find a horse<\/a>. He said he had $60,000 to spend and the name Jumal ready to go. <\/p>\n![\"Malcolm]()
Malcolm Wrigley with Jumal’s trainer, Steve Reid and horse selector Bella Storer, who has a 20% share in Jumal. <\/p>\n
A few days later, Reid rang back. His partner Bella Storer had found the horse, which was $35,000 over budget. <\/p>\n
Wrigley bought it anyway \u2013 and hadn\u2019t factored in the GST. <\/p>\n
By the time the paperwork was done, Jumal cost him $110,000. <\/p>\n
Jumal is a pacer, bred for speed and harness racing. <\/p>\n
He was sired by Downbytheseaside and bred by Dave and Dawn Kennedy of Beaudiene Breeding in Otautau, Southland. <\/p>\n
![\"The]()
The late Judith and Malcolm Wrigley were married for 49 years. Malcolm’s winning horse Jumal’s name is a blend of their names. <\/p>\n
Storer, who is Reid\u2019s partner and a horse selector, told the Herald she had a great feeling about Jumal from the start. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a budget and prioritised our top picks. With horses, you can be so wrong. Colts can be full of testosterone and a bit full-on. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut Jumal was different. Cool, calm and collected. That stuck with me. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Steve and I saw him at the first inspection, we fell in love with him,\u201d Storer said. <\/p>\n
![\"Bella]()
Bella Storer owns a 20% stake in Jumal. She is pictured with her partner Steve Reid, a horse trainer. <\/p>\n
Storer struck a deal with Wrigley. <\/p>\n
He would get two years of free training, and she would take a 20% share in Jumal. <\/p>\n
\u201cBecause we went over budget, Malcolm suggested we take a share in Jumal instead of him paying training fees. There\u2019s a lot of chance and risk with horses. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t think Jumal would change our lives, but he has, and he has well and truly paid for himself. We count our lucky stars every day,\u201d Storer says. <\/p>\n
So far, he has won 12 of his 14 races. In the other two, he finished third. The increasing pressure, she says, falls hardest on trainers. <\/p>\n
\u201cMany in the racing community expect Jumal to perform consistently \u2013 not to get sick or injured, and to be driven a certain way. If a horse doesn\u2019t perform, it\u2019s often the trainer who gets the blame,\u201d Storer says. <\/p>\n
On race days, she disappears. She hides in a toilet cubicle. <\/p>\n
![\"]()
Malcolm Wrigley with Steve Reid and Bella Storer<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the only place where no one can find me or bother me. I hate standing there with other punters screaming in my ear. <\/p>\n
\u201cI like to watch the races by myself. The last couple of times Jumal has won, I\u2019ve been shocked and burst into tears.\u201d <\/p>\n
In 18 months, the horse they took a chance on has returned more than $600,000 to his owners, trainer and driver. <\/p>\n
![\"Co-owner]()
Co-owner Bella Storer (centre) says she hides in a toilet cubicle to escape the stress when Jumal races. <\/p>\n
Last year, Wrigley turned down a $1 million offer for Jumal from Australian buyers. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not about the money. I mean, it\u2019s nice. But it\u2019s about Judith and me,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Wrigley was 21 when he met Judith. She was 18 and working as a teller at the National Bank. He was an insurance broker with NZI before going out on his own \u2013 he\u2019s been in the industry for 56 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cBelieve it or not, Judith hunted me down when we were young,\u201d he says. He laughs. <\/p>\n
![\"Malcolm]()
Malcolm Wrigley and his wife Judith on their wedding day. <\/p>\n
\u201cShe was very kind. A good Catholic, too. She kept us all in line.\u201d <\/p>\n
Judith was never what Wrigley calls a \u201chorsey person\u201d. While he spent time with horses and the boys, she preferred the pokies. <\/p>\n
Their youngest daughter, Veronica, said her mother wanted Wrigley to have a purpose after her death. <\/p>\n
\u201cShe organised Dad\u2019s life; he was a bit lost without her. Finding Jumal is a highlight in his twilight.\u201d <\/p>\n
![\"Malcolm]()
Malcolm Wrigley with his children. From left: Jo Foster, Malcolm Wrigley, Veronica Cusack and Jarrod Wrigley. Veronica said their father was lost without Judith. “Finding Jumal has been a highlight in his twilight.\u201d <\/p>\n
Jarrod said racing was in the family\u2019s blood. <\/p>\n
As an 8-year-old, he\u2019d rugged up in six layers and headed to Alexandra Park with his parents. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019d be hot chips and a can of Coke. I thought it was the coolest thing. I\u2019d get a dollar to put on a horse and be allowed to choose my own.\u201d <\/p>\n
![\"Malcolm]()
Malcolm Wrigley’s filly Mal’s Juju – the name is another nod to Malcolm and his late wife Judith.<\/p>\n
Wrigley hopes Jumal will one day head to stud and produce more winners. <\/p>\n
For now, he is having a spell before his next race at Addington in October. <\/p>\n
And one horse was never going to be enough. Six months ago, Wrigley bought a filly and named her Mal\u2019s Juju \u2013 another nod to Malcolm and Judith.<\/p>\n
All six grandchildren used to call Judith \u201cJuju\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\"Malcolm]()
Malcolm and Judith Wrigley and their children, partners and grandchildren. Malcolm says his family loves racing, and Judith is watching over them. <\/p>\n
The family, Wrigley says, is hooked on racing now. They take turns joining him at the track to watch Jumal race. <\/p>\n
\u201cI miss Judith not being here. But I think she\u2019d be saying, \u2018Malcolm, you\u2019ve done very well with my KiwiSaver\u2019. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve won more than $300,000 now. My children will be well looked after. I like to think she\u2019s still watching over us, quietly approving, and coming along for the ride.\u201d <\/p>\n
Carolyne Meng-Yee<\/a> is an Auckland-based investigative journalist. She worked for the Herald on Sunday from 2007 to 2011 and rejoined the Herald in 2016 after working as an award-winning current affairs producer at TVNZ\u2019s 60 Minutes, 20\/20 and Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Malcolm Wrigley says most of his horses have been mediocre and Jumal is different. Wrigley, who owns a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475802,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[23562,18559,11559,6255,54695,6637,21932,6101,62821,293,14568,10109,78,296,42445,685,57638,111,139,69,36262,3512,17455,213,223,6859,19054,1299,143302,239731,239730],"class_list":["post-475801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-23562","tag-18559","tag-bloody","tag-businessman","tag-deathbed","tag-gave","tag-gift","tag-good","tag-grieving","tag-his","tag-horse","tag-husband","tag-in","tag-into","tag-judith","tag-last","tag-malcolm","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-pukekohe","tag-racing","tag-riches","tag-sports","tag-the","tag-told","tag-turned","tag-who","tag-wifes","tag-winnings","tag-wrigley"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}