EXCLUSIVE: Carly Electric is a part-owner in sprinter Iowna Merc who is one of the emergency reserves for Saturday’s Everest, the richest race in the world run on turf
15:37, 15 Oct 2025
A sex worker is hoping to land racing’s hottest date by having a runner in the world's richest horse race run on turf. Carly Electric, 36, works as an escort touring Australia’s major cities, hosts her own podcast and also details her experiences in her act as a stand-up comedian.
Among her services she charges clients £1,250 to accompany her on a day at the races, but on Saturday she will attend for pleasure, as part-owner in sprinter Iowna Merc. The six-year-old gelding, trained in Sydney by Bjorn Baker, has won eight times and earned £550,000 in prize-money.
He is declared to run in the £1m Sydney Stakes at Randwick this weekend, under Welsh jockey Ash Morgan.
Yet Iowna Merc is also one of the reserves for the day’s feature, the £10m Everest, in the event that one of the 12 horses to have secured a coveted slot drops out before raceday.
“I think I paid for ten per cent when he was a yearling, maybe A$4,0000 (£2,000), and he has made over A$1m so it was quite a good little investment,” said Electric, who has stakes in two other racehorses.
Electric’s introduction to racing came via Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Lee Freedman, who was a parent at her school in Melbourne.
“At that time he was winning big and he was like a rock star,” she said. “I thought racing was fun and exciting.”
As racing’s only known sex worker, she uses the line, ‘I’m your best bet’, and previously applied her knowledge of the form book to operate a subscription-based tipping service.
“I made quite a name for myself just doing tips,” she said. “I had my own punting group. Men like the idea that they can go to the races with me and that I am into the horses, will put bets on and yell a lot. It’s the kind of experience that guys really enjoy.”
Her comedy act is a spin-off from her podcast ‘In My Box’ which covers her experiences in the adult industry.
“I’ve just finished 14 days of gigs in Sydney and Melbourne,” she said. “They’re taking off so I will do the full comedy festival circuit next year with my show.
“It is one of the weirdest, most terrifying things I’ve ever done, that’s for sure. Doing the podcast made me realise I had a lot of stories and I like to think I’m a bit of a funny gal.
“It's called ‘In My Box’ because I go through the weird things that have been sent to my inbox and I get up to 1,000 DMs a day. It’s unpacking some of the weird stuff that I’ve been sent.”
She goes on: “I’m classed as a touring escort because I don't work from home. I love the lifestyle I have built for myself. I will jump on a plane to Sydney or Melbourne and in that time I will go on dates and have bookings with gentlemen but also tie those is with gigs or going racing.”
As an emergency reserve Iowna Merc is a 200-1 shot for the Everest and a 17-1 chance in the Sydney Stakes.
“I asked ChatGPT what the chances were of ‘Merc’ getting into the Everest and it was five per cent and to actually win 0.1 per cent of a chance!,” said Electric.
“This is like a bucket list thing to have a horse running in the Everest, a once-in-a-lifetime chance. If he came fifth he’d still get A$1.2m (£600,000) and even the horse that comes last gets A$700,000 (£450,000). At the moment the richest race he has run in has been 250k.
“He is the highest rated horse in the Sydney Stakes and it would be fantastic if he took that out, but to have a horse in the Everest is the stuff of dreams.”