Mike Van Gestel got the shock of his life as he carried Molly Bourke’s saddle to the horse stalls before the BM64 at Newcastle on Saturday. Molly’s 3 kg claim had reduced No Statement’s weight to 63 kgs in the 900m dash, but the veteran Hawkesbury trainer was beginning to wonder if the four year old gelding was up to the task. “I can’t remember ever carrying a heavier saddle,” said Mike. “I know his form had been pretty good and he was down in grade a little, but I started to worry the moment Molly handed me that saddle. Even with the claim, he carried more weight than any other horse at Newcastle on the day.”
The gelding had won four of his previous six starts and wasn’t disgraced at his previous run when eighth of nine only four lengths behind Passeggiata in a pretty strong BM78 at Randwick four weeks earlier. Once again, the handicapper knew best. No Statement began smartly and landed behind a wall of four leaders. He raced four wide with cover to the turn, where Molly Bourke eased him to the extreme outside. The improving four year old put them away in a few strides and had 1.3 lengths to spare on the line from Luna Rocks with favourite Our Kobison a close third. His record now stands at nine wins and fourteen placings from forty starts. He’s accumulated $267,000 in prize money for Mike, wife Louisa and a veritable army of family members - about fifteen owners all up.
Winners are grinners! Mike and Molly Bourke after No Statement's impressive win at Newcastle - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Mike Van Gestel doesn’t care how far he travels his horses to find the right race. No Statement’s nine wins have eventuated on seven different tracks - Hawkesbury, Nowra, Bathurst, Canberra, Wellington, twice at Newcastle and twice at Kembla Grange. “Those trips away have made a horse of him,” says Mike. “He’s still a little too keen in his trackwork, but much better overall.”
The No Statement story began when Mike and Louisa shelled out $12,000 for his dam Berning Affair at the 2018 Inglis Broodmare Sale. The mare hadn’t placed in two starts for Leon Corstens, but there was a lot to like about her pedigree. She’s by the established broodmare sire Bernardini from the winning Made Of Gold mare Gold Fair. Mike liked what he saw further down on Berning Affair’s catalogue page. Gold Fair is a sister to Gold Anthem, dam of Staspangledbanner. Other luminaries to appear close up are Elvstroem, Haradasun and international topliner Highland Reel. Berning Affair was offered in foal to Press Statement whose service fee in 2018 was $13,500.
Following the arrival of their Press Statement colt, the Van Gestels sent the mare to Spieth who was rapidly making a name for himself at stud. The result of that mating is a rising three year old filly which is currently in light work. Sadly Spieth had to be put down last year following a stable mishap. Once they had a filly from Berning Affair, Mike and Louisa decided to move the mare on, and she’s now the property of Gerry Harvey. Mike’s $12,000 outlay at the Inglis Broodmare Sale has turned out to be a very astute business decision.
One of Molly Bourke's three wins on No Statement - Kembla Grange 27/05/2023 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
A crowded family home was one of the reasons young Mike Van Gestel decided to “pack his swag” and leave his native Belgium in 1967. He was the fifth of sixteen children born to a hard working dairy farming family at Kalmthout between Antwerp and the Dutch border. He arrived just before D-Day, the famous Normandy landing of 1943 which changed the course of WW2. “I think it’s fair to say I had a very humble beginning,” said the seventy nine year old. “My bassinet was an upturned saddle covered with a sheepskin rug. Is it any wonder I’ve been close to horses all my life. I was riding from an early age progressing from pony club to show jumping, dressage and three day eventing. I also handled draught horses on the farm.
“By the mid 1960’s we were very short of space in the Van Gestel farm house,” Mike recalled. “I had ten sisters and five brothers, but despite the hardships of the day, we were never short of a meal. My father Frans and mother Joanne gave us everything in their power. Had we not been so crowded I may never have left Belgium, but by 1967 I was ready to see the world. I took advantage of the assisted passage made available by the Australian Government to entice European workers to the famous Snowy River Hydro-Electric Scheme which had been under construction since 1949. I boarded a ship called the Queen Frederica at Rotterdam and arrived in Melbourne thirty three days later with 10,000 Belgian francs to my name. That was roughly 200 Australian dollars at the time. When I finally checked in at the Bonegilla Migrant Reception Centre near Albury I learned that I had two weeks to move out, should I change my mind about working on the Snowy River Scheme. I didn’t have a good feel about the whole thing and decided to give notice.”
With dairy farming his only real trade, Mike got an English speaking friend to help him place an advertisement in The Land newspaper which had been founded in 1911 to service rural Australia. He was massively relieved when a letter arrived at Bonegilla inside his two week period of grace. The sender was a dairy farm proprietor from Oakville near Windsor, offering him a month’s work over the Xmas/New Year break. “Somehow I found my way to Riverstone station,” said Mike. “I bought two loaves of bread and two apples at a little shop before finding a taxi to get me to Oakville. I’d already put a dent in my Belgian bank. With an English vocabulary of four words, I did my best for four weeks after which the boss put in a good word for me at another nearby dairy farm. He was of Dutch descent which made communication much easier. That was the job to get me on my feet. It also brought me into the company of a delightful young Dutch girl called Louisa, who was working as a nanny to the owner’s children. Louisa would become my wife and the mother of my four children Paul, Marc, Marielle and Melissa.”
Image 4 - Mike and Louisa in 2015 after Casino Dancer's win in the Gr. 3 Angst Stakes at Randwick - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
After their marriage Louisa and Mike were asked to manage a farm on The Richmond Lowlands - a property called Booralie Stud which they eventually purchased in 1974 and is still their home today. They sold off a section of the property a few years ago but still have a holding of thirty two hectares, more than enough to accommodate a few thoroughbreds and a small herd of cattle.
Not long after their purchase of “Booralie” Mike’s passion for horses suddenly resurfaced. Despite a lukewarm reception from Louisa, he came home from an Inglis Sale with a yearling filly by Horbury. He confidently broke the filly in himself and was riding her around the farm within a few days. He gained a trainer’s licence and asked many questions of local horsemen about the rudiments of barrier trials, nominations, jockeys and all the other aspects of racehorse training. “As a peace offering to my wife, I named the filly Louisa’s Joy,” recalled Mike. “There were plenty of laughs among the locals when I nominated her first up for a race at Randwick. I thought that was the thing to do. I had no idea that the class at Randwick was much stronger than a provincial or country race. I was thrilled when she ran fourth, and over the moon two weeks later when she won at Rosehill. Can you believe it, I fluked a race at Rosehill at my second attempt. I know all about city class these days.”
With rarely more than two or three in work at any one time, Mike Van Gestel, Louisa and the family have enjoyed some thrilling experiences in the years since Louisa’s Joy - none more thrilling than their journey with Casino Dancer. The trainer sourced the Casino Prince filly for just $9,000 from the well publicised Patinack Farm Dispersal in 2012. She would race sound for sixty one race starts recording six wins and seventeen placings for $514,000. She joined the black type ranks with a win in the Gr 3 Angst Stakes at Randwick in October 2015, perfectly ridden by Winona Costin. She followed up with another Randwick placing which prompted Mike to take her to Melbourne for the Gr 2 Matriarch Stakes at Flemington.
With James McDonald up, Casino Dancer had her chance in finishing third behind the classy mare Lucia Valentina. When the mare thrived in the days after the Matriarch Mike elected to stay an extra week and give her a crack at the Gr 3 Eclipse Stakes at Sandown. With James Winks capably replacing McDonald, the Hawkesbury mare provided Mike Van Gestel with a Gr 3 double in the space of a few weeks.
Casino Dancer gives Mike his first stakes success in the Angst. Winona Costin is the jockey - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Drop Of Magic was unable to attain stakes success but raced 103 times for thirteen wins and a whopping twenty one placings. The Magic Albert mare was one of the few Van Gestel horses to race exclusively for Mike and Louisa. Most of her wins were on country tracks but she did prevail at Wyong, Hawkesbury and Warwick Farm. Galleon’s Gem did a good job for the family winning six races including three in the metropolitan area.
In more recent times Charlie Chap has been a good money spinner in the Van Gestel colours with seven wins and thirteen placings for almost $240,000. Apart from No Statement and the unraced two year old Spieth filly, the only other horse in work on the Richmond Lowlands property is Titan Star. This son of Rubick has raced almost exclusively on outside tracks posting six wins and twenty one placings for handy prize money of $205,000.
Marc Van Gestel at work during his time as Chairman Of Stewards 2014 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Mike and Louisa’s son Marc developed an early passion for thoroughbreds on the family property. It’s on record that he once entertained the idea of becoming a jockey, but a succession of boyhood growth spurts quickly put an end to that aspiration. He looked at several options within the racing industry before becoming a cadet steward with Racing NSW in 1992. Marc became Deputy Chairman to Ray Murrihy in 2006 and was promoted to the top job on Ray’s retirement in 2016. Late last year he landed the high profile role of Chairman Of Stewards for the Hong Kong Jockey Club on the retirement of Kim Kelly. By way of coincidence Marc’s brother Paul recently began a career as a steward in the greyhound racing industry.
Fifty six years have flown by for Mike Van Gestel since his arrival in the “lucky country” with six words of English in his vocabulary and 10,000 Belgian francs in his pocket. He can sometimes feel the old Queen Frederica rolling in the ocean swell as he gazes across the paddocks on the Richmond Lowlands. It’s been an amazing journey for the affable Belgian who left his native land to help ease the congestion in that little farm house at Kalmthout. Back then he was working with his father’s draught horses and riding his pleasure horses around the farm. Today he’s rubbing shoulders with Australia’s most famous horse trainers. It’s well documented that Maher and Eustace have close to 1000 horses in work all around Australia. Mike Van Gestel rarely has more than two or three. Chances are he’s having more fun than they are.
Another of Mike's multiple win horses - Charlie Chap (Brock Ryan) scores at Hawkesbury 02/09/2017 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
(Banner image - No Statement made light of his 63 kg to record his ninth win at Newcastle on Saturday - courtesy Bradley Photographers.)