Dean Shannon – Part Two – Racing

The New Zealand TAB has entered into partnership with Australian based Entain, one of the world’s largest wagering and igaming businesses.  

In this second part of the two part series (view part one here) Bruce Stewart talks to Entain CEO Dean Shannon about his love of the standardbred, ownership, getting punters involved in horse flesh and his star pacer Merlin (Art Major).  

Australian Dean Shannon has been buying standardbreds for over twenty five years. In Australia his horses are trained by Darrel Graham. 

“He’s a great guy and we’re good mates now. Over the years he’s been a great communicator and we’ve had some success,” he said. 

The best horse Shannon raced out of Graham stable was Lanercost (Courage Under Fire). 

He was bought at the 2008 New Zealand Ready to Run Sale. 

“I used to like going and buying out of those sales. Darrel would fly over and look at them on trial day so that he could see them misbehaving and not just view the 800 metre video. For us Lanacost was the standout. He wasn’t that quick, I think he only ran his 800 in a minute. It was just the way he did it. He was just a lovely moving horse. He only cost me $18,000.” 

Lanercost went on to win thirty of his forty five starts, including the Group One Australian Derby, the Tasmanian Derby and the 2011 Chariots of Fire. He won $509,121 in stakes. 

“I think he could have been anything if he didn’t have his issues with his epiglottis.”  

After his racing career finished, Lanercost was sent to stud and from seventy one foals he’s left thirty two starters for twenty two winners.  

Courageous Annie (Courage Under Fire) was another horse Shannon raced successfully in Australia. She won fifteen of her twenty seven starts including ten in a row. Her biggest win was in the 2011 $100,000 Group One NSW Oaks. 

Although most of Shannon’s horses now reside in New Zealand he still has five on the books in the Graham stable. 

Shannon has a strong analytical brain and loves to dig deep into a horse’s pedigree. He’s been coming to the New Zealand Yearling Sales for the last twenty five years armed with all that information. 

“Over the years I decided to learn a bit more about the horses, their muscle structures, conformation and all the biomechanics and that type of thing.” 

He says it became a hobby and he likes to pick out his own yearlings and shortlist them. 

He’s struck up a strong working relationship in recent years with Clevedon trainers Barry Purdon and Scott Phelan. 

“Six or seven years ago I met Barry and Katrina (Purdon) – funnily enough in Australia. I was with Darrel and I met them at a Sydney hotel, really enjoyed meeting them. The following year I thought I might race some horses in New Zealand, and I spoke to Barry about it.”  

That year Shannon bought four yearlings and entrusted them to Purdon and Phelan. 

“Fortunately that year we got Belle of Montana (Bettor’s Delight) and Star Of Montana (Art Major) so it was a pretty good year to kick off the relationship.” 

Belle Of Montana won six Group One races –  The Victoria Oaks, Ladyship Cup, Three Year Old Fillies Championship, Nevele R Fillies Final, Three Year Old Diamond and Queen of Hearts. 

Shannon has been to the New Zealand Sales ever since and says the selection formula works. 

“Barry and Scottie have to like them, so it’s really a team effort. It’s hard to work out what’s inside so you want to tick as many boxes as you can, and heart rate is just one. I think it comes down to attitude and whether they want to learn and be with you or not, especially with young horses.” 

Although he’s bought colts and fillies, nowadays he mainly buys colts. 

“I buy colts at the yearling sales and some fillies at the weanling sales. It shows my hand a bit that my preference is colts.” 

He says he has dabbled in breeding but now he prefers to buy. 

“I’d rather have a choice than get what you’re given (laughter).” 

Over the years Shannon has spent good money on what he likes. His highest priced yearling was General Montana (Bettor’s Delight) which he paid $190,000 for in 2019. 

Up until recently most of his horses have had Montana in the name. 

The name originated from a 100 acre property Shannon owned in Queensland. 

“I’ve dropped the name now. I’m just moving onto themes each year. The current set of two year olds will be named after 70s and 80s rock bands. I’ve got horses called Cold Chisel, Supertramp, Kiss and INXS.” 

Shannon currently has fifteen horses on the books with Purdon and Phelan and undoubtedly the star is Merlin (Art Major). 

“He’s a real dude. A lovely horse. He had great conformation and Barry and Scottie liked him as well. I think he was the most expensive Art Major sold that year, but he’s been worth the investment.” 

Merlin was bred by Southlanders Todd and Fleur Anderson. 

“Todd does an amazing job and I really like his business model. He concentrates on the high end part of the market.” 

He also tried to buy Merlin’s half-brother Magician (Captaintreacherous). 

“He was a lovely horse. Cran Dalgety bought him, and I was the underbidder. It was a tough year to buy horses and it pushed a few people to later in the sale.” 

Over the years Shannon has been a keen investor in the stock of Art Major. 

“I’m back in love with them. I’ve got a two year old called Dragon. He was in the APG series but suffered a small niggly problem and didn’t make the final. But I think he’s going to be a really nice horse.”  

At the 2022 Sales Shannon bought a Bettor’s Delight – Opulent colt for $130,000. It’s named In Excess and has been placed twice in three starts as a two year old.  

He also purchased an Always B Miki – Shezaball colt for $100,000 and named it Cold Chisel. He’s won twice in three starts at two. 

His 2023 purchases were an Art Major – Agree to Me colt (named Warnie) which he bought for $160,000 and a Captaintreacherous – Hot Off The Press colt for which he paid $65,000. 

“I’m ashamed to say I’m going to change the name. What I liked about him was he was by Art Major out of a Bettor’s Delight mare from the Scuse Me family so it’s the same (cross) as Merlin. He was a lovely horse and we really liked him. He’s broken in quite well.” 

Shannon says the Captaintreacherous colt has also broken in well. 

“He had nice conformation and was quite relaxed at the sale. He had a nice heart rate. I like the Captaintreacherous’s, they’re starting to do a really good job now. I thought he was a bit cheap. I thought I may have missed something.”   

Shannon was also active at the recently held Weanling Sales, buying a Lazarus – Le Soiree filly for $15,000 an Art Major – Alta Valencia filly for $32,000 and a Lazarus – Thirsty Thursday filly for $21,000. 

He says he likes what he sees with the Lazarus fillies. 

“They’re both really nice horses from good families. Both were from Alabar, and they do a great job each year. I bought a couple of Always B Miki’s off them a couple of years ago and they both went on a do a good job for me. “ 

Another weanling he purchased privately was a Captaintreacherous – Splendid Me filly called Youretheonethatiwant.  

“I bought her off Graeme Walsh as a weanling and I went out to Laura Smith’s place late last year to have a look at her. She happened to be in the same paddock as Merlin’s half-sister, so I thought that was pretty cool. Laura does a great job, and you know when you buy from her the horses will have a great attitude and have been well brought up and always well prepared, that’s for sure.” 

This year Dean ventured into new territory, buying his first trotter – paying $50,000 for a Father Patrick colt out of Parisian Chic, a Love You mare that won eight races and ran second to High Gait (Muscle Yankee) in the Breeders Crown for Two Year Old Trotting Fillies. 

“I’ve never been a great trotting man because as a young punter I always found the one that galloped. He’ll be trained by Jess Tubbs and Greg Sugars.”  

Shannon is still buying yearlings in Australia, because he enjoys racing horses with Darrel Graham. 

“At the moment I do have a few more horses in New Zealand but I’m buying a few horses in Australia for the Ladbrokes Racing Club.” 

He says he’ll continue to purchase in New Zealand in the foreseeable future. 

“Absolutely. It’s my hobby and I love it. I love going to the sales every year. I spend a lot of time researching all the families and going deep in terms of all the crosses. It’s a good release for me. As far as New Zealand goes, we’ll be upping the spend there for the TAB Racing Club which we’ll launch early next year.” 

In keeping with his 70s and 80s naming formula, Shannon has plenty to look forward to on his racing playlist, with Kiss (Always B Miki) having won once in two starts and Bangles (Always B Miki) and Supertramp (Vincent) in the mix.  

Dean is married to Kelly and the couple have three children Ben, Adam and Stevie. 

Kelly likes dressage and natural horsemanship while Stevie loves showjumping and has created a business around it. 

“At our place we’ve got a dressage arena and a show jumping arena. You would think they would like the same thing (laughter). They’re very passionate and are absolute horse lovers. We’ve got twenty five acres on the Gold Coast which has a dozen horses on the property at any one time. 

He says Stevie has rehomed standardbreds.  

“She’s had a few over the years that she’s retrained into showjumpers. They really take to it well because they have a great nature. 

Dean Shannon’s life is surrounded by horses and he wouldn’t have it any other way. He says he wants to have as many conversations as possible prior to the Entain launch next year, so he’ll be travelling around a bit when he’s here, talking horses, casting an eye over young potential racing stock and getting a feel for the sport in this country. 

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink