Hardworking local trainer Ted Grogan is kept busy with thoroughbreds and quarter horses, and stole the limelight when his very long-priced entrants made their presence felt at the Kyneton race meeting last week.
Grogan had four runners at Kyneton, with rank outsider Evolvement winning at odds of $61, Cerveau running second at $101, Discombulate finishing third at $14, and Sharkski an unlucky fifth at $41.
One of the self-confessed battlers with a long involvement in the racing industry, Grogan described it as “a good one for the stable”.
“We’ve largely got secondhand horses, but there’s some young ones coming on,” he said after eight-year-old Evolvement won the Iron Jack BM58 Handicap, 1850m, in a blanket finish to wind up the day’s racing.
He said Evolvement worked well on the track, but hadn’t been putting it together in races. The eight-year-old was previously sixth at Mortlake, but broke through for his third win in 46 starts at Kyneton, much to the delight of connections.
Ridden by in-form apprentice Logan McGill, Evolvement chased hard after runaway leader Spudfest and managed to win narrowly.
Earlier in the meeting, four-year-old gelding Cerveau ran second in a 1450m Maiden at his 10th race start, and five-year-old Discombobulate came third after a close second at Benalla four days earlier.
He said Kyneton’s Greg, Leanne and Sam Walsh had been very supportive as owners of several of the gallopers in his stable.
“And track riders Sharie and Martina are doing a great job,” he added.
THE RIGHT MOVE
Grogan and partner Lisa Patton, who operates the Black Lotus Tattoo shop in Kyneton’s High Street, are building up a horse complex on a 20-acre property off the Metcalfe Road at Greenhill, just north of Kyneton.
“We’ve just finished the yards, with more work ahead …. there’s space here for a few more gallopers if any owners are interested.”
It’s three years since Grogan moved to Kyneton from Cranbourne, where he was leasing stalls, and he describes it as “the right move”.
“It’s not far from Greenhill to the Kyneton track, and it’s centrally located as I don’t mind taking horses long distances to try and win a race,” he said.
He’s pleased to have formed an affinity with other local trainers.
With only a small team — nine in work at present — Grogan spends most mornings at the Kyneton racecourse watching his gallopers go through their work.
“I grew up in Clayton and have been around horses all my life … dad (Ted Senior) had trotters and I guess horses are in the blood.”
Grogan recalls driving a garbage truck for 15 years, and being a long-time track rider and breaker-in of horses.
Broken shoulders in a fall since coming to Kyneton have cut back his own riding activities, but haven’t dampened the enthusiasm level.
Like all trainers and owners, there’s always the lure of finding a champion.
# The next local race meeting is Kyneton Christmas Race Day this Thursday, December 5.
