Our Trainers

Kim Waugh - Wyong

Kim has firmly established herself as a horse trainer of the modern era.

Kim's success and commitment to growing has allowed her to recently make the move to Wyong on the central coast.  There she has a brand new stabling complex which is located oncourse. 

Kim has 24 horses in work at any one time, with a state of the art, fully covered walking machine to ensure horses receive constant daily exercise even in wet weather.  She has very good training facilities at Wyong, including the best sand track in the state, and the Viscoride track is very good all weather track for all types of work.  The stables are only ten minutes from spelling and agisitment farms and beachwork is only a short float trip away.
 
"Basically I live, work and breathe my horses" -  Kim Waugh

Jason Warren - Mornington

Jason Warren’s experience in racing belies his years.  As a trainer, Jason’s greatest asset is a complete understanding and love of thoroughbred horses.

Jason gained his extensive experience working with horses at the revered Eliza Park Stud.  He has also run a highly successful business out of his fully equipped 25 acre Moorooduc property, Coral Park, where he specialised in breaking in, pre-training and agisting racehorses.  Jason went on to enjoy considerable success through training multiple provincial and metropolitan winners.

After a two-year period of developing his training career by working as a Foreman for Australia’s leading trainer, Lee Freedman, Jason has returned to training armed with the knowledge and experience of achieving the best from thoroughbreds.  

“I wanted to give myself every possible chance to learn as much as I could about my craft.  I don’t think you could ask for any more than to be working for and tutored by the best in the business.  Although I have my own way of training horses, there are definitely lessons I’ve learnt from Lee that I will apply to my own training philosophies.”

Jason Warren combines the enviable mix of ambition and experience giving him the ingredients for success in racing.

Peter Moody - Caulfield

Peter Moody's first taste of Group 1 success came in November 2001 when his Carnegie colt Amalfi owned by Ron & Judy Wanless took out the VRC Derby, this win helped establish Peter in Victoria where he had set up a small satellite stable, in 2003 after continued success Peter closed his Queensland operation to concentrate on his expanding Caulfield base.

Growing up in Charleville in Country Queensland and having worked for legendary trainers T.J. Smith & Colin Hayes , Peter went on to be foreman for Bill Mitchell for 10 years before applying and being granted a number one trainers license.

2003 not only brought the move to the new Caulfield base it also brought the next Group 1 success which came with sprinting mare Ancient Song, purchased by Laurel Oak Bloodstock and long time client Stuart Ramsey the mare in just her 3rd start for the stable took out the Salinger Stakes on Derby Day. Stuart Ramsey's commitment to the stable was again rewarded in 2004 when Sky Cuddle took out the Group 1 Emirates Stakes on the last day of the Flemington Carnival.

Further Group 1 success has followed with Testafiable taking out the 2006 S.A. Derby, and the win of Magnus in the 2007 A.J.C The Galaxy after placing's in both the Group 1 Lightning Stakes and Oakleigh Plate it was a well deserved win for owner and breeder Robert Crabtree and partners, and also in 2007 was the very special victory of Cinque Cento in the Doomben Cup again for long time friends and clients Stuart and Trish Ramsey and family. 2008 saw our first multiple Group 1 winner in the form of the super tough Riva San, in the space of a week this filly took out the Group 1 QTC Oaks & QTC Derby. In the Autumn of 2009 three more Group 1's came our way in three different states, the first being Reward For Effort in the Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield, this was then followed by Typhoon Tracy in the Coolmare Classic at Rosehill and finally Markus Maximus in the WA Derby.  

David Hayes - Flemington

David Hayes is a leading group one Australian and International trainer who operates his training property out of Lindsay Park.

Colin Hayes retired from training in 1990. Taking over where his dad left off, David Hayes launched his training career with a tirade of winners. He took Lindsay Park not only to further heights, but also to the world.

He trained Jeune to win the Melbourne Cup for Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Then going to where no Australian trainer had been before, he took his Cox Plate winning champ, Better Loosen Up across international seas to conquer the richest race in the world at that time - The Japan Cup - one of the world’s most prestigious weight for age events.

Aptly nicknamed “King of the Kids” David took out both Sydney and Melbourne’s premier 2yo Gr 1 events - STC Golden Slipper with Miss Finland and MRC Blue Diamond Stakes with Nadeem.

An exceptional trainer of two-year-olds, his juvenile juggernaut produced 46 individual winners of 61 races, including 15 individual 2yo stakeswinners of 19 races, clearly defining his dominance as Australia’s leading trainer of 2yos.

David Hayes is a proven Gr 1 trainer at every level in Australasia. His achievements encompass training two-year-old sprinters to Cups winning stayers, all to the elitist level in horse racing ie winning Gr 1 events.

Mark Kavanagh - Flemington

Mark Kavanagh was a very successful jumps rider but it’s as a trainer where he has excelled.

Mark was living in Mount Gambier when he started training in 1991 and was leading trainer in the South East District Racing Association 1992-93 Season. His first full season as a trainer he backed that up with another win 1993-94 season.

He was soon recognized as an astute trainer and was given Red Hope to train after George Hanlon told the owners he would not measure to Melbourne Class. Mark won the Hilton on the Park Sprint, Laurent Perrier Stakes, Ian McEwen trophy and Moondah Plate with the Big Chestnut. He also won two Liz Davenport Classic and two Whylie Handicaps, a total of 15 races.

Mark then opened a Satellite stable in Adelaide and soon trained successfully out of both stables.

In 2000 Mark and his family moved to Adelaide full time and winners really started to flow. Border Time, Easy Landing, Star Joe, Ez and Imperial Cross were just a few that won listed and group and cups races that year.

In 2003 Mark purchased some old stables and set about renovating and rebuilding the whole complex. It is now the best in Adelaide with absolute first class facilities for 39 horses. There is a house converted to offices and facilities for owners to have a drink and watch videos. The horses are paraded on the large lawns boarded by lovely gardens. Owners are kept informed at all times with e-mails, faxes and phone calls.

Mark believes owners need to be kept informed and that’s a priority. Mark is always buying yearlings at the major sales around Australia and is always on the lookout for new owners.

In 2007 Mark opened a stable at Flemington and enjoyed immediate success that Spring with Divine Madonna, Maldivian and Devil Moon all wining at Group One level.  He unearthed another potential super star the following Spring in Caulfield Guineas winner Whobegotyou and experienced one of his biggest days on a racetrack when Maldivian won the 2008 MVRC Cox Plate,and stable mates Sea Battle (Waterford Crystal Mile) and Whobegotyou (AAMI Vase) won on the support card.

Danny O'Brien - Flemington

Danny has proven himself to be one of Australia's finest thoroughbred horse trainers who continues to produce outstanding results. His ability to place horses ideally has ensured that he has maintained a strike rate to make him the envy of his competitors.

By no means an overnight success story, Danny O'Brien is hard working, ambitious and dedicated with a clear vision to be the leading racehorse training operation in Australia.

Raised on a property which bred and reared racehorses, Danny's love of the animal commenced as a child. His thirst for knowledge and passion of horses continued as he worked alongside some of Australia's top trainers.

A true horseman, with a "hands on" approach, Danny secured his trainers licence and his career commenced at Epsom in 1995. Within months he had certainly made his presence felt. Mad Hatter saluted the judge giving Danny his first metropolitan winner on the 26th December 1995.

Over the past 14 years, Danny O'Brien has accomplished numerous Group and Stakes winning victories throughout Australia with horses such as Porto Roca, Glamour Puss, Master O'Reilly, Douro Valley Valedictum, Absolut Glam, Juste Momente, Demerger and Ferocity to name a few. Having won Group 1 races in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide, he is not afraid to travel his team.

He took Glamour Puss to England to compete in the Global Sprint Challenge, Douro Valley to compete on International Day at Sha Tin in Hong Kong as well as Valedictum and Barbaricus for the rich Dubai autumn carnival.

Danny has made a habit of producing history making results. He became the first trainer in over a century to achieve the Group 1 winning double of training the SAJC Goodwood Handicap/Adelaide Cup winners in 2005. That same year, he produced two Group 1 winners over the Melbourne Cup Carnival. He then went on to lead in the quinella in the 2007 Group 1 Caulfield Cup with Master O'Reilly downing stablemate Douro Valley, something last achieved 25 years before.

Whilst Danny's priority is to train winners, he has set up a structure around him to ensure that his horses, clients and staff enjoy the experience. Having acquired a 160 acre property at Barwon Heads, less than 100 kms out of Melbourne, the future looks very bright. 

So successful is Danny's operation and brand, leading Thoroughbred Racing and Melbourne Cup Sponsor, Emirates, have secured his services through sponsorship to assist with their promotion of racing in Australia.

Mick Price - Flemington

Since taking out his licence in 1991, Mick Price has firmly established himself as one of the leading racehorse trainers in Australia.

Some of the stakes performed horses to be trained by Mick include Pompeii Ruler, Rustic Dream, Slavonic, Vocabulary, Kempinsky, French Bid, Halibery, Intelligent Star, Mr Trickster, World Peace, Kylikwong, Tanith, Chattanooga, Amtrak, Red Dazzler, Pure Harmony, Doubting, La Bella Dame etc.

In 2003 Mick trained the trifecta in the Group 3 Blue Diamond Preview with Halibery, Gaelic Princess and Roedean, while World Peace took out the race for the stable in 2004.

Mick kept his fantastic record with two-year-olds intact by winning both the colts and fillies divisions of the Blue Diamond Preludes in 2005 with Perfectly Ready and Doubting.

In 2007 he continued his stakes winning trend by taking out the Group 1 Underwood Stakes with Rubiscent, the Group 2 Sandown Guineas with Schilling and the Group 3 Sandown Stakes with Gotta Have Heart, just to name a few.

Mick has also tasted success in the Futurity Stakes (G1), Railway Stakes (G1), Goodwood Handicap (G1), Toorak Hadicap (G1), Norman Carlyon Stakes (G2), Angus Armanasco Stakes (G2), AAMI Vase (G2), Swettenham Stud Stakes (G2), Bill Stutt Stakes (G2), Moonee Valley Cup (G2), Woodstock Stakes (G2), Kewney Stakes (G2), Yallambee Stud Stakes (G2), JJ Liston Stakes (G2), Craiglee Stakes (G2) and been placed in the Caulfield Guineas (G1), Yalumba Stakes (G1), 1000 Guineas (G1), Victoria Derby (G1), VRC Oaks (G1), Blue Diamond Stakes (G1), Manikato Stakes (G1) and C. F. Orr Stakes (G1) among others.

2008/2009 Season has started off in terrific style with Light Fantastic winning the Group 2 JJ Liston Stakes. The Sth Yarra Stakes Group 3 was won by Vivacious Spirit. Group 1 New Zealander Alamosa won the Group 1 Toorak Hcp and Damselfly won the Group 3 Thoroughbred Club. In total, Mick won six Group 1 races, five Group 2 events, five Group 3 events and six Listed races for the season among his massive total of 124 winners for the racing year.  Below are all the stats and figures.

Now in 2009/2010 Mick has just trained his 15th Group 1 winner with Heart Of Dreams winning the Underwood Stakes at Caulfield on September 19, 2009.

Mick Price has consistently trained over 100 winners per season in the last five years and his strike rate is second to none.

Gai Waterhouse - Randwick

After a 15-year apprenticeship with her father, the legendary TJ Smith, and a prolonged battle with officialdom, Gai was granted her licence to train thoroughbreds in January 1992, ultimately taking the reins as Randwick's leading trainer.

Gai Waterhouse Racing Stables - In just over a decade at the helm of mighty Tulloch Lodge, Gai Waterhouse has established a place among the nation's all-time leading trainers, combining tradition and innovation to reach the pinnacle of her profession. Focus, vision and unflagging energy have enabled Gai Waterhouse to capture 93 Group 1 winners, more than 300 coveted black type trophies, four NSW Premierships, 7 Sydney Trainer's Premierships and won leading G1 trainer for 08/09 season.