International racing journalist Andrew Hawkins’ imagination was captured by two things as a child, thoroughbred racing and the Canberra Raiders, and on Saturday he was able to combine his two loves.
As a teenager, with the hope of one day racing his own horse, Hawkins designed a set of silks based on the colours of his three-time NRL Premiership-winning Canberra Raiders, and on Saturday he realised that dream when watching Bona Sforza carry those silks to victory in the Listed Welcome Stakes (1000m) at Riccarton Park in Christchurch.
It was just the third time his silks had been seen on raceday, and Hawkins was pleasantly surprised that their first success was in a stakes race.
“I was born in Canberra and I have been a Canberra Raiders fan my entire life,” Hawkins said. “When I was 15 or 16 I designed these set of colours. It was one of those things where I was trying to manifest that one day I would hopefully have these colours.
“Fast-forward to three or four years ago and I was going to get a set made and I decided to use what I had designed as a teen and bring that to life.
“The colours have only been put on once before on a horse, who was a Karaka graduate we had called Tavirotti. She was a Tavistock filly and had two starts and was unplaced in both starts.
“They ended up on her (Bona Sforza) and the third time they have been at the races it’s a stakes winner.”
While pleased to see his colours to the fore at Riccarton, Hawkins was just as enthused for trainer Samantha Finnegan, who marked her first win with Saturday’s result.
Hawkins has become close with Finnegan and her Group One-winning trainer husband Francis over the last few years, with their friendship having initially been formed over social media, and Bona Sforza is their first foray into ownership together.
Purchased by Samantha Finnegan out of Highline Thoroughbreds’ 2024 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft for $150,000, Hawkins was offered a share in the filly, and he is delighted he took the Finnegans up on their offer.
“I had followed Francis Finnegan for a while and it is one of these social media things (how the association came about),” Hawkins said. “The amazing thing about social media is that you get to connect with all sorts of people, and I connected with him and Samantha a few years back and we would just talk racing.
“They obviously went to Ireland and came back, and he got in contact saying he had bought this lovely filly at Karaka. A couple of judges that I really respect in Byron Rogers and Tom Wilson had cast their eye over her and said they really liked her.
“He said he had a percentage that he couldn’t move, and would I be interested and I can put my colours on. I was umming and ahing and in the end I thought, ‘why not?’ I wanted to support Samantha starting out again in New Zealand.”
New Zealand has become a sentimental place for Hawkins, who has strong family ties with the island nation, and it is also the place he had his first taste of success as an owner.
“I am Australian born and bred, but my Dad is a Kiwi and I have got a big, extended family in New Zealand,” Hawkins said.
“My first winner that was in my name was at Rotorua back in 2012, who raced in Lib Petagna’s colours, but myself and a group of friends had 50 percent.
“Now I have had my first ever stakes winner in my colours over there as well, so maybe I need to keep to New Zealand.”
Hawkins was unable to be trackside at Riccarton on Saturday to witness Bona Sforza’s win as he was just returning from covering the Dubai World Cup meeting, but he said he may head across the Tasman to watch her compete at Riccarton over the New Zealand Cup carnival in November.
“She is going to have a bit of a break now and then I think the plan is to try and head towards the Gold Trail (Gr.3, 1200m) and long-term they want to get to the New Zealand 1000 Guineas (Gr.1, 1600m),” Hawkins said. “Whether she can get a mile is another thing, on pedigree you would probably say it’s a bit questionable, but the way she extended the other day it was great to see.
“I have never been to Cup Week in Christchurch, so I might have to start making plans to head over.”
To add the cherry on top of a stellar Saturday for Hawkins, his beloved Raiders dominated the Parramatta Eels in Darwin later in the day in their round six meeting, beating them 50-6.