Nick Olive breathed a sigh of relief as Tejori charged to the line to win Saturday’s TAB Highway (1200m) at headquarters. It was a moment he was beginning to think would never come.
Nick has been quietly excited about the chestnut filly from the day he secured her for $50,000 at the 2018 Inglis Classic Sale. He’s a long time fan of her sire the ill-fated Hinchinbrook, and he was familiar with her dam Diamonds Of Dubawi who won four races for Canberra trainer John Nisbet.
“I knew Diamonds Of Dubawi could gallop and that was part of the reason for my interest in the Hinchinbrook filly,” said Nick. “But she virtually sold herself. She was a stunningly athletic yearling filly.”
Interesting to note that Tejori is named after a famous jewellery chain in Dubai which specialises in the sale of world class diamonds. Race caller Darren Flindell is obviously aware of the origins of the filly’s name. “Tejori starts to sparkle late!” he exclaimed as the filly forged clear near the post.
Nick Olive was on cloud nine exactly a year ago when Tejori won her maiden by a widening 3.5 lengths at Canberra with Billy Owen in the saddle. He wasn’t quite so buoyant two weeks later when she finished eighth of nine on a Heavy 8 surface at Randwick.
“We had to make allowances for the track, but I felt she wasn’t right on the day,” said the trainer. “The following week we discovered that “bony changes” were taking place in her front joints and she was feeling the effects. It was also obvious she had a fair bit of growing to do. It was a job for Mother Nature.”
Ten and a half months after her Randwick failure Tejori resumed in a 1000m Class 1 at Canberra with Brendan Ward up. Nick’s decision not to trial the filly was vindicated by a breathtaking win. She was trapped three wide from the extreme outside gate, but Ward didn’t panic and concentrated on getting her into a nice rhythm in the run to the turn.
Image courtesy Bradley Photographers - This was the win that set the tongues wagging! Tejori strolls home first up at Canberra 24/04/2020.
Keen judges were gobsmacked to see Tejori explode away from the opposition down the straight to post a 4.5 length winning margin, with plenty in hand. Nick had already pencilled in the 1200m TAB Highway at Randwick in sixteen days time.
“To be honest I had a few doubts coming into Saturday’s race,” the trainer said. “She was second up after a long absence, she was jumping to 1200m and there were a few pretty seasoned bush sprinters in the race.”
Tejori actually jumped too well and could have led comfortably, but Olive had asked jockey Kerrin McEvoy to find some cover. Ready To Humble actually rolled to the front but never crossed down to the rail at any stage. “It was as close to leading without leading as you’ll ever get,” said Nick. “I wondered if she’d be confused by the foreign tactics, but it made no difference. She dropped into another gear when Kerrin popped the question to score a very pleasing win.”
Nick Olive’s burning ambition to become a horse trainer could have been thwarted by a bizarre incident in the mid-nineties at Ken Callaghan’s Capricorn Park training complex near Canberra.
He had just attained a degree in horse management at the Uni of New England’s Orange campus and was undertaking work experience with Callaghan. “I was standing in front of a cranky gelding who had a reputation for biting and nipping, but I wasn’t expecting what came next,” recalled Nick. “He lunged at me and all but bit my bottom lip off. The boss got me straight to hospital where they stitched the chunk of lip back into place.”
The sheer shock of the incident and a long slow recovery period would have dimmed the enthusiasm of many aspiring horse trainers, but young Olive didn’t take a backward step. He was back at Capricorn Park within days, eager to learn and thirsting for knowledge.
Nick couldn’t believe his luck when Ken Callaghan offered him a foreman’s role a short time later. “It was a great learning curve. Ken is a terrific horseman and all you had to do was pay attention to pick up valuable pointers,” he said. “When Ken decided to make the move to the new Goulburn training complex I decided to move on, and was lucky enough to land a job with the Barbara Joseph stable.
Image courtesy Bradley Photographers - Nick with his newly cultivated beard after a Randwick win with Maid Of Ore 09/10/2019.
“Barbara was still training out of her Bombala property at the time, and that’s where I spent most of my time. She’s a great horse person and a wonderful tutor. Barbara and her family had a profound influence on my career and my life. I’ll always be grateful to them for their guidance.”
Barbara Joseph was instrumental in launching Nick’s training career. She offered him the opportunity to hobby train Sir Chambray, a horse she already had on her team. The gelding had run several placings for Barbara but hadn’t been able to break through.
Nick took up the challenge and with a little help from his boss, took the first tentative steps on the road to becoming a real horse trainer. At start number four under the Olive banner, the then five year old gave his trainer the thrill of a lifetime.
With Scott Pollard up, Sir Chambray won a Cl 3 at Canberra in June of 2000. “He was just a handy bush horse, but to me he was Kingston Town,” recalled the trainer.
To this day Nick credits a filly called Zenarta for bringing his name under notice. Following three consecutive wins at Goulburn, Warwick Farm and Randwick in 2005, the young trainer bit the bullet and took Zenarta to Melbourne for the time honoured Wakeful Stakes( Gr 2).
“Jeff Penza had ridden her in those three straight wins but couldn’t go to Melbourne and Jay Ford substituted,” recalled Nick. “She ran a cracking race to finish third only a length behind the very classy Serenade Rose. It was almost as good as a win.”
The following autumn Zenarta went within a length of giving Nick a maiden Gr 1 win in his first year as a full time commercial trainer, when she beat all but Marju Snip in The Schweppes Oaks at Morphettville. The winner gave Phillip Stokes his first win at the elite level.
It took the bonny mare Single Gaze to displace Voice Commander as Nick’s all-time favourite. The ever consistent gelding won 12 races, with 9 placings for $714,000. His victories included the listed Weetwood Hcp at Toowoomba, the listed Frank Underwood Cup, the listed Festival Stakes, plus the Goulburn, Gundagai, Queanbeyan and Wagga Cups. “He was a warrior,” said Nick. “Every time he raced, he went to war.”
Grand Rhumba, Zaratone, Neat Work, Fullerton, Capital Commander, Rose Of Falvelon, Doubtful Miss, Beautiful Sally, Sizzling Belle and Bring A Secret all did their bit to endorse the Nick Olive training enterprise. But there was only one Single Gaze.
The pony sized daughter of Not A Single Doubt was a $70,000 yearling purchase. She raced 35 times for 5 wins and 12 placings, amassing $2.3 million dollars. Her win tally may seem unimpressive, but it’s important to remember she raced at the very top level for most of her career.
Supreme highlights were her win in the Gr 1 Vinery Stud Stakes, and a gallant second in Boom Time’s Caulfield Cup. “To be there among the placegetters in such an iconic race was something I’ll never forget,” said the trainer. “She was totally luckless in the Melbourne Cup of the same year but again it was a privilege to be a part of it.”
Image courtesy Bradley Photographers - The smile says it all! Group 1 glory for Kathy and Nick as Single Gaze wins the Vinery Stud Stakes.
The lowest point in Olive’s training career came in less than a heartbeat when Single Gaze clipped the heels of Happy Hannah on the hometurn in the Australian Oaks of 2016. The filly speared to the turf before somersaulting and landing on top of her stricken jockey Kathy O’Hara.
Just two weeks after the euphoria of a Group 1 triumph at Rosehill Gardens, Kathy was rushed to hospital with multiple injuries - a dislocated clavicle, a collapsed lung, two broken ribs and heavy concussion. They don’t come any tougher than Kathy O’Hara. She was riding in races again in four months.
Nick dashed onto the course proper, and actually ran 400 metres up the home straight to the scene of the accident. He was relieved to see Kathy partly conscious and enquiring about the condition of Single Gaze. “I was deeply touched by her concern for the horse,” he recalled. “She’s a remarkable girl and I’m so pleased she had some of her finest moments on that wonderful little mare.”
Single Gaze took a long time to regain her best form. Over a year later she struck a purple patch of form during the Brisbane winter to win the Tatt’s Quality and the P. J. O’Shea Stakes. She was second in both the Hollindale and Brisbane Cups, and was a close up 6th in the Doomben Cup. The little mare was back, and a few months later performed creditably through the Melbourne Spring Carnival.
Image courtesy Bradley Photographers - Nick, sans beard, with a jubilant Kathy O'Hara after Single Gaze's Vinery Stud Stakes win.
Single Gaze was placed in a couple of Group 1’s the following autumn, but it was obvious she had reached her optimum level. Nick was in accord when the decision was made to accept a substantial offer for Single Gaze to go to stud in Japan. He felt the mare’s best days were behind her and was glad to hear new owner Katsumi Yoshida would send her straight to stud.
He almost dropped the phone a few days later when Chris Waller rang with the news that he’d been asked to keep Single Gaze in training. “It was a shock because I felt she had lost her zest for racing,” said Nick. “I’d been informed Mr Yoshida had agreed to retire her immediately.”
Following three barrier trials, Single Gaze resumed for the new stable. Chris Waller wisely “pulled the pin” when the mare failed to beat a rival home in two starts. “It was upsetting to see that mare showing absolutely no interest in racing,” said Olive.
Nick has been keeping an eye on his old favourite’s progress in the breeding barn and was interested to learn she has a weanling colt by the celebrated stallion Lord Kanaloa.
As he braces for another Canberra winter, Nick has a team of 25 horses in work. Despite the bone chilling cold he enjoys training at Thoroughbred Park, where he believes the facilities are equal to any in the Australian racing industry.
Pressed to nominate one of his team as a likely near winner, he nominated the five year old mare Maid Of Ore, whose record is an impressive 7wins and 5 placings from just 18 starts. A recent placegetter in the Canberra and Albury Cups, Maid Of Ore is effective up to 2000 metres. Nick believes she is a genuine city mare during the winter months.
In the meantime Nick is trying to place his horses where they are best suited. Recent results indicate he’s doing a great job. The day after Tejori’s Randwick win, Acton Shale (Shaun Guymer) won a Cl 3 at Wagga while Temoin Chaud, Larmour and Flight Commander have all won races in the last ten days.
A close study of Nick Olive’s training CV reveals that he has an excellent strike rate with fillies and mares. Perhaps this ability to best understand feminine ways emanates from life at home with partner Jacquelyn and daughters Chloe (13) and Jesse (11).
The trainer speaks highly of his ground staff, and regular work riders. “Brendan Ward and Richard Bensley between them have won many races for me on Southern tracks,” says Nick. “I’m also very fortunate to have their services at trackwork most mornings. They are both fit, dedicated professional jockeys who are among the best you’ll find away from the metropolitan area. I should add they more than hold their own whenever they go to town.”
With the help of early tutors like Ken Callaghan and Barbara Joseph, and an insatiable thirst for knowledge, Nick Olive at 47 is the complete package as a professional horse trainer. He’s already collected several Canberra training premierships, and in the 2009/2010 season his combined ACT/NSW wins elevated him to number one trainer outside the metropolitan area.
His principal advice to all aspiring young trainers is to look, listen and learn, and if standing in front of a horse that might bite, keep your bottom lip out of the way.
(Banner image courtesy Bradley Photographers - Straight down the lens! Tejori beats Ready To Humble in the TAB Highway on Saturday.)