Simone's combination to crack the codes

Well-known Victorian harness racing trainer Simone Walker is thoroughly enjoying her dabble into the thoroughbred ranks.

Despite years of experience with the standardbreds, Simone admits she's still learning at the gallops game, but she's also enjoying her fair share of success along the way.

"It's been heaps of fun and so far, and doing the both codes of racing is working fine," Simone said.

"My first love is probably harness racing because that's what our family's always been involved in, and you also get to be more hands on. I still get a buzz out of driving, but I think it was my partner Andrew who got me started on thinking about gallopers," she said.

"We weren't making a lot in harness racing and the prize money in the thoroughbreds is unreal, so we decided to give it a go."

Based at the family farm at Pearcedale, near Cranbourne, where she's been for 30 years, Simone and Andrew have seven standardbreds in work along with four thoroughbreds.

"Combining the two is working out well, but we're determined not to go too high in numbers because then you start cutting corners," Simone said.

"I do some of the jog work with the gallopers at home and we also take them into Cranbourne when they need a solid hit out. We have trackwork riders we use, and we've got stables that are allocated to us for three hours in the morning.

"The trainers in the next-door stables to us are awesome. We are really lucky because they give us advice and they're always willing to offer a hand."

It would be a fair bet that Walker will never forget her first thoroughbred winner. Ultimate Shock lived up to his name at Moe on November 21 of last year.

"I think he started at 40/1, but his work at home had been good," she said.

"We got him on an online auction, and he had a few fetlock problems-but most of the horses you purchase that way have issues. We are getting more experienced and always learning as we go."

Ultimate Shock, now a 10-year-old, has three wins from 20 starts.

Walker's latest gallops success was at Pakenham recently, when well-supported gelding Thunder Pace scored impressively over Valentina Star, prepared by the renowned Maher-Eustace team.

Thunder Pace strides to the finish line to win at Pakenham for dual-coded trainer Simone Walker

"He was another one we got through an online auction, and we paid about $1800 for him," she said.

"He was once in the Gai Waterhouse stable in Sydney. Gai and her owners set the bar pretty high though, and they'd won one or two with him but he had leg issues. They moved him on, so we thought he was worth a go," Walker said.

"We've now won two with him because he also got the money back in June on the synthetic at Pakenham."

Walker has strong family ties with harness racing, working with her late father, highly-respected and popular horseman Bill Walker for many years. Bill passed away in February last year-just a few days after Simone saddled up her very first gallops runner at Sale.

Simone was the stable driver in the father-daughter combination, and a successful partnership it was. They had Lombo Skyrider (2001 Australian 2YO Pacer of the Year) as well as talented trotters Stoned At Midnight and Stoned I Am. In addition, they had multiple G1 winner and InterDominion runner-up Hectorjayjay who started his career with Bill Walker before being sold.

"Stoned At Midnight was a ripper. She was just gorgeous and has gone on to be a good broodmare," Simone said

"Dad used to do all the breaking-in, but now that's Andrew's job and he's very good. He works as a builder, but he loves the horses," she said.

Simone and Andrew have some bright prospects in the harness racing ranks, headed by three-year-old Dennis William, a winner of five of his eight lifetime outings.

"He is exceptional and should develop into a really nice horse," Simone said.

"We've also got a good old boy and a favorite of mine in Reclusive. He's got some joint issues but has been in the placings at some recent Melton meetings."

Reclusive is a winner of seven races for stakes of over $57,000.

Talented, but unpredictable trotter Fend Off recently trialled impressively and Simone has her fingers crossed for an exciting campaign for the owners, the Cranbourne Club 21 syndicate.

"He's got speed to burn, but really is a nut case. We got him quite tractable a while ago, but then he broke another bone in his leg and had to be tipped out," she said.

"But he has come back in good order, so here's hoping!"

 

Terry Gange

NewsAlert PR Mildura