The punter's horse with 15,000 connections set for Canberra debut
It's the Canberra horse with 15,000 connections that bombed on debut, but Four Beers Please is back with a vengeance and returns at Thoroughbred Park on Friday.
Sportsbet employed ACT mother-son training duo Barb Joseph and Paul Jones to purchase the $20,000 filly at the Australian Weanling sales in 2016.
The bookmaker invited their customers to sign up as connections of Four Beer Please for free and anticipated "a few thousand punters" but 15,000 put their name down.
The connections don't get collect winnings but are are updated with training notes as well as free entry and beers wherever the two-year-old races.
Four Beers Please sensationally flopped on debut as a $4 second-favourite at Wagga and finished 16 lengths last behind Canberra's Golden Slipper filly Sizzling Belle.
But Jones revealed a torn quad muscle was to blame for the lacklustre performance and backed her as a genuine each-way chance in the capital.
There will be at least 15,000 eyeballs watching race five (1280 metres) and 100 connections will be trackside enjoying a three-hour bar tab.
One of the connections, Mike Jamieson, was in Wagga for her debut and despite the deflating defeat, he's confident Four Beers Please can strike back in Canberra.
"Signing up is one of the best things I've done," Jamieson said.
"We just saw it on facebook, a mate tagged me in it and here we are. It's a bit like owning a horse, not exactly the same but we get a lot of the good parts, we feel like actual owners.
"I went to Wagga with a few mates and they got us a few beers and into the members, it was quite nice and a lot of fun.
"It was disappointing she finished last but we were so excited to be there it didn't matter. If she wins this time I'll be pretty envious of the boys in Canberra.
"Absolutely I'll be backing her, I think she's an each-way chance."
The feel-good story comes at a time when Canberra Racing Club is doing it tough, as the future of ACT trainers remains unclear.
There are real concerns at the club in the wake of Racing NSW banning Canberra from $75,000 Highway Handicaps and the inaugural $1.3 million Kosciuszko - races for country horses.
Jones said it will be nice to have a bit of fun with Four Beers Please during the tough time, but admits there's also a lot of expectations with so many connections.
"It's definitely something different but there's a lot of pressure, people are pretty ruthless on social media," Jones said.
"It was a bit of shame that some were negative towards the horse last time. It's a two-year-old taking on older horses, people have to remember that.
"Her first jump out she was a bit nervous in the gates but she overcame that to run a nice second. She's probably a 1400m or miler, so this is a bit of stepping stone to go out in distance."
Jones has five runners in Canberra on Friday and rates Embezzlement in the $50,000 Federal his best chance.
"She was extremely unlucky second-up for us, should have won that but one positive was she stayed in the benchmark and has kept a half-decent weight for the Federal," Jones said.
"Drawn good gate, she'll sit three lengths off the speed and will be very hard to beat."
Meanwhile, the Canberra club will host a charity lunch for jockeys remembrance day on Friday, where they'll honour hoops Kathy O'Hara and Kayla Nisbet.