Joe Callan brings a fascinating insight into the successful training regime of Australia’s master trainer

ON the first afternoon in Sydney last week that we did not experience torrential rain, I ran into Gai leaving work and she asked me to “in one minute be able to say what you have learned here in your time so far”, of course this question had a reason to it.

The second year Darley Flying Start students, some of whom I met previously through an event run by the UCD Horse Racing Society, were coming the following day to Randwick to see the morning work routine and she had asked me to join them in viewing the work, which was a fantastic chance to meet a group of people who have seen and learned so much in many different countries over the past 12 months.

This was when the question from the previous day was going to come in to the play. When I arrived Gai immediately asked me to discuss my time here so far with the students.

When you look at a Waterhouse horse at the races there is always three common striking factors, how fit the horses look, how calm the horses are, and how well the horses hold their condition run after run while enduring the tough Waterhouse regime.

The variation in Gai’s training techniques is crucial in contributing to these factors as each afternoon the horses will do some sort of exercise that improve their muscle development and keep the horses’ heads in the right place.

The horses will either take a trip to the local beach for a swim, hand walk around the area, use the high performance treadmill, (an idea that Gai got from legendary South African trainer Mike De Kock), roll in the sand, use the horse walker, swim in the track swimming pool, canter figure of eights, jump over polls or hand walk over the hill that is adjacent to the track.

Each horse does what is necessary for their schedule and development all while having the change of scenery and keeping their mind occupied.

Each of those methods has strong advantages with the aim of achieving a fit horse through the “bone and muscle regime”, a formula thought up by Gai’s legendary father T.J. Smith.

feeding for success

The feeding is also an important factor in the success of the stable. When the students asked the trainer a question about what she feeds in her yard and what to do when a horse won’t eat, Gai volleyed the question back to me. I worryingly saw a couple of shocked faces as they realised how much feed I had just listed but as Gai said to me on my first day “feed is one of the most crucial factors in the development”.

Gai and her nutritionist/foreperson Mel Norton have the feeding regime for the horses here down to a tee!

The students got to see some of the most exciting horses in the stable gallop, along with meeting the head riders at the stable.

Gai outlined the positives and negatives about many horses and discussed her plans for certain horses.

There were also many humorous stories told by the champion trainer which would be expected when talking to Gai as she never fails to make a crowd laugh.

Thankfully the horses have been running well as the big Group 1 races approach.

Most of the two-year-olds are beginning to show their true colours with many looking to have a bright future ahead, along with the old reliable stable stars beginning to rekindle their old form just at the right time.

It is bound to be an exciting few weeks ahead in Sydney.