It’s hard to believe Pierata has a greater fan than his popular part owner and trainer Greg Hickman, but there is one such devotee. “Give Tim Payne a ring. He’s clocked every gallop the horse has ever had,” said Hickman.
For the past five years the affable Payne has been clocking horses three mornings a week at Warwick Farm for the legendary form journal Sportsman. His comments have been part of a widely read column highlighting the best gallops of the week around Australia.
Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings Tim could be found rubbing shoulders with Greg Hickman and several other regulars in Warwick Farm’s landmark infield trainer’s hut. “I”ve clocked hundreds of horses over five years but I’ve never been as struck by a horse as I was the first time I saw Pierata,” said the sixty four year old.
“Right from scratch that horse knew he was a bit special. He’d walk with a swagger when he came off the track after a gallop and carry himself like the best horse in the world,” said Tim. “Darren Beadman commented one morning that his grandsire Lonhro used to do the same.”
Clocking race horses at Warwick Farm was a world away from Tim Payne’s previous working life. For forty years, Tim, his late father Fred and brother Stephen operated a “fruit barrow” in the heart of the Sydney CBD - a compulsory stopover for pedestrians in years gone by.
“We were stationed in Hunter Street between Pitt and George, right near the Grand Hotel,” says Tim. “We’d often see an owner, trainer or jockey and there was no shortage of tips. When we decided to wind the business down I had no idea what I was going to do. Dad had been taking me to the gallops, trots and dogs for years and I was pretty hooked on racing generally.
“I happened to spot an advertisement in the Sportsman calling for somebody to clock the gallops at Warwick Farm. I really didn’t expect to get the job, but when nobody else applied I found myself in the trainer’s hut. I got great help from several trainers, none more than Greg Hickman.”
Pierata's devoted fan Tim Payne after a morning at Warwick Farm trackwork.
Tim was one of many Pierata fans who had to suffer the torture of watching him go under by a “thumbnail” to the equally gallant Tofane in the All Aged Stakes on Saturday. Nature Strip beat him by a similar margin in last year’s Galaxy. How bizarre it is that four or five centimetres cost Pierata the distinction of being a triple Group 1 winner.
Greg Hickman believes the Galaxy placing last year, was Pierata’s finest moment - not an easy call when you consider the horse’s remarkable consistency. “The track was a Heavy 8 and few horses made ground from back in the field,” recalled Greg. “He was midfield coming to the turn and spotted Nature Strip 6 or 7 lengths straightening up. He was still 4 lengths off him at the 100m, but gathering momentum. He threw himself at Nature Strip and many thought he’d won. He tried his heart out right to the line.”
He tried just as hard in the All Aged Stakes on Saturday, but again it was not to be. Tommy Berry was stunned to see Greg actually smiling when he returned to scale. “I expected to see him down in the mouth, but he was remarkably upbeat,” said the jockey. “He was proud of the horse, happy with my ride and satisfied that Pierata was at his best on the day.”
Image courtesy Bradley Photographers - Winners are grinners! Greg and Tommy Berry after Peirata's win in The Shorts (Group 2).
Greg Hickman’s reputation for extracting optimum performance from cheap yearlings is well documented. One notable example is Sportsman, an $8000 yearling who won $782,000. Royal Purler was another $8000 yearling who earned $332,000 and won a Gr 1 Flight Stakes.
Sir Dex, by the unfashionable Dexter (GB) cost a mere $12,000, but amassed a whopping $831,000 before retiring to the show jumping world where he’s still going strong in WA.
Greg took a quantum leap as a yearling buyer when he shelled out $40,000 for a Husson (Arg) filly from a Gerry Harvey draft in 2013. That filly was named Private Secretary and won a cool $1,043,060 from eight wins which included a Fillies and Mares Magic Millions. It was no surprise when the trainer negotiated a private deal recently to buy Private Secretary’s first foal, a Snitzel colt from the Arrowfield draft.
Image courtesy Bradley Photographers - Sportsman (Digger McLellan) noses out Takas in the 2002 Peter Pan Stakes. Sportsman was an $8000 purchase for Hickman. He won $782,000.
Hickman was in a state of stress after going to $160,000 for the Pierro - November Flight colt at the 2015 Magic Millions sale. “He was the dearest yearling I’d ever purchased and there wasn’t an owner in sight,” he recalled. “My motive for buying him began when I saw his half brother in the parade yard at Gosford almost two years earlier.
“I was watching the parade before the Gosford Guineas in which I had Taxmeifyoucan engaged. I spotted this stunning More Than Ready colt called Ashokan and he took my breath away. He was with John O’Shea at the time and later went to Gai Waterhouse. He won only one race, the Gr 2 Skyline Stakes but raced well several times in top company.
“When his half brother came into the ring in 2016 I couldn’t help myself. He was by a super horse in Pierro, and almost as good a type as Ashokan. I was in a state of shock when I realised I’d gone to $160,000.”
Although it was obvious he still had a lot of maturing to do, Pierata managed to win a 2YO race at Randwick on Anzac Day 2017. Greg then shipped him to Brisbane where he ran third in the Sires Produce before failing to place in the Gr 1 J.J.Atkins. Then it was off to the paddock.
Image courtesy Bradley Photographers - Pierata's very first win at Randwick 25/04/2017 . With Corey Brown up he narrowly defeated Hong Qigong, also a son of Pierro.
Despite still displaying ‘babyish” tendencies, Pierata campaigned successfully in Queensland in the hot summer of 2018, putting together 3 wins and a second from four runs. The big pay day came when he stormed home to win the Magic Millions Guineas with Corey Brown in the saddle.
In all but two of eighteen subsequent starts, Pierata has raced in Group company. The two exceptions were the Redzel Stakes which he won comprehensively and the Everest in which he finished fifth after a far from ideal run.
At Group 1 level he posted a win, three seconds and a third. At Group 2 he recorded two wins and a second, while at Group 3 he’s credited with a win and two seconds.
Things won’t be quite the same around the Hickman Stables at Warwick Farm, as Greg, his wife Erica and staff members get used to life without Pierata. He was expected to begin his stud career under the Aquis banner last year, but an eleventh hour decision was made to give him one more campaign aimed at The Everest. A second reprieve looks unlikely.
The downside to his impending retirement is the fact that he’s now at the peak of his powers - the ultimate racing machine mentally and physically. His twenty plus owners have retained a half share and have much to look forward to, whether Pierata’s future is on or off the track.
For Greg Hickman he’s been a once in a lifetime horse. The trainer summed it up perfectly this week when he said “regardless of the financial benefits and the thrill of racing at the elite level, I’ve been so proud to take him to the races.”
Image courtesy Bradley Photographers - Greg doing a Sky Racing interview 2014.
With a handy little swag of Group 1’s under his belt and the self confidence he can take from his journey with Pierata, the former amateur jockey now embarks on a brand new phase of his career. He has twenty horses in work at Warwick Farm and another nine on the Gold Coast under the supervision of the very capable Tenille Ranger. Greg is looking forward to some positive results with horses like Rari, Britain, Kinship, Tudor Music, Epic Dan, Rathvilly Miss and Eleven Eleven.
I was reminded of Greg’s love of horses a few years ago when he took a share in the lessee ownership of a pacing mare I was training by the name of Perfect Jesse. In view of his early start the following morning, I wasn’t expecting him to turn up at Penrith Paceway for the mare’s first qualifying trial on a cool Wednesday night. He and Erica were there for the trial, and for several of her later races.
Greg Hickman moves easily around horses. He likes them and they like him. He’s perceptive, he’s thorough, he’s careful and he’s kind.
He’s been a good horse trainer since that special day at Moree in 1987, when he won his first race with a tiny mare called La Brickette. All he needed was a horse like Pierata to showcase his talents.
(Banner Image courtesy Bradley Photographers - Pierata (Tom Berry) finally grabs Group 1 glory - the 2019 All Aged Stakes beating Osborne Bulls.)