US-based owners Rigney Racing dive into $1.2 million Vinnie filly

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Vodka flavouring entrepreneur swaps the Reef for the ring in making a splash at Magic Millions 

‘I know nothing about Australian racing’ might not be the customary response after expending $1.2 million on a horse at the Magic Millions yearling sale. But then there’s nothing customary about Richard Rigney. 

A trip which started as a scuba diving holiday yesterday resulted in the maverick US-based breeder and racehorse owner turning heads in the Gold Coast auditorium when going to the eye-watering figure on a filly by I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) and first foal out of a half-sister to champion Singapore racehorse Super One (I Am Invincible). 

But for what Rigney may lack in knowledge of some of his lavish endeavours, he makes up for with a brazen confidence and audacious approach that, more often than not, sees him handsomely rewarded. Even when it doesn’t work out, he’s enjoyed the experience. 

In 2014, having never handled a chip before, Rigney entered the Main Event of the World Series of Poker – a US$10,000 per seat contest held in Las Vegas. 

Amassing a healthy haul of chips, at one stage Rigney was ranked 86th in a tournament which began with more than 6,500 players, before things went awry in a US$300,000 all-in showdown against a somewhat discombobulated pro poker player Jack Schanbacher. 

When asked if his prized filly will stay in Australia, Rigney turns to his left where he is flanked by renowned bloodstock agent John Moynihan.

“Hey, John, who’s our trainer again?”

“Peter Snowden,” replied Moynihan. 

“Can you tell I don’t know too much about it? I mean, I trust this guy.”

The presence in Queensland of Rigney, who in 1987 founded vodka flavouring business Clarendon Flavors Engineering – creators of the Fireball shot – was first and foremost a holiday for he and his family off the coast of luxury resort paradise, Lizard Island. But in liaison with Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch, teed up an impulsive visit south to the Gold Coast, where a casual drop in has turned into a head-first dive to significant investment.

“We were coming out to Australia to go scuba diving with our 13-year-old daughter at Lizard Island. So, we were like ‘hey, we’re going to stop by with John [Moynihan] and see what we like here,” Rigney said. 

“I thought, ‘why not? Let’s do it’. I heard it was fabulous [at Magic Millions] and it was even better than I expected.”

Rigney, along with his wife Tammy, who signed for the filly, have around 60 horses in their Rigney Racing operation, all handled by their private trainer Phil Bauer, sat to his right, with whom they joined forces around nine years ago.

“We race horses, we breed horses, we’ve been in horses. I used to be in partnerships and one of the assistant trainers of a partnership was Phil Bauer and I was like ‘hey, why don’t we go and do this on our own together’, so we ventured out about nine years ago,” Rigney said. 

Although finding success in partnerships, the Rigneys’ own racing venture got off to an inauspicious start, with just 14 winners in their first four years in operation, before their luck turned with the appointment of Moynihan, who acts as the bloodstock agent to Stonestreet, to oversee their purchases. In September last year, the Rigneys landed their first Graded victory at Churchill Downs and two months later their red silks with three white hearts had a runner in the Breeders’ Plate Juvenile Fillies Turf (Gr 1, 8f). 

However, Rigney’s smash and grab on the Gold Coast is unlikely to be a splash and dash in Australia. The owner has plans to return to Magic Millions next year, desirably in an ownership capacity but, failing that, more purchases appear likely to be on the agenda. 

“I love it here, we’re having such a good time. It was just an experience that we wanted to do and we have plans to come back next year,” Rigney said. 

“She looks extremely quick, we think she’s going to be an early runner and we hope to come back for the Magic Millions.”

Moynihan, who selected the Glenlogan Park-consigned filly, catalogued as Lot 448, credited the strong levels of Australian prize-money for the ultimate factor that peaked the Rigneys’ interest in racing Down Under. 

“The purse money and just the atmosphere. These two-year-olds, they run for so much money and Richard and Tammy have a big racing stable in the States and they just thought it would be great fun,” he said. 

“They have had a great experience down here and they thought it would be something they could come back to in different years.”