Matt Damon’s horse was well beaten in the Australian Derby at Royal Randwick on Saturday, with the Hollywood megastar opting not to be there trackside to watch the nag he part-owns with two local sport superstars.
Damon has a stake in the three-year-old gelding Are You Kidding along with former Test cricket skipper Steve Smith and retired AFL great Tom Hawkins.
Unfortunately for the star of The Odyssey and Oppenheimer, Are You Kidding was well beaten into 11th place, finishing more than 19 lengths behind the winner, Green Spaces.
Damon was front and centre for the Golden Slipper at Sydney’s Rosehill Racecourse last month after Are You Kidding was scratched from the race.
The 55-year-old has quietly built a connection to Australian racing in recent years, and Aussie actor Daniel MacPherson is also part of the ownership group for the bay gelding, which is trained by Paul Messara and Leah Gavranich.
The Derby and Slipper aren’t the first time the Hollywood star has experienced the highs and lows of racing in Australia.
A horse part-owned by Matt Damon (pictured at the Golden Slipper race in Sydney last month) finished third-last in the Australian Derby at Randwick on Saturday
Are You Kidding (circled, in the black and yellow strip) finished more than 19 lengths behind the winner, Green Spaces
Damon (pictured at the Slipper) has been building a connection to Aussie horse racing in recent years
Damon tasted success in January 2025 when his other horse, Dale, broke its maiden in Tamworth, giving the Oscar winner his first victory as an owner Down Under.
The three-year-old gelding, trained by Paul Messara and Gavranich, had previously placed twice before finally saluting, earning more than $30,000 in prize money.
The horse’s name carries a personal story.
Trainer Messara revealed the unusual backstory behind the name during an interview, explaining how the idea originated from a late-night call from Los Angeles.
‘It’s a bit of a long story really,’ Messara said.
‘It was a late night over in LA and I get a phone call saying we’ve had this great idea and we want to buy a horse, but the stipulation is it must be called Dale.’
‘The story goes that basically Matt and his daughter bonded during her teenage years watching the movie Step Brothers, starring the two characters Dale and Brennan.’
Damon’s growing ties to Australian racing mirror his broader connection to the country, where he has spent extended periods with his family and formed close friendships.
Damon part-owns Are You Kidding with cricketer Steve Smith and retired AFL great Tom Hawkins (pictured with wife Emma)
The Oppenheimer star (pictured at the Slipper) tasted success Down Under with another horse, Dale, in January 2025
The actor regularly stays in Byron Bay, where his long-time friend Chris Hemsworth is based, and has been a familiar face at local events, from AFL matches to the Ekka in Brisbane.
His connection to Australia began during a deeply personal period following the death of his father, Kent Damon, in 2017.
‘After my dad died, we moved down there for four months and just went and camped all over the place,’ Damon said.
‘And just … I think because maybe he had never been, and it just felt like a place to go to make memories with my kids.’
The trips have since become a yearly ritual for Damon, his wife Luciana Barroso and their four daughters, with the family often choosing to spend the American summer in Australia.
‘Then every year we would return, even back during the pandemic. We were down there for about six months, and it’s just like a second home to us,’ he said.
‘We just love it and we love the people and everything about it.’
‘We just have so many friends down there, honestly. I mean 30, 40 people. Family, friends, just so many people that we love to go see.’
