**As people would know Malua are a great supporter of Brissyraces and I am a great fan of Troy Corstens. Here is Troy’s latest blog from the MALUA website. Click on one of the banners on this page to check out all the latest from MALUA including the all-important horses available!!
The New Trainer – It’s All in a Name
I never wanted to work with horses when I was growing up. I’d watched my father work his guts out 7 days a week when he was foreman for Bart. I used to sneak a peak at his weekly wage and the 400 or so dollars he was earning didnt quite inspire me for the effort he was putting in. Every couple of weeks another owner would be in Bart’s stable and they would always ask if i wanted to be like my dad when i grew up……….I was a little smart arse 12-13 yo and you can imagine my reply.
I liked it and when a good horse would come into the sables! The likes of Shaftesbury Avenue, Lets Elope, Kingston Rule would be winning Group 1’s and I got a kick out of it, i just never really appreciated it. It was some of Barts greatest days and was great fun but I just took it for granted.
I’m now fully entrenched in the game and I live for those elusive Group 1’s. I know how much goes into getting them and just how hard they are to pull off. They are not everything, they are the only thing.
Throughout my 20’s I participated in a game dominated by the Hayes and Freedman names (in Melbourne anyway). It was a way of life and you came to expect that if either had a runner against you it would have had twice the physical attributes and thrice the pedigree. I thought that it would never change………
To watch P G Moody come in and have such an impact has been phenomenal . I love it. It has opened up the whole game and literally forced the DL’s amd DA’s to now try to re-invent themselves. The games changed and in my opinion for the better. Had you told me 15 years ago that a legend like Brian Mayfield-Smith would not be able to make it work I would have laughed at you.
I’m friends with Pete and im pretty sure that he is keen to retire once his girls are through school. Not sure if that’s still the case but he is the kind of guy that would just do this. It’s a unique business this game of ours. He has spent his life developing a career and been extremely successful building his name and his reputation. When he walks away though, theres nothing left. Sure he is likely to have made some good investments along the way but the business he has built up, without him is basically worthless. No matter who he passes it onto, if he does, they are still not Peter Gordon Moody.
In this game it’s your name that counts. Its amazing because you can’t learn it in a book (unless your Robert Heathcote), and you can’t buy your way in. It takes years to build up and earn respect. You have to prove yourself time and time again. Whether you are a Bloodstock Agent, Trainer, Assistant Trainer, Foreman or a Strapper this game finds out the fakes very quickly. I love it for that and it makes me want to do it that little bit better, that little bit more and that little bit differently to the next guy.
Clearly I now know want I want to be when I grow up. I also know that I totally have my father to thank for it!