When Mitch Newman is around horses, the smile on his face tells you everything you need to know about the former jockey turned trainer.
That smile was very evident when Diva Bella swamped the leaders to win the opening race at Gosford on Saturday. When Eighth Immortal led throughout to win the second, the smile was something akin to the entrance face at Luna Park.
Diva Bella was coming off a luckless fifth at Orange almost five weeks earlier. “She developed a foot abscess after the Orange run and had to have a week off,” said Mitch. “She came into Saturday’s race nice and fresh, and with Cejay Graham’s 2kg claim she was well suited. She’s a filly with potential.”
Eighth Immortal was having only his fourth start and his first for the Newman stable when he held off the Lees trained Midland to win an 1100m Maiden with Rory Hutchings on board. “Rory had ridden the horse for Tim Martin previously and it made good sense to put him on,” said the trainer. “The gelding was having his first outing in four months and will take benefit from the run.”
Image courtesy Bradley Photographers - Eighth Immortal (Rory Hutchings) completes a double for the Newman stable at Gosford.
After a few years of alternating race riding, training and horse breaking Mitch Newman made the decision in 2012 to concentrate fully on a commercial training enterprise. He’s currently working sixteen horses from the Hawkesbury stables once occupied by Kerry Walker. “We’ve added a walker, swimming channel and day yards,” said Mitch. “Add to that the great facilities offered by the Hawkesbury Club, and we’re pretty well set up.”
Mitch grew up at Wamberal on the NSW Central Coast with no direct link to racing. His late father Alan was a plumber, as is his elder brother Troy. “I developed a liking for racing, simply by watching it on television every Saturday,” he said. “I was small enough in my mid-teens to give some thought to becoming a jockey, and I was lucky enough to get a start with Gary Portelli who had just made the move from Orange to Warwick Farm.”
One of Gary’s owners was responsible for providing Mitch’s first winner. “It was a mare called Gratory and Gary had recommended she would be better placed in the bush,” he recalled. “She went to Shaun Coady who entered her for an ordinary race at Tumut. The owner asked Shaun to put me on and up we bobbed at my third ride in a race.”
Mitch spent the last two and a half years of his apprenticeship with Ron Quinton at Randwick. “I don’t mind admitting I drove Ron up the wall asking him to give me a start,” said Newman. “He had Bobby El-Lissa and Brad Pengelly in his care at the time and didn’t need a third apprentice jockey. Bob and Brad finished at around the same time and to my delight Ron rang and offered me a position.
“I was on top of the world. I was his only apprentice and saw myself getting all the junior rides. Imagine my surprise when Hugh Bowman walked into the place with a huge reputation earned during his time with Leanne Aspros at Bathurst. Ron sat us down and explained that we’d both get ample opportunity. He was true to his word and the situation worked out happily.”
The statistics tell the story. In the 1998/1999 season Mitch Newman was champion Sydney apprentice with 21 wins. In 1999/2000 Bowman took the title with an impressive 56.5 wins, while in 2000/2001 Mitch was back on top with 30 wins.
The young jockey knew from the outset he was destined for a very short career. His weight was his nemesis from the beginning, and it was a case of seizing every opportunity.
His first winner for Ron Quinton was Nimble Feet at Kembla Grange in Feb 1999. Other favourites for his boss were Investiture (5 provincial wins), Brief Kiss (2 metro wins), Bold Zapher (2 city wins and Gosford Spring Cup), and La Rieuse (Gr 3 Research Stakes). His all-time favourite from the Quinton stable was the consistent Juggling Time winner of 15 races and $369,000. Mitch’s contribution to that impressive record was the Listed Hall Mark Stakes and the time honoured Grafton Ramornie Hcp (Listed).
“The huge crowd and the electric atmosphere at Grafton made it a very special day,” he recalls.
Image courtesy Steve Hart Photographics - Mitch wins the Hall Mark Stakes for the Quinton stable on Juggling Time 2001.
Gai Waterhouse occasionally threw a ride Mitch’s Way. He won a 2YO race on the subsequent Gr 1 winner Excellerator at Canterbury and a race at Rosehill on Valuate. One ride from the Waterhouse stable left him with mixed feelings. “I rode the great filly Ha Ha in the Kindergarten Stakes at Randwick and finished second to stablemate Royal Courtship,” said Mitch. “I wouldn’t have been on her in the Golden Slipper anyway, but the fact that I got trapped three wide for most of the Kindergarten didn’t help.”
Mitch remembers two metropolitan wins on the good staying mare Lahar for Paul Cave, three wins on Bold William for Tim Martin, and a very easy win on Joan Pracey’s Au Lion in the listed Starlight Stakes at Rosehill. He was delighted to win the listed Wiggle Quality on Corelli for trainer Mario Caltabiano.
Image courtesy Steve Hart Photographics - Mitch wins the Starlight Stakes on Joan Pracey's Au Lion at Rosehill 14/09/2000.
He never got the opportunity to win a Gr 1 race, but fondly remembers two placings at the elite level. He finished third on Ask The Waiter in the 1999 Metropolitan, and third on Courvoisier in the 2001 George Main Stakes, run at Warwick Farm in that year. “I bumped two pretty handy ones in Viscount and Shogun Lodge in the George Main,” he recalls.
At the conclusion of his apprenticeship, Mitch felt the need for a complete break from the rigours of wasting. He was out of racing for close to a year, although he was working on his weight for half of that time. With Hugh Bowman’s encouragement he made it back to the track, riding eight winners in a couple of months before the demons closed in again.
It was Hugh Bowman who offered Mitch a tempting alternative to the wretched life he’d been leading. Hugh’s father Jim was in need of an assistant for farming duties and horse management on his Dunedoo property. “Not only was the change of environment very appealing, but I thought the activity would help keep my weight in check, should I decide to have another crack at race riding.” said Newman.
His new job turned out to be a life changing chapter in his life. “Jim Bowman always had a few thoroughbreds on the property, but battled to find time to train them,” said Mitch. “He talked me into getting a trainer’s licence with a view to working his small team and that was the first step in my long term plan to become a trainer,” says Newman.
The thrill of saddling up his first winner Toxana has never left him - a nondescript race at Bathurst in August 2005 with Greg Ryan up, followed by another win at Cowra a week later. Jim Bowman also taught Mitch the finer points of horse breaking, a craft that would serve him well in future years.
Mitch dismissed the first fleeting thought that he should consider a return to the saddle. The impulses became more frequent and it wasn’t long before he knew he had to give it one more crack. Still living on the Bowman farm, he commenced a strict but sensible diet and started a running regime. He covered miles around the property and got to know every inch of Dunedoo township.
A few barrier trial rides quickly assured the renewal of his licence and after riding a few winners around the Central West, it was time to bid farewell to Jim and Mandy Bowman. He headed to Newcastle where there was an opportunity with trainer Darren Smith. “There was one magical day when Darren won five races at a Newcastle meeting,” said Mitch. “I rode three of them and Hugh the other two. It was very special.”
The second comeback lasted only seven months, in which time Mitch rode thirty seven winners. “I had gotten it out of my system and I was ready to move on,” he said. “This was when the horse breaking experience I gained with Jim Bowman proved to be a life saver.
“I started breaking in young horses for Crown Lodge under John Hawkes and later for Darley under Peter Snowden. I operated from the Belmont Park complex at North Richmond which was managed by the late Ted McCabe.”
In 2012, at age thirty two Mitch Newman made the call to go full time training. For the first five years he operated from Malcolm Johnston’s Hawkesbury stables and received tremendous help from the former champion jockey.
Image courtesy Bradley Photographers - Mitch opened his Hawkesbury stables in 2012. Here he is with Piping Roller after a Canberra win 25/10/2019.
There’s an intriguing story surrounding Mitch’s first training win this time around. He pre-trained a grey gelding called Net Worth and was hoping he would be asked to train the horse when the serious work began. High profile trainer Tony McEvoy had just opened his Hawkesbury base and the owners decided to utilise his services.
“I remember feeling disappointed as I walked the horse from Mal Johnston’s stables to McEvoy’s base on the other side of the racecourse,” recalled Mitch. “A couple of months later I walked him back to our place and took over as trainer. It was a huge thrill to win a race at Warwick Farm with him only a few weeks later.”
It’s been a tough eight years for the small Newman stable, but the former jockey loves the challenge and has produced a steady flow of winners. He lost the best horse to ever pass through his hands. “I had Sons Of John for his first five runs and managed to win a couple of races with him,” said Mitch. “The owner knocked back a very big offer for the horse and then decided to move him to another stable.”
It’s now history that Sons Of John went on to win two Gr 3’s and was Gr 1 placed on his way to winning almost $500,000. He’s also remembered as the horse to go within a head of upsetting Winx early in her 33 win streak.
Mitch continues to ride work six days a week and gives the impression it’s the part he enjoys most. A valued member of the team is partner Debbie Greaves who rides regular trackwork and shares the many chores around the stable. Mitch and Debbie are the proud parents of three special daughters - Iman (23), Shay (14) and Jett (13).
Image courtesy Bradley Photographers - Not sure if Mitch or Adrian Robinson had the biggest grin after Hurricane Harbour's win at Gosford 20/07/2017.
I asked Mitch to express what training racehorses means to him. “I’m crazy about the animals and I love the challenge of trying to get the best out of each and every one of them,” said the dedicated horseman. “But most of all I enjoy those rare moments you get to spend with owners whose horse has just won a race. I love to see the joy on their faces.”
That kind of passion will take the former champion Sydney apprentice a long way in the unforgiving business of horse training.
(Banner image courtesy Bradley Photographers - The first of two winners for Mitch Newman at Gosford. Diva Bella with Cejay Graham in th