Tartan Warrior and Ali Berwick.

Image via Twitter: @RV_OffTheTrack

By James Tzaferis

He won three races and almost $50,000 in prizemoney during a 24-start racing career but it’s looking increasingly likely that Tartan Warrior’s destiny was never on the racetrack.

The flashy Show A Heart gelding (now known as Revelry RP) edged out a field of Victoria’s best show horses to land Saturday night’s Off the Track State Final at the Victorian Saddle Horse Championships in Bendigo.

Now in its sixth year, the Racing Victoria-led event is the culmination of more than 100 thoroughbred-only classes at Agricultural Shows across the state and is designed to showcase the talents of retired racehorses away from the track.

Fittingly, the eight-year-old was ridden to victory by Ali Berwick, one of the nation’s premier show horse riders who won the Garryowen in 2012 aboard ex-racehorse Xlerate.

It continued a spate of recent wins for Tartan Warrior, who was also the judges’ pick in the coveted Off the Track class at Equitana in November.

Bred by Basil Nolan's Raheen Stud in Queensland and trained by Brian Guy, Tartan Warrior won three races at Ipswich before being retired in mid-2015.

Bart Cummings' former stayer Precedence, now in the care of Fiona McIntyre, was also among the finalists in Saturday night's event.

This article first appeared on Racing.com and is reprinted here with their kind permission. To find out more about Racing Victoria's Off the Track program, visit rv.racing.com/the-horse/off-the-track.

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