Latest News

By Ray Hickson

They know a thing or two about winning The Kosciuszko in Grafton!

The northern rivers town is home to Belflyer, the inaugural winner of the now $2 million race for country horses on TAB Everest Day. It’s also home to 2025 slot winners Graeme Green, John Falconer and Damien Kratz.

Kosciuszko winner Clear Thinking may reside in Scone but as far as the trio are concerned the royally bred mare is a hometown hero.

Green is no stranger to the racing community in Grafton, he’s been chairman of the Clarence River Jockey Club for a decade and on the board for 25 years.

Kosciuszko slot winners John Falconer, Damien Kratz and Graeme Green (Pic: Bradley Photos).

Belflyer’s Kosciuszko trophy from 2018 resides at the race club and he says the race is one of the great innovations for country racing in years.

“We thought Belflyer’s win was terrific, it put a bit more attention onto Grafton and put us in the headlines for a while,’’ Green said.

“Grafton is such a racing town and it was good for John Shelton, our number one trainer, it was great to see him win it.

“We always thought The Kosciuszko was a great concept and it’s been proven.

“It’s one of the key things Racing NSW does for the country and it’s big for us.

“It gives country people and country horses a big opportunity on the main day and Everest Day has developed into one of the biggest days on the calendar.”

A total of $600, $200 each, went into Kosciuszko tickets and there was an element of disbelief from Falconer and Kratz when it became known they were one of the 14 slot winners.

They are regulars at Grafton’s Jacaranda Hotel and involved in the fishing club, they’re good mates and often meet for a drink. John Falconer is retired while Damien Kratz owns the Abbey Motel in the town.

“We’ve been supporting it by buying tickets every year, we didn’t have any luck but fortunately this year we did,’’ Green said.

“It’s like any raffle, you’ve got to take a ticket and hope your number comes out. The boys said ‘you’re joking’ when I called to say we’d won.”

The three men weren’t the only slot winners from Grafton. Local trainer Greg Howells also won a slot and he beat them to the punch in selecting the club’s Ramornie Handicap runner-up Compelling Truth for the race.

Their next choice was Clear Thinking. The mare bred by the late Queen Elizabeth II.

Despite his years of experience in racing, Green had never spoken to Paul Messara, Clear Thinking’s co-trainer, and their first conversation was an easy one.

“Damien was away somewhere at the time, John and I sat down and had a look at the horses,” he said.

“Compelling Truth had been taken and we had a look at the form of Clear Thinking. Damien was away in the scrub somewhere and he was happy with her.

“I rang Paul and he was fantastic, I’d never spoken to him before but I told him who I was and we’d drawn a slot.

“He said ‘you’re the first to call me and as far as we’re concerned you can put the horse in your slot’.

“We agreed, the negotiation side of it was easy. The other boys were happy. She had great form for a race like that and we thought she was the type that could win it.”

She certainly did win it.

A while before they headed to Randwick and took in everything that comes with being a slot winner – including being the ones to pick the winning horse – they were treated to a visit to Clear Thinking’s home at Arrowfield Stud in Scone.

They spent some time with Paul Messara and his wife Alice, and co-trainer Leah Gavranich, and had the grand tour. It made them feel like part of the journey.

Clear Thinking wins The Kosciuszko (Pic: Bradley Photos).

“We drove down and stayed a night, Paul showed us around the stud and he treated us like family,’’ Green said.

“We had a lovely lunch and got to know each other and it went on from there.

“We did it for the fun. Even if you run last there’s still a bit there to cover your exes.”

As Green, Falconer and Kratz found out there really isn’t an experience like being there on TAB Everest Day with it’s 50,000 plus crowd and winning a race.

While they were ultimately the beneficiary of the larger end of the prize Green said that was a bonus, a lucrative one but one that they didn’t go there expecting despite the mare ultimately starting favourite.

It wasn’t an easy watch, Clear Thinking does get back in her races and it took a perfect Tyler Schiller ride to navigate through the field and into the winner’s stall.

For Schiller it was a third Kosciuszko win, following 2022 and 2023 wins on Front Page, while for Messara and Gavranich it was a first and completed the big country double following Know Thyself’s Country Championships win in the autumn.

And for the three men from Grafton it’s something they’ll never forget.

“It was so exciting. We couldn’t get over it,’’ he said.

“Having the experience of the media was very good, everyone was polite and congratulating us.

“It is a once in a lifetime thing, we’re only average Joe’s.

“Some people have Group horses through ownership and have experienced that but there’s nothing like putting $200 in and getting a good dividend out of it.”

*This article originally appeared in the November 2025 edition of the Racing NSW magazine

Racing NSW - your home of live racing, form, tips and the latest news.