Former galloper rolling out a supreme performance in post-racing life

Cover photo: Equinox Images

By Andrew Smith

He was far from ever winning a race on the track, but the thoroughbred now called “Pizza” has proven to be a supreme performer in retirement.

The former galloper had one trial and two race starts towards the end of 2024, finishing last and ninth in a pair of maiden handicaps at the Gold Coast and Ipswich.

Racing as “Supremeperformance,” he was transferred from the Trevor Lambourn stable to Chris and Corey Munce’s care, where he was retired in March.

It was there that the gelding caught the eye of Sally Rodwell, who works as an assistant foreman at the Munce team’s spelling and pre-training facility at Beaudesert.

Rodwell has been working for the Munces for just over a year, and instantly fell in love with the newcomer.

“I really absolutely loved his nature - he's just so quiet and easy to do anything with, and no matter where he was, he's just always the quietest horse around,” Rodwell said.

“Unfortunately, he is a bit slow and just didn't really show much, and he did have a little bit of an injury to his fetlocks, and it wasn’t worth pursuing with him.

“He was retired, and came straight home to me.” 

Rodwell works out of the Munce family’s Ballycapall Thoroughbred Spellers and Pre-Trainers in the Scenic Rim region.

She and the family currently have eight horses on their nearby home property, with the new addition thoroughly enjoying his time running around with the stock horses and quarter horses.

It is Rodwell’s step-daughter Tillie who has formed the closest bond with the former racehorse, and also the one responsible for the “Pizza” name becoming a permanent fixture.

“I used to call him Supreme Pizza at the track, and then it caught on with the track riders,” Rodwell explained.

“And then when I came home, I told Tillie ‘this is what we’ve been calling him’ and she said ‘well, that's his name now, it's always Pizza.’

“I gave him one ride off the track, and I thought this horse is way too slow so I gave him to Tillie and she's done everything with him since.

“She takes him to pony club, takes him mustering, takes him to campdrafts…she also took him hacking on the weekend and sporting - anything she wants to do, that horse just does.

“She trots him around and she stops and he just stands there…he never puts a foot wrong, he's definitely a one-in-a-million pony.

“People usually ask me if he's 25, and no-one believes me when I tell them how old he is.”

With just a combined 14 years of life between them, nine-year-old Tillie and five-year-old Pizza have already enjoyed success as a pairing around South East Queensland.

They recently competed at the Rathdowney Campdraft, placing 7th after making it around two pegs.

The pair then scored the Highest Scoring Under 14 Rider at the Rathdowney and District Pony Club Campdraft, taking the win in both of their runs, taking home the Highest Cut Out award and being crowned Overall Age Champion (8–10 years).

The recent Beaudesert Show also proved fruitful, with Tillie and Pizza taking home several ribbons across a range of hacking and sporting events.

Sally said the future was looking bright for the dynamic duo.

“We will look at just getting Tillie going and seeing where they go…at the moment, he's holding up quite well to what she's wanting to do, and we're hoping they'll have a very long future together,” Sally said.

“Whether he can keep up the pace with her as they go, we’ll see.

“But he's definitely showing that he'll stay with us forever, and then go between other kids when needed.”

Sally is also constantly sending photos of Pizza to the Munces to keep them updated on his progress.

She said the former galloper’s success story was a good example of how important the Queensland Off-The-Track (QOTT) Program is for retired racehorses.

“Going through the QOTT program, it’s only the first time I've done it with Supremeperformance,” Sally said.

“We've really enjoyed the lessons and all the goodies that come with it, and I think it's a really good initiative.

“I've gotten a couple of retired horses from people that go on to just be some of the best horses you have.

“I've just recently sold one up to the prison farm at Palen Creek here for the prisoners to go mustering on, and they absolutely love him.

“There's so many different careers that they can go into…I don't think people realise how versatile they are.”