Run this Saturday at Randwick, the $4million Group I ATC Doncaster Mile (1600m) is the greatest mile event in the country and it takes a very special horse to win one and the victor in 2005 proved special in so many ways and is still going strong at age 24.
Trained by the late Guy Walter, Patezza was a big strong raw-boned son of Cox Plate winner Rubiton that retired with the impressive record of eight wins and 13 placings from 32 starts earning $1.7million in prizemoney in an era when winning a million dollars was not as easy to do.
His Doncaster win was the highlight of his racing career, but for Patezza there was a whole new world of adventure lying ahead.
After being retired from racing, Patezza joined the NSW Mounted Police Force and proved every bit as good in his new role.
At the 2013 Royal Sydney Easter Show, Patezza won the Haslett Trophy, the award presented to the top point-scorer in each of the police classes at the show.
He enjoyed a long and rewarding career with the Mounties and formed a great partnership with Senior Constable Jennifer Cobb, whose parents now care for Patezza in retirement on their South Coast farm near Milton.
“He's such a gentle giant, but has this fight in him to be the best. He was a very dominant horse and really just wants to give the best performance he can to make his rider proud,” Jennifer Cobb reflected.
It’s 10 years since Patezza starred at Sydney Royal and the pace of his life these days has slowed, but the transition to retirement for a warrior horse has taken a little getting used to.
“He retired 2015 from the Mounted Police due to his age and the high stress situations with which he was no longer coping, so in the best interest for his welfare, it was decided that it was the right time for him to be retired,” said Cobb.
“As his number 1 rider at the Mounted Police, I had the opportunity to request to take him into his retirement which was granted.”
Patezza is in good health and enjoying life as a paddock pony with several mates to keep him company.
“Being a horse that always had a purpose and was around humans nearly every day of his career, both racing and Mounted Police, I think he struggled at first to settle into retirement and it took a few good years for him to be content with his new life,” Cobb said.
“He's the boss in the paddock and tends to let the others know that, however, separate him too far from the others and he will whinny and run around trying to find them.”
