Rugby league legend Billy Slater goes back to his horse racing Origins with Magic Millions bid

Almost 25 years after he was a track work rider for Waterhouse, rugby league legend and Queensland Maroons coach Slater part-owns impressive Chilli Filly which races at the Gold Coast on Saturday.

The Kris Lees-trained filly needs to win the Rising Stars 3YO and 4YO Fillies Class 4 Plate, in which she is the $5 favourite, to qualify for the $3m Gold Coast Magic Millions 3YO Guineas seven days later.

“Horse racing is something I have always had a passion for … I was 16 years old and I finished grade 11 and left school and I was living down in Sydney on my own and working for Gai,” Slater told Racenet.

“That was a real eye opener. To see the operation of high quality trainer like Gai, it probably helped me subconsciously when I went on to pursue an NRL career.

“I was about 70kg when I was 16, so I was never going to be a jockey.”

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Slater said there were parallels between footy and racing.

“The preparation that I put in going through the sales at the Magic Millions to find a filly like this one, and preparation of a footy side, are similar in some ways,” he said.

“One thing that is connected is the professionalism of both sports.

“And the excitement that you get when you sit down when you watch a rugby league game – it’s the same as sitting down and watching your horses race.”

Slater identified Chilli Filly as a yearling and when Lees snapped her up for $150,000 at the 2022 Gold Coast Yearling Sales, Slater rang him immediately and bought in.

Chilli Filly has won two of her three starts, most recently scoring at Randwick on Boxing Day, and is taking the entire Slater family, including Billy’s wife Nicole and the couple’s two kids, on the ride of their lives.

Slater owns a boutique horse breeding business and his family bonded with Chilli Filly from when she was a yearling.

“We have had this horse at home in our paddocks as a yearling and the kids loved her and we have a real connection to her,” Slater said.

“We watch her race and we see her mannerisms that we once saw in the paddock when we were feeding her and when we were taking her up to get shod, all those little things you do when you are looking after animals.”

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So can Chilli Filly deliver Slater his peak racing moment, scoring Saturday’s race and then winning the Guineas a week later where she is currently a $51 chance?

Slater’s hopes are high.

The Queensland State of Origin coach can perform miracles on the footy field but one thing he hasn’t been able to do is convince Lees, a proud Novocastrian and NSW Blues supporter, to switch to support the Maroons.

“When it comes to your allegiance to your state, we leave that alone,” Slater laughed.

“But Kris Lees is a great man with what he does with the horses and he learnt that from his late, great father Max.

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“Chilli Filly has taken us on a bit of a journey and she is in a nice race on the weekend. If she performs, she can get into the Guineas a week later.

“There has been times where we have had to give her a spell and she has had little setbacks here and there.

“But if it was always easy and success just came to everyone, well, it would be a bit boring.

“Eventually, she will be on our farm and hopefully we will be breeding some nice winners out of her in time to come.”

It shapes up as being a big seven days for Slater, given two yearlings he bred are also going under the hammer at Magic Millions next week.

A passionate racing man, Slater says he has the occasional wager but what he really enjoys is studying the breeding and form side of the game.

Chilli Filly has been a big mover in betting to win on Saturday, now $5 after being $11 in opening markets earlier this week.

“I have a bet here or there, but it would be nothing for me not to have a punt for three months,” Slater said.

“I can watch the races on Saturday and just research all the stallions and what the two-year-old winners are by.

“At the end of the day, I just love horses and racing has always been in my blood.

“One of the yearlings we have going through the sales ring next week, we actually foaled down as a family on our farm just over 12 months ago and it’s been a great journey for our family.”

Originally published as Rugby league legend Billy Slater goes back to his horse racing Origins with Magic Millions bid