The significance of Greg Hickman’s Midway win with Glounthaune (Ire) on Saturday was lost on many racing fans. It’s likely that Greg himself had forgotten he’d trained the winner of the very first Midway ever staged on July 3rd, 2021. He’d been an unrelenting advocate for the introduction of a Saturday metropolitan race designed to give the smaller metropolitan and provincial stables an opportunity to compete for worthwhile prize money without running into multiple runners from behemoth stables. Enthusiastically supported by Richard Freedman, the Warwick Farm trainer took his proposal to Peter V/Landys who saw great merit in the concept.
Win, lose or draw Hickman was chuffed to have Our Bellagio Miss in the inaugural Midway at BM78 level over 1100m at Rosehill Gardens on a Heavy 8 surface. Solid form saw the mare start favourite at $4.20 with Tommy Berry doing the honours. The daughter of Casino Prince raced midfield to the 600m before tracking up four wide behind another runner to the turn. Switched wide by Berry, Our Bellagio Miss pounced on the leaders at the 200m before holding out Just Field and Wander to carve herself a small niche in Australian racing history. Greg Hickman remembers two things about the win. “It was great to win a race for Racing NSW Chairman Russell Balding and his family,” recalled the trainer. “I also happened to own a small part of the mare as did my wife Ericka. Our Bellagio Miss was plagued by acidosis the whole time I trained her, resulting in constant “tying up”. We had to go to extraordinary lengths to keep her lactic acid levels at a manageable level. Despite requiring a lot of attention she won six races for our stable. She actually won another Midway at Randwick just two weeks after the first one.”
Our Bellagio Miss (Tommy Berry) wins the inaugural Midway at Rosehill in July 2021. Greg pioneered the Midway concept and was thrilled to train the very first winner - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
There’s quite a story behind Greg’s most recent Midway winner Glounthaune (popularly pronounced “glonthorn”) and named after a small village in County Cork. For whatever reason the gelding raced initially in Ireland as Harley Street but underwent a name change early in his career. Glounthaune is a son of high profile stallion Kodiac who’s a Danehill half brother to Invincible Spirit, sire of I Am Invincible. From nine UK starts Glounthaune won a brace of two year old events in Ireland for Aidan O’Brien, a maiden at the Curragh and a Gr 3 at Leopardstown. He contested eight stakes races all up with a Gr 2 second at Leopardstown his best performance. Before long Glounthaune joined one of the ever increasing number of consignments to Australian stables.
The Kodiac gelding raced sixteen times in as many months for the Bjorn Baker stable recording three minor placings - two at Canterbury and one on the Kensington track. He appeared among the entries for an Inglis Digital Sale in September of last year and was spotted by one of Greg Hickman’s observant friends. $30,000 later the lightly raced six year old was one of Greg’s twenty horse team at Warwick Farm. The talented trainer decided to retain a share, as did his daughter Jacqueline, while a third share went to long time stable client, Gold Coast builder Paul Rolfe. “Paul’s been a loyal client and a wonderful friend,” said Greg. “He was happy to come on board provided the horse could race in his colours. We finished up tossing for the privilege and it went his way. He was chuffed when Glounthaune saluted on Saturday in his old gold silks with red crown and old gold cap.”
Glounthaune's Midway win on Saturday was the gelding's first success in over three years - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
The gelding went to the paddock after the September Inglis Digital Sale and wasn’t sighted until January. Following two “soft” trials Glounthaune resumed with a nice fourth in a BM72 at Rosehill and followed up with a satisfactory seventh (1.75 lengths) in a Rosehill Midway. His third run back resulted in a fourth, finishing off pleasingly on a very heavy track just 3.5 lengths behind Tenderise at Rosehill. Paul Rolfe’s good friend Jason Collett had ridden Glounthaune in all three runs and was more than happy to stay with the gelding in Saturday’s 1400m Midway. What a flawless ride it was by the expat Kiwi.
Collett gave the import all the time in the world to find his feet and found himself slightly worse than midfield in the fifteen horse field approaching the turn. Momentarily held up for a run on straightening, Collett was able to angle across heels to be in exactly the right spot as they topped the rise. Early leader Forecaster was headed off by Starboard at the 150m with Mailati diving between horses and Glounthaune gathering momentum wider out. Mailati and Glounthaune came away in the last bit to stage a thrilling duel with the Irish import grabbing the prize on the line. He joins a long list of Inglis Digital graduates to cover all costs in just a handful of starts.
Jason Collett coaxes Glounthaune to a narrow win over Mailati in The Midway - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
In today’s ferociously competitive Sydney racing scene, Greg Hickman does a thoroughly professional job with a team seldom exceeding twenty horses. His talents have been best showcased by continued success with inexpensive yearling purchases. The horse to first bring Greg’s name to prominence was the $8000 youngster Sportsman who went on to post 10 wins, 9 placings and $782,000. He won three Gr 2’s, a Gr 3 and a listed race on Hickman’s watch.
Another $8000 “steal” gave the trainer his first Gr 1 success. Royal Purler (Patrick Payne) won the Flight Stakes in 2002 defeating two cracking fillies in Victory Vein and Private Steer. Greg was at it again a couple of years later when he came up with Sir Dex, a $12,000 yearling buy destined to win $831,000. You could multiply that figure several times over today. Sir Dex’s six wins included a Gr 3 Carbine Club Stakes, a Prime Minister’s Cup and a Gr 2 Warwick Stakes today known as the Gr 1 Winx Stakes.
Hickman’s second Gr 1 success came in 2011 when Mirjulisa Lass won the Vinery Stud Stakes with Corey Brown in the saddle at odds of $51.00. Corey remembers Greg was adamant the filly was way “over the odds”. Another Hickman bargain basement buy was a Husson filly who cost only $40,000 as a yearling destined for great success under the name Private Secretary. She raced twenty two times for 8 wins, 8 placings and $1,043, 060, most of that figure coming from a win in a Magic Millions fillies and mares feature in 2017 with Ben Melham up.
Mirjulisa Lass (Corey Brown) started at the huge odds of $51.00 in easily winning the 2011 Vinery Stud Stakes. Hickman thought she was way over the odds - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Greg was a worried man when he took leave of his senses at the 2015 Gold Coast Sale going to $160,000 for a stunning colt by Pierro from November Flight - easily the most expensive yearling he’d ever purchased. “I couldn’t take my eyes off him,” said the experienced horseman. “It was just a case of keep bidding and worry about it later. He ticked every box. He was everything I love in a horse. By golly I was pleased when the bidding stopped at $160,000. I didn’t get much sleep that night.”
Greg locked in a share before putting a syndicate together to race the colt later known as Pierata. In a brief but glittering career he posted 9 wins and 9 placings for $5.8 million dollars before embarking on a stud career in a deal engineered by Aquis. Pierata’s only Gr 1 win was in the time honoured All Aged Stakes of 2019, but he went under in two other Gr 1’s by agonisingly narrow margins. Many thought he’d beaten Nature Strip in a Galaxy, but the decision went against him by a thumb nail. Obviously, Greg doesn’t care how many of Pierata’s progeny find their way into his stables.
“Right at the moment I have half a dozen Pieratas on the books, four three year olds and two yearlings,” he said. “The only one we’ve seriously tested so far is Prorata who’s won two from six, a two year old race at Wagga last year and a Class 1 at Bathurst early this year. He’s taking a while to furnish and I’m sure it’s all ahead of him. I’ll be staggered if Pierata doesn’t do a top job as a stallion. He was a very special horse to me.”
Pierata (Tommy Berry) gets his well deserved Gr. 1 in the 2019 All Aged Stakes defeating Osborne Bulls - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Greg with Tommy Berry after the 2019 All Aged Stakes. The stable colours seemed to be everywhere - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Always anxious to place his horses in the right races Greg is looking forward to Private Legacy’s appearance in the fillies and mare’s Gr 2 Queen Of The South Stakes at Morphettville on Saturday April 26th. The four year old daughter of The Autumn Sun is out of the aforementioned Private Secretary. She goes third up into the 1600m race after two lead up runs in Sydney. “She went under narrowly to Vibrant Sun in last year’s Australasian Oaks in Adelaide and obviously does well over there,” said Greg. “Craig Williams, who rode her in last year’s Oaks has agreed to ride her again on Saturday.”
Not far off his sixty fifth birthday, Greg Hickman remains as passionate about his chosen field as he was almost four decades ago. It’s not widely known that he actually won eleven races from fifty rides as an amateur jockey before joining the team at Geoff Smith’s Gunnedah racing stables. He later spent some time with accomplished trainer Colleen Underhill at Quorrobolong near Cessnock before landing a job with the burgeoning Crown Lodge operation at Warwick Farm. He started out as a strapper before working his way to a foreman’s role over a period of nine years. For the last twelve months or so Greg put himself under enormous pressure by trying to work eight horses of his own before reporting for duty at nearby Crown Lodge.
Obviously, the experiment failed and this was the turning point in his long term goal to become a trainer in his own right. It’s now history that he borrowed $10,000 to purchase a Proud Knight filly at the 1996 Inglis Classic Sale. Named Perfect Flight that filly posted ten wins and nine placings from forty starts. Three of those wins were in town, four at Newcastle, with the remainder split up between Kembla, Hawkesbury and Wyong. The mare’s consistency was noted and Greg Hickman was on his way in the Sydney training ranks. His wife Erica was by his side then and has remained his staunchest supporter through good and lean times. Erica handles the administration side of the business with great skill and has become Greg’s “go-to” sounding board whenever a second opinion is required.
A Randwick win with Glounthaune on Saturday was a great morale booster for the Hickmans of Warwick Farm. A stakes win in Adelaide with Private Legacy on Saturday would be even better. Provided the mare runs well and does well afterwards, she’ll have a crack at the Centaurea Stakes on May 10th. Glounthaune will have a little “freshen” before being aimed at another Midway in five weeks. In the meantime, the Hickmans will continue to keep an eye on the front gate just in case another Pierata walks in one day. Should that happen, you can rest assured, they’ll know exactly what to do with it.
Greg and Erica Hickman after the Gr. 1 Vinery Stud Stakes win with Mirjulisa Lass 02/04/2011 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.