The cheers might have faded, but for trainer Jim Scobie, the glory of Zero to Ten’s 2015 Snake Gully Cup victory remains as vivid as ever.
The local horse delivered a massive upset on a rain-soaked track, a win that Scobie recalls as the culmination of a journey with a horse initially deemed too difficult for the racetrack.
Zero to Ten, a horse who banked nearly $200,000 and won nine races for Scobie, was a complete surprise package.
“He was given to us originally for showjumping purposes because he was a very difficult horse on the racetrack,” Scobie reminisced. “The previous owner and trainer decided they didn’t want to go on with him. They gave him to us, and I just poked along with him, and he won nine races.”
The 2015 Cup day was anything but straightforward. Zero to Ten had raced just two days prior in Sydney, and only gained a start in the Gundagai feature as an emergency due to heavy rain and a number of scratchings. Scobie admitted he was initially reluctant to start.
“I didn’t actually intend to start him,” he said. “When we got a few scratchings, I didn’t want to pay the scratching fee, so I started him.”
The wet conditions, however, proved to be the key to the chestnut’s success. “The conditions were to his liking at Snake Gully Cup because it was very wet, and he was just quite competent in the wet conditions and drew an inside gate,” Scobie explained.
The victory was also a landmark moment for his young jockey, Nick Heywood, who was an apprentice at the time. Scobie credits Heywood with securing his “first notable win for sure.”
The relationship between trainer and jockey was born out of the horse’s challenging temperament.
Scobie revealed that Zero to Ten was so difficult that “they used to hide under the benches in the jockeys’ room and go and hide in the showers” to avoid riding him. It was Heywood who showed courage and commitment.
“Nick Heywood was the one who put his hand up and he said, ‘I’ll ride him for you, Jim, no worries,’ and I never forget that,” Scobie shared.
“So when the time came and he was in a better race, Nicko was the first choice.” The victory was a rare local triumph. Scobie noted he and David Blundell are the only Gundagai-based trainers to have ever won the Snake Gully Cup. Zero to Ten was a long shot, paying 20/1on the track, though some lucky punters got 50-60/1.
“I think everyone had a couple of bucks on him because he was a local,” Scobie said. For the owners—Scobie’s wife and son—the $32,000 prize money was substantial. “It was a good payday, he got $32,000,” Scobie recalled. “For us, that was a lot of money.”
Scobie, however, didn’t share in the punter’s excitement, adhering to a personal philosophy. “I never had a bet,” he stated.”I’ve just learnt over the years that if you want to keep punting on your own horses, you probably just lose money, so I don’t punt anyway. And you don’t have to when you get the prize money.”
Scobie still has the trophy, a tangible reminder of the day when a reluctant show jumper, a determined young apprentice, and a soaked track came together for a true fairytale win.
– Tully Potts
Pictures: Jim with the Snake Gully Cup trophy and with Nick Heywood and Zero to Ten. Photos Supplied by Gundagai Adelong Race Club.
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