The release of entries for the $5million 2027 Golden Slipper last week was a story that sparked huge audience interest and one reader was excited to find he was actually in that story and felt compelled to share his story.
Breednet has a really cool search page for Golden Slipper entries that includes Sale Mail making it possible to sort them by purchase price – listing the most expensive and least expensive.
When Matt Stadtmiller read that, he thought to himself… I’m going to be in this!
Earlier this year, Matt purchased a yearling filly by Capitalist through Inglis Digital May (late) for just $700.
He suspected she might be the cheapest horse entered for next year’s Golden Slipper and he thought right, so decided to reach out allowing us to put a face to the name of a man not afraid of a throw at the stumps.
Aged 41, Matt is a retired newspaper editor from the small country town of Harden, which has been in the racing news this season for producing Group I winner Headley Grange.
“I used to work in my own newspapers in the bush and my wife and staff still operate the business, but I can’t contribute the way I used to,” he revealed.
“I was diagnosed with Epilepsy several years ago and it’s genetic. I also have other neurological issues which can cause me problems and can deteriorate quality of life, but I’ve always loved horses and horse racing.
“My first ‘unofficial’ bet was on Subzero in the Cup and he obviously won in 92. The old saying goes…. There’s something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man. I learnt this early.”
Matt and his wife Nyssa have three children and with full time work no longer an option, they decided as a family to purchase some horses and chase the dream of breeding and raising racehorses on their farm.
“Over the last 18 months I have gone from two pet geldings to seven broodmares, six weanlings and two yearlings,” he said.
“I have mares in foal to Sandbar, D’Argento, Tiger of Malay and this year I’m sending mares to Zousain, Rebel Dane, Gold Trip and Akeed Mofeed.”
One of the two yearlings he now owns is the Capitalist filly from Enjaaz that he saw listed online and secured with a bid of $700.
“I’m a tragic for racing and breeding and spend all my time looking at online sales and learning all I can about racing and bloodstock,” said Matt, whose daily routine revolves around a familiar pattern.
“I cuddle my kids at night, feed all the horses and play dad to the weanlings and pregnant mares who all want a cuddle and then repeatedly getting on the Breednet website to read your stories and wait for the Sires with Winners list at the end of each day.”
The $700 Capitalist filly Matt purchased came with a big pedigree and has been bred and raised at one of the most successful farms in the Hunter Valley in Emirates Park, who bred and race the 2025 Golden Slipper winner Marhoona.
“It nearly cost me more money than I paid for her to load the kids and wife in the car with the float to go up there to Emirates Park and pick the filly up,” Matt quipped.
“When we got her home, I had our local vet come out to scope and x-ray her and he told me ‘You might have hit the jackpot here!’
“He could find nothing wrong with her. She is a good sized, well grown filly as you would expect coming from a farm like that.”
The filly is a half-sister to this season’s stakes-placed three year-old Cannae and is the fourth foal of unraced I Am Invincible mare Enjaaz, who was bought by Emirates Park from Inglis Easter as a yearling in 2018 for $750,000.
Retired to stud unraced after showing talent in three trials, Enjaaz is the first foal and only filly from Group I ATC Sires Produce Stakes winner Peggy Jean, who died prematurely after having just two foals.
“Jazzy (the $700 filly has a nickname!) is by a Golden Slipper winner and her grand dam Peggy Jean matured early enough to win the Sires Produce Stakes and finished up with over $900,000,” Matt said.
“We don’t know if she can gallop, but she has some breeding there and she is off to the breakers next week.
“She doesn’t know what we paid for her, it won’t change how hard she tries, and we won’t treat her any different than if she was an expensive horse.
“Prizemoney has gone up $100million in the last decade in NSW and we thought to ourselves why not have a crack.”
Jazzy will ultimately be heading to the stables of respected Canberra trainer Gratz Vella, who has been in the limelight this year with his star juvenile Music Time, who placed third in the Golden Slipper.
“He has trained for us before and did a great job with a horse that was average at best, but he got the most out of him,” Matt added.
“He is a gentleman and a master horseman.”
Golden Slipper dreaming is in part what makes the commercial bloodstock world go around and Matt and his family are living the dream with their $700 filly.
“We may look a little foolish, but as two local horseman said to me, ‘you’ve got a ticket, you’re a chance,” Matt concluded.
“We have some friends interested in taking a share, but there is plenty of her left. If anyone is interested, they can contact us.”
Capitalist is on track to be the leading sire of Australian winners this season with 165 winners and two weeks of the season to run.
Let’s hope Jazzy can add to his tally next season!
