The Gold Coast SUNS will be hoping some of key corporate sponsor Luke Henderson’s Spring Racing Carnival success rubs off during the club’s inaugural AFL season.
Henderson, who co-owns successful Gold Coast real estate agency and GC SUNS Corporate Partner The Professionals – Mermaid Beach with his brother, Andrew, also co-owns a 40% stake in Gai Waterhouse-trained gelding Descarado with his father, John, and older brother, David.
Descarado won the $2.5 million Caulfield Cup last week.
The stunning come-from-behind victory earned Descarado a start in next Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup.
Henderson said the win was entirely unexpected.
“It was pretty amazing,” said Henderson. “He was in the mix on the way home and we thought ‘this is pretty exciting to see our horse having a go’ and then about 400 out he hit the front and we were getting pretty excited. It wasn’t until about 50 metres from the end that I actually thought ‘geez, we’re going to win this!’”
He said the lead up to the Melbourne Cup promises to be intense.
“He’ll run in the MacKinnon Stakes on Saturday. We’ve got the barrier draw on the Saturday night. Next morning there’s the traditional mass when the priest blesses the Caulfield Cup, then we’ve got some social engagements with Gai and the stable and a few other things. Then there’s the parade on Monday. Before we know it we’ll be lining up in the big one.”
Henderson remains quietly confident about Descardo’s prospects in the ‘race that stops the nation’.
“Get on him each way I reckon,” he said. “He’s a sniff.”
His family is no stranger to horse racing. His grandfather trained horses in the bush and his uncle was a local trainer here on the Coast for many years.
Henderson said he developed an interest in AFL watching the Brisbane Lions as a member of the Gabba Trust. He said his corporate commitment to the GC SUNS is built upon a desire to see the city in which he was raised rewarded with the recognition it deserves. The emergence of the city’s own club, he said, represents a fantastic opportunity for the region.
“You’ve got to get behind your local area. I was a big fan of the Gold Coast Chargers in the rugby league all those years ago. But the city couldn’t sustain them back then. It simply wasn’t big enough. Nowadays, though, we’re a lot bigger and as a community - and more particularly as a business community - we have the chance to put our weight behind a great local initiative. I’m a big believer in that. You simply have to be involved.”
