Blazing her own trail
JORDAN GERRANS
SOME of Maria Potiris’ fondest early memories of her life are at a racetrack.
The up-and-coming Innisfail-based trainer remembers being around horses when she was as young as two.
Now 30, Maria is following in the footsteps of her Cairns Amateurs Cup-winning father Stephen in the north Queensland training ranks.
The child care and hospitality worker during the day and evening has been helping Stephen for years down at their Pease Park stable but only recently has taken out her own trainers licence.
Maria has four career starters to her name and will add two more to that this afternoon at Atherton’s Morrow Park, at the transferred meeting from Innisfail following the heavy rain this week.
With Stephen holidaying in Europe, Maria prepared Try Me Dol to win the 2018 Gordonvale Cup, which helped push her towards eventually starting her own stable.
“I just kept getting told by people that I should take out my trainers licence, as I would look after the horses when Dad was away,” Maria said.
“I thought no chance, not at all, but I eventually had a good think about it, had a chat to
Dad, and thought I would go for it.
“The push of other people in the racing industry really helped, they noticed the horses were still winning even though Dad may have been away.
“My family is really proud of the way I have started my career, they are right behind me.”
Stephen has won many of the big races in NQ after first starting as a trainer way back in 2003.
Maria refers to her old man as her “guide”, they speak about horses and where they will place them at the kitchen table most evenings.
“I can remember going to the races with mum and dad, way back then, with my godparents as well,” Maria said.
“I was always around the racetrack, patting the horses with dad before then taking out my strapping licence when I was 15 and my involvement just grew from there.”
She has two chances today at Tolga, Il Principe in the Maiden and Evie’s Pearl in the Class B Handicap.
Respected rider Chris Whiteley rode Il Principe last start at Cairns and suggested the blinkers should be taken off today, which the emerging trainer has done.
“He is still young in the brain, he put it together nicely the first start he had for me,” she said of Il Principe.
“The speed was on, which suited him, but his second start for me, there was no speed, which did not suit at all.”