Oaks boost for Geelong

GEELONG Racing Club is hoping Chris Calthorpe’s breakthrough Group 1 — the first locally trained top-level winner in more than a decade — will breath life into the sport across the region.

Calthorpe stunned the racing world last Saturday when long shot Media Award saluted in the Australasian Oaks at Morphettville.

He said he hoped the win would put “Geelong back on the map”.

“It’s been a bit quiet around here for a few years,” he said.

“I wasn’t here in the glory days, but they reckon when this joint was thriving, it was magnificent. For whatever reason, it’s obviously slowed up.

“Hopefully a horse like her, people can see the benefits of smaller trainers and (the facilities). We’ve got the beach here, (track manager) Jimmy Dalton does a great job with the grass track, the new sand fibre track, we’ve got a good pool, treadmill — we’ve got all the facilities and we’re 45, 50 minutes from Flemington

Moonee Valley.”

Jamie Edwards claimed the 2007 South Australia Derby with Lazer Sharp and Peter Tennent took home the 1995 Australasian Oaks with Yelgun Dawn. They are the only two horses trained at the Breakwater complex in recent memory who have won Group 1 races.

Calthorpe said he hoped his success would show owners horses could be successfully trained in Geelong.

“I know everyone wants to (and) have a horse with Ciaron Maher and Tony McEvoy, and all these type of blokes, but it just goes to show that if you’ve got the right horse and you give it to the right trainer, whether they’re big of small, they don’t have to be trained at Flemington or Caulfield, you can still get a result,” he said.

“That’s what I’m hoping that people can see that it can be done out of Geelong.”

Geelong Racing Club chief executive Daniel Salter said recent improvements to outdated facilities would help improve the profile of racing in the region.

The club hopes to have as many as 200 horses trained on course, Salter said.

“The support we’ve had from the industry with upgrading and improving our tracks has been beneficial,” he said.

“That’s one of our aims is to have better horses being trained out of Geelong. When you get a Group 1 winner, you can’t do much better than that.”

It was also revealed in March that Melbourne Cupwinning trainer Danny

O’Brien would increase his presence by almost doubling his stable numbers as part of a $1.3m upgrade at Geelong.

“That’s the work we’ve put in to improve the facilities and attract better trainers,” Salter said.

“Geelong is a fantastic place to live, you’ve got great access to the beaches, you’re only an hour to metropolitan Melbourne. The trainers are starting to see that and when trainers have success, more owners are tempted to give horses to Geelong trainers.”