Shellharbour punters back Handle The Truth to win $1.3 million Kosciuszko race

The group, led by Albert Tory, will cheer on Handle The Truth in the $1.3 million The Kosciuszko race.

Tory, the former owner of the Illawarra's Toyota dealerships, is one of 42 punters who have jumped on board Handle The Truth's ticket.

See more: Shellharbour punters have golden ticket for $1.3 million Kosciuszko race

And he believes the Keith Dryden-trained gelding will secure victory.

"He was 14-1 a few weeks ago, now he's down to 7-1. He's third favourite, he has done everything right and he's a very, very good chance," Tory said.

"If we can get a good barrier draw, and we can get a place or happen to win it, this [story] is going to be very hard to beat."

The story that he refers to is, of course, about his group of Shellharbour punters.

Tory describes some members as "battlers" who are on the brink of winning thousands of dollars.

"The people at Shellharbour are lovely people and there's a real lot of battlers there," he said.

"About a month ago, when this [syndicate] all happened, I rang up a friend of mine involved in timing horses and asked 'who do you like in The Kosciuzsko?'.

"He said there was a horse called Handle The Truth, trained by Keith Dryden. Keith's trained horses for me before, he's one of the top trainers in the country. And it's just gone from pillar to post, it's unbelievable.

"I've raced a lot of horses before, and been successful, but this has provided me with the biggest thrill of all."

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