With rarely more than fifteen horses in work at his long-time Hawkesbury base, Terry Croft doesn’t expect to win premierships. He’s happy to simply identify the capabilities of every horse that comes his way, and leave no stone unturned in finding the right races for them. That in itself has become an unenviable task, as the high profile stables plunder the near city provincial meetings with their second tier horses. Even places like Goulburn, Canberra and Bathurst are no longer the domain of country stables. Trainers like Terry Croft can do little more than have their horses ticking over, as they wait for the right race to come up out of town. The astute horseman found the right one for Gallic Fox at Newcastle on Saturday and struck pay dirt.
The lightly raced Foxwedge gelding was resuming from a break when he contested a 1400m Class 1 on Soft 7 ground. Terry was mindful of the fact that the four year old’s only previous win had been over the same trip and in similar conditions at Hawkesbury a year ago. Braith Nock’s 2kg claim turned out to be the difference between winning and losing.
The trainer instructed the talented apprentice to let the horse begin under his own steam, but to move forward gradually from the 800m. By this stage of the day horses were starting to use most of the track from the top of the straight. With the rail out 11 metres some of the swoopers were getting very close to the outside fence, and Gallic Fox was one of them. Despite copping a bump from How Much Better, he grabbed the lead 100m out and safely held the late surging Rapt to scramble home by a neck. Gallic Fox gave Braith Nock an impressive 86 wins for the season. By the time this promising youngster is allowed to compete in the city, he’ll be more than ready to take on the elite level jockeys.
Braith Nock posted his 86th win for the season when he got Gallic Fox home over Rapt at Newcastle on Saturday - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
In the absence of unlimited yearling sale spending power, Terry Croft has made a habit of identifying the right kind of horses for the right kind of money. Gallic Fox is a perfect example. He was knocked down to the trainer for $15,000 at the 2021 Inglis Classic Sale and syndicated among friends and associates. Terry backed his judgement by retaining a share and is more than pleased with the gelding’s current statistics of two wins, five placings and $80,000 in earnings from just eighteen starts. One of his placings was a tenacious third in the Grafton Guineas last year. “He’s taken a while to get it all together and should go on from here,” said the trainer. “I liked the way he kept finding the line on Saturday. It’s also good to know he can handle any kind of going.”
Hawkesbury trainer Terry Croft is well known for his success rate with inexpensive horses - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Terry’s crowning achievement when it comes to bargain buys is No Escape who was retired in 2021 with a record of eight wins and fourteen placings for a healthy $327,725. Stable client Luke McKenzie was able to buy the colt privately for $1500 after he’d been passed in at the 2014 Inglis Classic Sale. Luke later put together a syndicate made of regulars from Richmond’s landmark Royal Hotel. Publican Mal Russell also put up his hand for a share in the son of Danehill’s grandson Shellscrape. Terry’s well known “eye for a horse” was to the fore when he opted to give the youngster ample time to mature. “We didn’t even start him until well into his three year old season, and he was actually a four year old when he won his maiden at Gosford with Rachel King on board,” recalled the trainer. “He was getting to the veteran stage when he won his first city race in 2019. It was a BM78 at Rosehill with James Innes Jnr in the saddle on H9 ground. Six months later he won again on a H8 at Rosehill with the same jockey. He gave his owners a fantastic ride for a $1500 horse.”
Just A Brother is another noted Croft performer with a humble background. Passed in at the 2019 Inglis Ready To Race Sale, he found his way back to Terry’s stable destined to give his five owners a fun ride. The six year old son of Albrecht (Redoute’s Choice) has won six races including a BM72 at Canterbury, last year’s Forbes Cup and the recent Parkes Cup. Terry has him ticking over currently with another shot at the Forbes Cup his principal goal on August 4th. Just A Brother has no issues and looks likely to add to his prize money tally of $211,000.
No Escape won 8 races and posted 14 placings under the tutelage of Terry Croft. This is his second city win at Rosehill in 2020 with James Innes Jnr. - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Terry has long claimed that Cool Flyer was potentially the best horse to come through his Hawkesbury stable. The Not A Single Doubt filly was passed in at just $4000 at the Inglis Classic Sale of 2009, but eventually found her way to the Croft yard. “She raced only eleven times for two impressive wins and we were looking at the Australian Oaks when disaster struck,” said Terry. “She injured a tendon in finishing midfield in the Gr 1 Storm Queen Stakes and that was it. I was terribly disappointed to lose her. She was a definite prospect going forward.”
One of Terry’s all time favourites is Regional Time, a 1993 foal by Switch In Time. The stallion was an enormously popular “bread and butter” sire of the era. “Regional Time was an out and out short course horse who won ten races and ran eleven placings,” said the trainer. “His record tells you how genuine he was. Believe it or not Jon Grisedale rode him in all but six of fifty two starts, and was on board for all ten wins. One of those wins was at Warwick Farm. He’s nowhere near the best horse Jon’s ever ridden but I’ll bet he hasn’t forgotten him. Regional Time won only $91,000 which was OK at the time, but imagine what he could earn today.”
Terry had a lot of time for Lady La Douce with whom he won six races and posted eight placings for more than $200,000. “A really nice mare who won a couple in town,” said Terry. “She won at Canterbury with Christian Reith and at Rosehill for Sam Clipperton. I wish she was in the stable now.”
Lady La Douce (Sam Clipperton) wins a BM80 at Rosehill in 2013 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Catseye Surprise did a good job for the stable, winning five races with nine minor placings on her CV. The Testa Rossa mare won a $30,000 maiden at Grafton, impressive prize money eleven years ago. She also won the $50,000 Queen Of The North at Port Macquarie, a BM75 at Canterbury and a restricted race at Doomben. Port Macquarie has been one of Terry’s luckiest venues. “I don’t know what it is but we seemed to win a race or two every time we went there,” he said.
Sixty eight year old Croft is a horseman who by his own admission “knows nothing else but thoroughbreds”. He was firmly fixed on a riding career when he entered the stables of the laconic Bede Horan in the early 70’s. “I got too heavy too quickly, and left after twelve months,” he said. “Bede was a great old horseman and taught me many good habits.”
Resigned to a future on the ground in racing stables, Terry successfully applied for a job with Hawkesbury trainer Terry “Nipper” Hoare who’d previously risen to lofty heights as an amateur rider. Hoare was in keen demand for several years on the picnic circuit, and was a “go-to” rider for many stables when the Corinthian Hcp came around at Randwick every Bank Holiday. “Terry could see how much I enjoyed riding the horses in trackwork, and finally talked me into taking out an amateur licence,” said Croft. “I enjoyed it immensely, rode a few winners and got to ride a mare called Rich Girl in the last Corinthian ever run in the early 70’s. I finished out of a place, but it was a thrill to be involved.”
Catseye Surprise (Tim Clark) wins at Gosford 09/02/2014 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Over the next few years Terry furthered his experience by working with other notable horsemen. He spent a year with the late Terry Pracey at the idyllic Lachlan Valley township of Canowindra followed by a stint with Barry Cameron who was breaking yearlings for Jack and Bob Ingham on a property at Castlereagh near Richmond. All the time he was riding trackwork and becoming very adept at the craft.
In the mid 1980’s a sea change beckoned. Terry found himself in Queensland where, for the first time he decided to take out a trainer’s licence in his own right. His wealth of experience came to the fore. He won a number of races and shared in a little bit of history when he saddled up a runner at the Sunshine Coast Turf Club’s inaugural meeting on the new and pristine Corbould Park track at Caloundra. “I ran a mare called Pedro’s Tigress in an 1800m race and was happy enough when she ran fourth. Two weeks later she won at Doomben making me the first Caloundra based trainer to win a metropolitan race. Great memories.”
A natural affinity with the Hawkesbury Valley eventually drew the dedicated horseman back to the training environment he likes best. “When my horses were finished, I was able to earn a dollar riding trackwork for trainers like Robert Johnson and Jack Paton. I was very busy during that period. I’m getting a bit long in the tooth these days, but I still jump on the odd troublesome horse from time to time. I’ve got a couple of great girls helping me out, and they handle most of the trackwork.”
Terry's never far from his horses. Here he is with Banter after a Moruya win 23/12/2018 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Fate works in mysterious ways. Had Terry been a professional jockey’s weight during his brief association with Bede Horan, life could have panned out very differently. As it turned out he got race riding out of his system by competing successfully in the amateur ranks, but spent most of his time learning the rudiments of horse management and training from several outstanding horsemen. He’s the first to admit that it all came together to prepare him for the future he wanted. There’s very little Terry Croft doesn’t know about the art of training the thoroughbred horse.
(Banner image - Gallic Fox saw plenty of the outside fence in the run home at Newcastle - courtesy Bradley Photographers.)