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Kevin Seymour is a very, very wealthy
man. Yet his wealth is not just
monetary, he has passion, one of those
intangible assets that drive everything in
life.
Apart from being one of Australia’s
richest men (personal wealth $700 million), a most shrewd businessman, and
a smart investor and constructor, Kevin
Seymour’s passion is harness racing.
And it has been Seymour’s amazing
passion that has seen him pretty much,
single-handedly change the very face of
elite harness racing in Australia.
Apart from his desire to change things
for the better, Seymour has contacts. He
knows people who get things done. He
wants to see the industry prosper, not
wane.
Seymour is the force behind changing
the very face of the southern hemisphere’s
most important race, the Inter Dominion.
He is the man behind the proposed $1
million (Aus) World Cup, a race he wants
run next year just two weeks after the
Inter Dominion Final that will be held in
his native Queensland (Brisbane) which we spoke about in this column last month.
Seymour, a three time Past President
of the Albion Park Harness Racing Club
in Brisbane (host club of next year’s Inter
Dominion), says next year’s final will go
for an extraordinary $1.6 million (Aus).
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His dream is to have the world’s best
pacers from the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand clash in Australia in 12 months time.
Seymour’s intervention in the Inter
Dominion goes back more than a year.
It should be explained to The Harness
Edge readers, that Seymour’s involvement
and investment in harness racing over
the past 40 years has been huge. He has
raced horses since 1967 with his wife Kay,
owned a stud farm, stands stallions including
the incomparable Fake Left, was the
original Chairman of the Queensland Sires
Stakes in 1981, was inaugural Chairman
of the Australian Pacing Gold Sales and
Race Series, personally under-writing the
costs in the early years and promoted and
funded a feature two-year-old race (the
Kevin and Kay Seymour Nursery Pace),
just to name a few of his achievements.
His name is very well known and
highly respected in this country.
In 2005, Kevin Seymour was awarded
the ‘Order of Australia Medal’, for his
service to “business, the racing industry
and community.” It doesn’t get much
bigger than that.
Just weeks after the Inter Dominion
Final in Adelaide in January of 2007, anonymous advertisements started appearing in Australia’s harness racing newspapers Trotguide and Harness Racing Weekly. |
Neale Donnelley
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