Racehorse owners can spend a lifetime trying to get a good one, but Queensland truckie Cliff Beckmann has won horse lotto at his first attempt.
Beckmann was waking up in cold sweats a couple of years ago as he tried to convince himself it was a good idea to fork out $1990 for a five percent share in the syndication of a tiny filly named Yankee Rose.
Fast forward to 2017 and Beckmann is the toast of his home town of Mackay, with the David Vandyke-trained Yankee Rose winning two Group Is and banking more than $2 million in prizemoney.
The 35-year-old is literally living the dream with the four-year-old mare, who will resume in Saturday's Group I Memsie Stakes (1400m) as she heads towards her Spring goal of either the Cox Plate or the Caulfield Cup.
"I've literally got goose bumps talking to you about this," Beckmann said.
"Most people think you need to spend $400,000 or something to have a Group I horse and there were plenty of people who thought I was wasting $2000 on Yankee Rose.
"I remember the day I convinced myself to fork out the cash – it was February 28, the day before my birthday.
"I rang up Darby Racing and bought her as a birthday present to myself.
"She has taken me on such an adventure and I've won a good bit of money along the way."
Racenet spoke to Beckmann as he was preparing for another shift as a truck driver, running diesel fuel from Mackay to the mines in the north Queensland region.
Life will be very different in a couple of weeks when he flies his young family to Melbourne for Yankee Rose's second start of this campaign, in the $750,000 Maykbe Diva Stakes at Flemington.
Beckmann has no doubt the mare will win more Group Is and he cites a personal preference for another crack at the Cox Plate.
Yankee Rose may have won two Group Is but it was her third in last year's Cox Plate, behind superstars Winx and Hartnell, which was arguably the most impressive.
"It makes me laugh that Yankee Rose has won $2 million from nine starts and a lot of people still don't rate her," Beckmann said.
"Everyone wrote her off initially because she was such a little horse, no-one thought she would be strong enough to compete at the highest level.
"She finished strong in last year's Cox Plate and I think if she didn't get checked at the 600m mark, she would have beaten Hartnell home and run second."
Vandyke, who was impressed with Yankee Rose's gallop at Caulfield on Tuesday, says it isn't only Beckmann who is living the dream with Yankee Rose.
The mare has a group of eclectic owners including a bushie from the Northern Territory, whose closest neighbours are 100km away, and a nursing home manager from Perth.
"We need to have fairy tale stories like this in racing because we all dream of turning next to nothing into something," Vandyke said.
"Yankee Rose was bought for just $10,000 initially and because she wasn't expensive, it encouraged people from different walks of life to be in her.
"I have no problem when Godolphin and other big owners win big races, that is fine because they invest a lot of money into racing and they deserve it.
"But it would be pretty boring if the highest-priced horses won all the big races.
"As for Yankee Rose, we have thrown in nominations for the Cox Plate and the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups and we won't miss a beat whatever we prepare her for.
"We have also had her vaccinated for a trip to Hong Kong just in case that is a possibility down the track.
"Right now though, and I know it's a cliché, it is just one step at a time with her."
As for Beckmann and his wife Fallon, the racing bug has well and truly bitten and the Yankee Rose experience has convinced them to part with some more hard-earned for another couple of racehorses.
Yankee Rose will always be the pride and joy and Beckmann has a simple wish for the mare's Spring carnival campaign.
"I've never seen her win live, I've only ever seen her win on TV," he says.
"I'd just love to be there on track and have a big celebration when she wins."
Yankee Rose hasn't raced since finishing 14th in last November's VRC Oaks and a bone chip was discovered in her knee following her flop as the $1.95 favourite.
She had surgery to remove the chip and has had two trials in Queensland in the last six weeks before arriving in Melbourne.
