In Part 2 Kris Lees talks about more of his favourite horses, his association with successful syndication companies and family life. At 48, Kris Lees has his best years ahead.
When champion trainer Max Lees died suddenly in 2003, his son Kris was left with 60 horses and some bewildered owners. In Part 1 he talks about the early days under the tuition of his father and the good horses he grew up with.
In Part 2 Rod talks about the horse he stumbled upon in a paddock at Scone. He decided to put the chestnut into work and his judgement proved correct in a spectacular way.
Rod Craig enjoyed the respect of all sections of the racing industry during four decades as a horse trainer in Sydney. He got an early Group 1 with Lady Eclipse in the 1983 Champagne Stakes and trained a host of handy horses over the next ten years.
At 41 years of age Jason Coyle is embarking on the most exciting phase of his career. His future looked rosy a few years ago when invited to train horses for Nathan Tinkler who had launched a massive racing initiative under the Patinack banner.
I’ve lost count of the number of people who’ve queried the whereabouts of Michael Clarke over the last decade. Michael retired in 2002, but actually rode the last 6 or 7 years of his career overseas.
It takes a brave and passionate man to venture into the field of professional horse training in Sydney. The big stables totally dominate the scene - the smaller ones have to battle for the leftovers.
Perth’s Darren McAullay is the best promoter Western Australian racing has ever had. His distinctive style and his unbridled passion for the sport has endeared him to racing audiences all over Australia.
In keeping with our policy of introducing country trainers on the podcast, it’s a delight to chat with Ross Stitt who’s been churning out the winners from his Taree stable for more than four decades.
In part 2 Tony talks of his heyday at Mornington, when he was training a team of 100 horses. He reflects on the wonderful horses who’ve shaped his career, and the great jockeys with whom he’s had a winning association.
In part two of the podcast Michael Cahill remembers Falvelon as the fastest horse he ever rode. He talks of his time in Hong Kong and Macau. The latter contract took him to a jockeys title, and a Derby win.
It’s great to catch up with a jockey who’s been the ultimate professional for four decades. Michael Cahill was born into a great racing family at Cowra (NSW).
Kristen Buchanan lived in WA as a youngster and attained Uni Degrees in Biology and Exercise Physiology. Those qualifications would have given her any number of job choices, but training racehorses was all she wanted to do.
When the website began in May of last year, Rodney Quinn was one of my very early podcast guests. He’d been retired for five years and was well entrenched in his new role as tutor of apprentices with Racing NSW.