: In a previous interview, you called Bernie Houghton, a ‘collector of lost souls' and said yours was one of them, especially in the early years. Has anyone inspired or influenced you in your later years?
A: Not really. I'm a self-starter. Bernie, kept me on the straight and narrow in the early days. There are a lot of great people out there, from politicians to sports personalities but I can’t love everyone. I do wish everyone could have had the luck that I've had in my work life. He was the first and best parental influence in my life.
Q: What fascinated you about the futures market all those years ago? Why did you get into stockbroking?
A: I stumbled into it. As a young man, I owned a number of leading restaurants and nightclubs in Sydney. I had a maître d' who liked to trade out of London. He left me to go to Victoria to set up a bullion company. He always wanted me to join him and then something happened in my life and I moved to Victoria. At the time, I said to my girlfriend, “Jennifer, we're moving to Melbourne”. She said “We have to get married, we can’t go unless we are married.” So, we got married and moved to Melbourne. Next thing I know I was in the bullion business and six months later that company bought a membership at the Sydney Futures Exchange. So, the first product of the futures exchange was cattle. The guys at the Exchange did not have a clue about farming or cattle. So, with my country background, I turned out to be a very wise man at a fairly young age.
We just went from strength to strength. Before his passing, Bernie made me the chairman of his estate. I used to keep my head on both the catering side of things and the trading side. I’ve been in catering for over 50 years and in trading for over 45 years. I’ve kept my eye on everything.
Q: What book are you reading? Or what movie have you enjoyed watching recently?
A: Oh, goodness gracious. I love reading rugby league biographies and recently I’ve enjoyed watching La La Land. It was very romantic, had great music and had a wonderful storyline.