Harvey Norman boss Gerry Harvey had a day out at races on Easter Saturday, with two horses he owns winning at The Championships at Royal Randwick.
The Evergreen Turf Country Championships was won by Chidiac, with jockey Zac Purton riding to victory in the $1 million, 1400m race for owner Harvey and trainers Brett and Georgie Cavanough.
The day got even better for Harvey when Campione D’Italia, trained by Chris Waller, saluted in the Inglis Sires 1400m Group 1 in another $1 million race.
The 86-year-old dropped an F-bomb as he recalled how he bred the horse and sold the colt to the China Horse club and Newgate team for $500,000 at last year’s Magic Millions sale.
“He said what was the name of the horse? I told him, ‘Campione D’Italia’. He said, ‘F***, that was the horse I was (intelligible)’.”
Watch Gerry Harvey’s F-Bombs in the video above
Channel 7 reporter Emma Freedman reacted in shock at the F-Bomb, replying “Oh god!” before Harvey continued speaking.
Freedman gently tapped Harvey on the shoulder and “OK, you … so anyway” before continuing to chat to victorious jockey James McDonald, who was carrying his young daughter.
Harvey dropped another F-Bomb in a separate interview telling the story of how he kept a stake in Campione D’Italia, the horse he bred.
“He got passed in at the sales and I told Henry Field I want $600,000 and he said I’ll give you $500,000 and I said get lost,” Harvey recalled, mumbling an expletive.
“In the end I took it and luckily I kept 20 per cent for myself.
“One of the girls I’ve had working with me for 20 years said, ‘Can I have 10 per cent?’. “She’s never had a horse in her life, right. And she’s ended up with Campione D’Italia, champion of Italy. How he’s Campione de Randwick, champion of Randwick.”
McDonald, the most successful Group 1 jockey in Australian racing history, said: “He’s a sensational horse.
“He’s been a work in progress and Mr Harvey told me, make sure I keep my hands down, don’t want the horse throwing his head.”
“He’s beautifully bred and is a horse with a real future, I’m sure he’ll run the 1600 metres right out.”
“It’s great to see him put it together today, we’ve always had a big opinion of him. Chris and the team have done such a good job to keep him improving with each start.”
Last month The Australian’s business rich list reported Harvey was worth $3.97 billion, more than 40 years after co-founding retailer Harvey Norman.
