Ex-coal miner takes on heavyweights
John Thomas is used to working in coal mines but on Saturday he will be at racing’s coalface when the 71-year-old tangles with racing royalty.
The humble Toowoomba trainer worked underground as a coal miner in central Queensland for a quarter of a century but reckons training horses is a much harder caper.
Thomas started training in 1975, for a time mixing training with working as a coal miner, but on Saturday he hopes to have his first stakes winner with unbeaten two-year-old sprinter Rothgo.
He will face off against big training names that include the likes of champion trainer Chris Waller, Group 1 winners such as Ciaron Maher and Annabel Neasham and potentially $1m Kacy Fogden-trained rookie colt Money Team.
However, Rothgo is hard in the betting market as a $5.50 chance in the Group 3 Ken Russell Memorial Classic (1200m) in a David versus Goliath clash on the Sunshine Coast on Saturday.
“I do think he’s a bit of a chance but he’s up against the big boys,” Thomas said.
“I looked through the field and there are some good horses.
“I am 71 years old, I don’t have a lot of horses, I just enjoy poking along.
“These days I don’t want a lot of horses.
“I have got very select owners who I have had for a very long time and they look after me and pay the bills.
“I am a pretty modest sort of bloke and I don’t talk my horses up.
“If Rothgo could win, he would be my first ever stakes or Listed winner.
“Training horses is much harder than working in the mines.
“I have never been lucky enough to get a really good horse.
“It is hard, especially when you only have a small stable of eight or nine horses.”
Thomas is happy to get his hands dirty with his horses, just like he did when working in the mines for BHP for 25 years.
He is now based in Toowoomba, 125km west of Brisbane, but comes from the Queensland bush, where he worked as a miner in Emerald, 830km northwest of Brisbane.
“When I was in the mines we worked shift work, eighthour shifts,” Thomas said.
“At the time I also had my own stables and my own track in central Queensland, Emerald.
“I worked for BHP as a coal miner.
“Prior to going to the mines I was just a boy from the bush.
“I was breaking in horses at different properties around Roma and Charleville.
“I took a voluntary redundancy from BHP in 1999 and I moved to Toowoomba and purchased my own stables.
“I have been training horses since 1975 and I have always had horses.
“I have had plenty of horses but I have never been a big-time trainer.
“I just like having horses who can come to town and win a race.”
Rothgo has been ridden by Georgie Cartwright in both wins and she will again be on board the gelding.
Regardless of the result, Thomas indicated Rothgo would be spelled after Saturday’s race.