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Wanting to give unemployed actress Tara Reid a break from taxing party-hosting jobs that involve mental gymnastics like counting backwards from sixty while simultaneously trying not to spill the precious contents of a martini glass brimming with top-shelf alcohol, her handlers set her up with some gigs with responsibilities considerably less onerous than the ones she performed on New Year's Eve, dispatching her to Australia to hug dolphins at Sea World, then to be a "celebrity bid-spotter" at a horse auction in Brisbane. According to The Australian, Reid proved a natural at pointing at people trying to get her attention by waving paddles in her general direction:

Sydney trainer Graeme Rogerson had no idea who she was, but he was more than happy to enjoy a congratulatory hug from the star after he made the winning bid of $850,000 for a yearling from the Hunter Valley sired by Redoute's Choice.

Mr Rogerson, who trained the colt's mother, Isolda, said it was "$850,000 well spent". He joked that Reid's bubbly presence at the sale had boosted the price.

"I reckon she got an extra 150 (thousand dollars) off us," he said.

Her professional confidence restored by her successful run Down Under, Reid is anxious to return to the States and undertake new challenges in her burgeoning personal appearances career; with the new, animal-related skillsets she cultivated during her trip, she's sure to be booked up with as much local zoo and racetrack work as she can possibly handle.

[Photo: Getty Images]