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By Greg Prichard

Last year Grant Binns and his mates got lucky by winning a slot in The Kosciuszko sweepstakes draw and picking up eventual third placegetter Far Too Easy to run for them.

Now everyone wants in on the act!

“We’re all in a punters’ group on the Central Coast and last year 15 of us decided to go in a syndicate and buy tickets in the Kosciuszko draw,” Binns said.

“The rest of the guys didn’t go in it but now they’re not going to miss out again. Not that we’re guaranteed to win a slot again, but we’ll give ourselves every chance.

“We’ve doubled in size to 30 in the syndicate and we’ve doubled the amount everyone’s putting in as well.

Grant Binns (right) at a celebrity golf tournament with jockey Josh Parr.

“Last year we put in $50 each and bought $750 worth of tickets, but everyone’s throwing a hundred in now so we’ll have $3000 to buy tickets.

“That’s the plan. We’re getting it all together now.”

The $2 million The Kosciuszko will be run over 1200 metres at Randwick on October 19.

Punters can go in the draw to have a horse run for them in The Kosciuszko by purchasing sweepstakes tickets at $5 each via TAB through agencies, the TAB app, pubs and clubs and at race meetings until September 9.

The 14 slot-holders will be drawn on September 11 and they will then be able to do a deal on a prizemoney split with the connections of eligible runners trained in the NSW country or ACT.

Binns said members of the punters’ group gather on Saturdays to watch the races in a “man-cave” at the home of one of the members.

“He’s got a garage that has got TVs, bar fridges, a pool table, a pie-oven...Everything you need!” Binns said.

“We usually get 10 or 12 blokes going there on a Saturday.”

The battle to get any of the main contenders begins as soon as the winning slot-holders are informed and Binns said his group will have done their homework and be ready should they be lucky enough to win a slot again.

“You obviously don’t count your chickens with something like this, but it makes sense to be ready just in case,” he said.

“We were lucky Far Too Easy was still available when we got to him last year.

“We’ll do a poll among the syndicate members before the slot draw. There’s no time for a committee meeting if you win a slot, so we’d need to know which horse we’re going for, or the next preference.

“We might never get another slot, but you never know. It’s worth a try.

“It’s a great day out at Randwick on Kosciuszko day and I’d love to do that again. We hired a bus and most of us went down. We met Far Too Easy’s trainer, David McColm, and had a beer with him. He’s a good bloke.

“The horse got too far back and couldn’t catch them, but it was still exciting to run third. We all got about four-and-a-half grand, so you can still do pretty well even if you don’t win the race.

“The money would have to be spread a lot wider with twice as many people in the syndicate, but it’s about the day more than anything else. It was a lot of fun.”

Buy your $5 tickets in The Kosciuszko here