Now in her fourth decade as a trainer, Helen Page was chuffed to win Saturday’s Sunshine Coast two year old race with Trifling in the colours of long time clients and friends Frank and Christine Cook. Helen is one of several trainers entrusted with the care and training of horses bred or purchased by the husband and wife team, who love to bring new owners into the industry on a share lease basis. Christine Cook goes to great lengths to put all-female syndicates together, as she did with Trifling. The Better Than Ready filly has no less than eleven female owners including Christine and Helen. Horses syndicated by Frank carry the very identifiable maroon, white crossed sashes, yellow armbands and cap. Syndicates formulated by Christine use the same colour combination but with different symbols - maroon, white diamond, yellow armbands and cap with two large white diamonds on either sleeve.
Trifling made her debut in the middle of October with a handy fourth to Mishani Renegade at Eagle Farm, after which she was given a let up. Eight weeks later she stepped up to stakes company in the listed Calaway Gal over 1000m on the same track, finishing fifth of ten a little over three lengths behind Malaboom. On December 28th she showed the benefit of the experience by finishing a two length second to She’s A Rogue over the Eagle Farm 1000m. Ten days later Trifling had to be content with another second when she beat all but Mishani Royale over the Gold Coast 1100m. Helen couldn’t wait to get the filly out to 1200m in Saturday’s Sunshine Coast two year old event.
“Michael Cahill, who knows her well, was adamant the win was even better than it looked,” said Helen. “We’d decided to ride her back over the longer trip, but Michael was at sixes and sevens when she flew out of her wide barrier. He stuck to our original plan and went back to second last in the eight horse field, where she began to get very keen. Michael nudged his way to the outside on straightening up and she put them away like a pretty good filly. She was being eased up on the line to win by more than two lengths and clearly appreciated the 1200m. She’s a very mature two year old and is actually bigger than many of Better Than Ready’s progeny. She’d pass for a three year old.”
Trifling's a huge filly but she let down brilliantly to win on Saturday - courtesy Trackside Photography.
Helen restricts her numbers to ten horses these days, the majority of which carry the colours of Frank and Christine Cook’s Mystery Downs operation. The successful trainer had worked a team of twenty horses for more than two decades, but decided to reduce the numbers on the advice of her late husband John Page who passed away almost two years ago. “Like most trainers I was having great difficulty in finding suitable staff at the time, and John was concerned that I couldn’t do twenty horses justice without the necessary help,” said Helen.
“He was usually right in his assessment of difficult situations and was my sounding board on all aspects of horse training and stable management. He was a man of great wisdom and I miss his company very much. Whenever I’m confronted with a problem, I ask myself what would he have done in the same position.”
Helen lost husband John almost 2 years ago. She sadly misses his wise counsel - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Helen’s reputation as a commercial trainer was set in stone long before she and John arrived on the Gold Coast in 1997. The former talented equestrienne and infant school teacher was granted her trainer’s licence in 1982 - six years after Betty Lane had become the first woman to be licenced by the AJC Committee, and six years before Gai Waterhouse was given the green light to train horses at Randwick. Helen’s first training success came under the most humble of circumstances. She actually identified one of her thoroughbred show horses as a racing prospect. She put Paris Royal into training and working on gut instinct more than anything else, nominated the gelding for a Wyong maiden. She stood in disbelief as jockey Neil Paine steered the gelding to a magical win for the unknown Warwick Farm trainer.
Just two weeks later Helen proved the Wyong win was no fluke when she opened her metropolitan account with a mare called Altruistic at Canterbury. To this day Neil Paine proudly proclaims that he rode Helen Page’s first two winners. The trainer’s reputation quickly gathered momentum, and before long she was being offered horses by a range of new owners. For the next fifteen years Helen maintained a healthy strike rate from her Warwick Farm base with a team rarely exceeding thirty horses. She expanded to a sixty horse team for a short time when training for Magic Millions boss John Needham, but was happy to return to her preferred number. In the spring of 1991 a stayer called Magnolia Hall took her to racing’s biggest stage and into the history books. The son of Noble Bijou was raced by STC Director Evan Sperling and his wife Robyn and had shown some staying potential with a win in the 1990 Summer Cup and a dead heat in the P.J. O’Shea Stakes in the winter of 1991. A short break and he was back for a spring preparation which would see him strike career best form.
Following a second to Pontiac Lass in the Colin Stephen Quality he finished a close third to Lord Revenir and Maharajah in the Metropolitan before heading to Melbourne. His 18th in the Caulfield Cup doesn’t look impressive on paper, but Magnolia Hall was checked twice. Jockey Brian York said the second one wiped him out. Helen showed how well she knew her horse by opting to run him in the Dalgety on Derby Day. He finished sixth only 3 lengths behind Rasheek and had a “nice little blow”. It’s now history that he ran the race of his life to finish third in the Melbourne Cup behind champion mare Let’s Elope and her talented stablemate Shiva’s Revenge. Helen had become the first female trainer to saddle up a Melbourne Cup placegetter. It was a decade before Sheila Laxon won with Ethereal and twenty two years before Gai Waterhouse saluted with Fiorente.
Here's Helen's Melbourne Cup placegetter Magnolia Hall easily winning the 1990 Summer Cup for Craig Carmody - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.
In 1997 Helen and her late husband John Page pulled up stakes at Warwick Farm and moved their training operation to the Gold Coast. The principal catalyst for such a major move was the opinion expressed by John’s doctors that his indifferent health would benefit from a warmer climate. “They were right,” says Helen. “His health improved significantly and he was almost 90 when we lost him two years ago. We arrived in Queensland with just fourteen horses. Most were just about on their marks and two or three had very limited ability. Thankfully we got away to a pretty good start and it wasn’t long before new owners were making enquiries. A few of those owners are still with me today.”
It’s ironic that the two best horses Helen has trained in Queensland achieved their finest moments on Sydney tracks. Helen bought Doonan “on spec” for $30,000 on the Gold Coast with little idea what she’d do with the son of General Nediym. “Along came Frank and Christine Cook who liked him instantly and took him off my hands,” said Helen. “They leased shares to a few friends and what a great journey they had. “Doonan won four races and placed nine times for $772,000. He won the Golden Rose long before it was given Group status with a very young Hugh Bowman in the saddle.”
Rudy was an all Queensland product bred and raced by the Clarke family who called Helen out of the blue to train the son of Red Dazzler. The hardy gelding raced from two to seven years of age posting fifty five starts for nine wins, fourteen placings and more than $1 million dollars in prize money. His list of wins was highlighted by a Gr 2 Villiers Stakes at Randwick and a Gr 3 Tatt’s Cup in Brisbane. With an ounce of luck his record could have been so much more noteworthy. He ran third in a Doomben Cup, fourth in Kermadec’s Doncaster and was placed in two Gr 2’s and three Gr 3’s. Helen was both delighted and relieved when Rudy retired completely sound.
Rudy (Luke Tarrant) gave Helen her 2nd Villiers win in 2014. Runner up is I'm Imposing (Tye Angland) - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Another of her all time favourites was Celestial Choir who was easily the most talented of the fourteen horses she and John took to the Gold Coast in 1997. Helen won eight races with Celestial Choir and recorded fourteen placings. She had him right on song during the 1997 Brisbane winter carnival when he won the Gr 2 QTC Cup and ran a cracking third to topliners Dane Ripper and Quick Flick in the Stradbroke.
Helen’s life with horses began on her parents’ property near Warialda on the NSW north west slopes. She began riding as a tot and gained experience in every imaginable discipline including polocrosse. She was a regular at the Sydney Royal from age eight. Her most satisfying days came when she acquired former racehorse Moliere who, under his new owner’s tutelage became a legendary show ring name in the hacking and dressage pursuits. She was gobsmacked on one occasion when Warwick Farm trainer David Campbell presented her with a rare gift. “I’d heard that David was a talented artist but I had no idea how talented until I saw the oil painting he was about to give me,” recalled Helen. “It was a wonderful likeness of myself and Moliere in competition. I was deeply touched by his gesture and to this day the painting occupies pride of place on my living room wall.”
David Campbell's outstanding oil painting of Helen and Moliere in the dressage arena.
Helen Page is a product of the era when female trainers were still struggling for recognition. She came along only five years after Betty Lane had waged a lonely war against the AJC Licensing Commitee in quest of a trainer’s licence. At the first attempt she was politely advised to come back when there was evidence that she knew something about training racehorses. The former equestrienne headed “bush” and was granted licences by the WDRA and the CWRA respectively. Operating from modest stables in the tiny outpost of Geurie, Betty Lane promptly proceeded to win three western districts premierships. Every so often she’d sneak a horse to town to win a race under the noses of those who thought she was out of her depth.
And so in 1976 the AJC for the first time in its 136 year history, granted accreditation to a member of the fairer sex. She began with a No 2 licence which was deservedly upgraded to a No 1 seven years later. Betty and husband-to-be “Tiger” Holland set up shop in six rented boxes at Kingsford. This remarkable trailblazer went on to multiple stakes success, and in the autumn of 1978 saddled up Smokey Jack to go within half a length of upsetting Manikato in the Golden Slipper. Smokey Jack’s performance was flattered by Manikato hanging out badly near the line, but a win would have triggered one of the best racing stories in years. Imagine a Golden Slipper winner trained by the lady who, just a few years earlier had been training ordinary horses from ramshackle stables at Geurie - population 800.
Betty Lane broke down barriers to have female trainers recognised by the AJC. Here's Betty with her late husband Tiger Holland - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.
Betty is now 96 years old and struggling with multiple health issues. You can be sure she’s applying the same tenacity that saw her convince a powerful body of administrators that the ability to train thoroughbreds had nothing to do with gender. The parallels between the careers of Betty and Helen Page are remarkably similar. Betty started out riding ponies in Centennial Park, progressing to polocrosse and later earning acclaim in the show jumping ring. Like Helen she had a presence at the Sydney Royal, and like Helen couldn’t wait to try her hand as a thoroughbred trainer. Betty’s historic victory over the establishment was still a talking point when Helen lodged her application at the front desk of the AJC office at Randwick Racecourse.
Betty Lane relinquished her coveted No 1 licence not long after Helen had given the Melbourne Cup an almighty shake with Magnolia Hall. She continued in racing for another fifteen years as foreperson for her husband Tiger Holland, while Helen Page went on to establish a sound reputation as a very serious horse trainer. Almost two years after the passing of her best mate and adviser, Helen is content to train her team of ten horses on the Gold Coast. Her affinity with horses is complimented by a quiet demeanour and friendly disposition which endears her to clients like Frank and Christine Cook.
Helen at Canterbury after her first city win with Altruistic in 1982.
Right at the moment she’s quietly chuffed with the deeds of her big, rangy filly Trifling. She’ll make a decision in the weeks ahead about the immediate future of the daughter of Queensland glamour stallion Better Than Ready. I was reminded over the weekend of Helen’s willingness to share news of her horses with media representatives. I’ve been the recipient of her generosity many times over the years. I doubt I’ve enjoyed a conversation more than the one we shared on Sunday morning.
Helen had the pleasure of leading Magnolia Hall to the winners circle after the 1990 Summer Cup - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.
100 metres to go in the 1991 Melbourne Cup and Let's Elope has it won. Shiva's Revenge (Black cap outside) is about to run into second place. Magnolia Hall (light green colours between horses) battled on courageously to nose Super Impose out of third money - Steve Hart Photographics.
(Banner image - Trifling (Michael Cahill) was dominant in winning Saturday's 2YO event on the Sunshine Coast - courtesy Trackside Photography.)