When you’ve trained the winner of a one million dollar Country Championship Final at Royal Randwick you’re entitled to celebrate accordingly - five star accommodation in Sydney for yourself and family, and knee high fresh straw for the horse who’s made it all possible. With twenty six owners involved in Asgarda, it promised to be one helluva party. For the winner’s trainer Doug Gorrel there would be no party. He needed to be back in Wagga as soon as possible to ready himself and three horses for the trip to Gundagai on Sunday.
It was past eleven o’clock on Saturday night when he unloaded Asgarda and her travelling companion, recently retired racehorse Would Be King from the six horse truck he’d borrowed from neighbouring trainer Scott Spackman. “My truck was in the workshop for urgent repairs, and it was Scott who very kindly helped me out of a tight spot,” said Doug. “This is just another example of the great fellowship that exists between trainers at Wagga. Would Be King finished racing late last year after a great bush career and is still a stable resident. I knew Asgarda would travel better with the old boy on board, and that’s the way it turned out.”
About 30 hours after leaving home Asgarda was wearing the stylish Newhaven Park Country Championship winner's rug - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Doug made two important discoveries when he arrived at the stables first thing on Sunday morning. First and foremost Asgarda had left her feed bin with a shiny bottom, and was full of life when she went onto the walker - the things a trainer needs to see the day after a tough race. Discovery number two was the news that the Gundagai track hadn’t survived the much publicised “rain bomb” of the previous thirty six hours. “I could have stayed for the celebration party after all,” said Doug with a hint of disappointment in his voice. “My wife Fiona and good friend Scott Sanbrook travelled up from Wagga with me on Friday, but I was on my own for the return trip. Mind you the phone didn’t stop ringing and the five hours went pretty quickly.
“My daughter Kia and son Owen who both live in Canberra made the trip to Randwick and joined their mother and the mare’s owners for Saturday night’s celebration. Owen, unaware of dress protocol turned up in unsuitable gear, and it was Scott Sanbrook who came to the rescue with a spare shirt and tie from his luggage. It was so good to have the whole family around me for the biggest moment of my career. I knew the mare was as good as we could get her, but you’re never sure of the depth of the opposition.”
Talented Kayla Nisbet who’d ridden Asgarda in eight of her eleven previous starts, had the mare away smartly from the six gate, and was quickly into the box seat. Asgarda travelled sweetly in fourth and fifth spots on the outside of favourite Bandi’s Boy to the turn, before popping into the clear on straightening. From the top of the rise she produced her trademark turn of foot. Bandi’s Boy and his stablemate Atmospheric Rock both fleetingly threatened danger closer to the fence, but suddenly Asgarda was off and gone to the frenzied delight of a bunch of country owners who were glued to the giant infield screen. For a few surreal moments Doug Gorrel wasn’t sure it had really happened.
Kayla Nisbet became the first female jockey to win The Country Championship Final. Her ride on Asgarda ticked all boxes - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.
“The whole weekend has been a bit of a blur,” said Doug on Sunday morning. “We arrived at Randwick on Friday with the rain belting down and stabled the horses with trainer Craig Carmody whose hospitality was overwhelming. I was back at the stables at 4.30am on Saturday to hear the meeting had little chance of going ahead. News quickly spread that a section of the track at the 1000m was under water. Next thing the sun was shining and the races were still on. I still can’t believe they raced all day on a pretty uniform track. It was amazing.”
Doug Gorrel and Kayla Nisbet bask in the afterglow of Saturday's major win at Royal Randwick - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
For Griffith born Gorrel this was the crowning moment of a lifetime dominated by a passion for all sports with special emphasis on racing. “When it became obvious I had no special sporting talent of my own, I opted for a career in sports journalism,” said Doug. “I got a flying start with the Wagga Advertiser where my father Graham was Editor, but decided to move to Queensland when a job came up with the Townsville Bulletin. After seven happy years in the sunshine I settled in the national capital where I landed a job with the Canberra Times. When the racing bug finally started to bite I sought the help of some great local horse people. Keith Dryden and his foreperson Libby Snowden, Gratz Vella, and Garry Kirkup all contributed to my education.”
By the time Doug decided to try his hand as a trainer in early 2016, he’d left the field of journalism and taken up a new role in communications with the public service. He immediately showed a natural flair for the training business when he got hold of a tried mare called Liabilityadjuster, with whom he won six races and ran many placings. After a stint as a hobby trainer he nervously bit the bullet and joined the ranks of the full time trainers, varying the placement of his horses between the professional and amateur ranks.
Doug has become a familiar figure on the amateur circuit winning an imposing list of feature races in recent years. His horses have won Picnic Cups at Crookwell, Cootamundra, Grenfell, Young, Boorowa, Ardlethan, Mudgee, Tullibigeal and Tomingley. As the winners continued to flow his resolve grew stronger, and he moved swiftly when boxes became available at Wagga in the middle of 2022. He was well aware of the Murrumbidgee Turf Club’s outstanding training facilities and couldn’t wait to get there.
The former sports journalist was very touched to be offered a share in Asgarda when the ownership syndicate was put together, and equally touched to be given the opportunity to train the neat bay mare. Asgarda was bred by Lance Gilbert, a former publican from Doug’s hometown of Griffith. “Lance owned the mare Minsk, a daughter of Husson who’d won a couple of races in Queensland,” said Doug. “He sent her to Kooringal Stud to The Brothers War who was starting to come up with regular winners. It was a coincidence that Bandi’s Boy, favourite in Saturday’s race is by the same sire. The Brothers War is by celebrated sire War Front, and showed high speed in a handful of starts which yielded a stakes win in France.”
Doug was on cloud nine when he spoke with Greg Radley on Sky Thoroughbred Central - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Lance was pleased when Kooringal Stud retained a share, the Prospecting Syndicate came on board and Paul Rogerson also requested a slice of the action - all up a group of twenty six enthusiasts have enjoyed a wonderful journey. Asgarda won her maiden at Gundagai at start number three, while her following three wins were recorded at Cootamundra, Albury and Wagga. She staked her claim for the $1 million dollar final with a good second to the talented Bianco Vilano in the Albury Qualifier on February 17th. Doug opted for a “tick over” run at Albury on March 21st, and that resulted in a pleasing third to Flying Sultan and Bianco Vilano. With Saturday’s Randwick meeting in the balance at one stage, the trainer was obviously concerned about the heaviest of heavy tracks should they go ahead. He couldn’t help but think of Asgarda’s five length maiden win on a H10 almost a year ago. Of course, a Gundagai maiden is a far cry from a Championship Final at Randwick, but surely it was some indication. When he saw the mare zoom clear at the 200m, he realised she was a mud runner after all.
For Doug perhaps the sweetest aspect of Saturday’s magical win was the faultless performance of Kayla Nisbet, a “go-to” jockey for his stable in recent years. Canberra based Nisbet is firmly established among the top bracket of jockeys in the southern region, with Doug Gorrel one of her most loyal supporters. This amiable daughter of former successful jockey John Nisbet was showing so much potential midway through her apprenticeship, that she was “head hunted” by champion trainer David Hayes to join his Victorian team in the role of provincial apprentice. She rode numerous winners for Hayes and Tony McEvoy including twenty in the city. A combination of weight problems and plain old homesickness saw her scurry home to Canberra. Good judges agree she would have made a significant mark in Victoria had things worked out differently.
The trademark Nisbet smile was at its most radiant after the $1,000,000 final - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.
As Doug Gorrel basked in the afterglow of a massive result at Randwick on Saturday, the horror of a near life threatening accident just over a year ago seemed many light years away. It’s well documented that the trainer was on his way to an Albury meeting with four horses on board, when the unthinkable happened. Doug was about to pass a Landcruiser which was turning into a property entrance. The Landcruiser was struck head on by a vehicle travelling in the opposite direction and speared into the path of Doug’s truck. The force of the impact rolled the truck onto its roof sending the four horses into a horrifying state of panic.
Doug immediately realised he’d sustained a serious leg issue while thankfully his apprentice Molly Bourke had escaped injury. Three of the four horses were unloaded with only minor injuries. Tragically Dantain’s Magic died at the scene. To this day Doug can’t believe the female driver of the Landcruiser escaped injury. He wasn’t so fortunate. X/rays revealed a fractured tibia in the right leg requiring plating and pinning, and three months on the sidelines.
If he’s still troubled by the occasional twinge in the damaged leg, it wasn’t noticeable from the moment Asgarda raced past the post to give Kayla Nisbet the distinction of being the first female jockey to win a Country Championship Final. Doug Gorrel hopes the win will serve as a reminder to potential owners that he’s deadly serious about a long term future as a professional trainer. For many years he was happy to fire questions at the trainers lucky enough to be standing on the hallowed turf of the winner’s circle. Nowadays he’d much rather be throwing a few quotes at the waiting racing media.
Most of the 26 syndicate members were on deck for the presentation of trophies after The Championship Final - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
(Banner image - Kayla Nisbet and Asgarda in full flight at the finish of the Country Championship Final - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.)