Graham Richardson
Trish Dunell
Graham Richardson doesn't just have skin in the game, to use the racing quote du jour - by his own admission he has his heart in it too.
The Matamata trainer enjoyed a successful weekend with four winners at two venues on Saturday, catapulting him up the trainers' premiership. However, he is not letting the run of success go to his head.
"It's my job," he said, dismissing the suggestion that a quartet of winners might be something worth celebrating.
Not that there was even time to acknowledge those successes with today's meeting at Ellerslie ensuring there was no "day of rest" for Richardson.
The dapperly-dressed trainer found his way to his chosen career following what is best described as an "interesting" time in the saddle.
"I didn't ride, I tried to!" he recalled. "I rode over jumps for 18 months and during that time I broke nine bones."
"I love adrenaline and I always wanted to ride a winner, which I did, then I retired," he said.
Despite having only once sat on a horse when he was 13, Richardson was determined to make his future in racing from the time he began working for training legend Jim Gibbs as a youngster. But, perhaps thankfully, given his ability as a rider, life as a jockey wasn't his focus.
"At 12-years-old I knew I wanted to be a horse trainer," he said. The fact his schoolyard mates read like a who's who of Matamata racing stables quite possibly contributed to that decision. "Just as well I wasn't hanging around with car thieves," he quipped.
That desire to train horses was realised when Mike Moroney took him into partnership. "We would spend hours working in the evenings looking at where to place horses," he recalled. "I learned so much off him, he was a very good horseman, but then so was Gibbsy and DJ, [O'Sullivan] I learned so much off everybody."
After two years Richardson bit the bullet and branched out on his own. "I am very driven and thought why work for someone when you can work for yourself. People had got to know me when I was working for Mike but even so it was very hard," he said.
After twenty-something years training on his own behalf Richardson is not taking things for granted.
"Even now it is still hard," he said. "As a trainer you have to sell yourself and promote yourself and make sure you look after your owners."
In that area Richardson said he is lucky to have the support of wife, Rochelle who is the driver behind the stable's television advertising, along with their social media presence.
"She is very switched on and is a big part of the business, looking after our Twitter and Facebook as well," he said.
Despite the seven-day-a-week nature of life as a trainer, Richardson ensures time is always made for family life with Rochelle and sons Matthew and Heath.
"Family will always come first and when I do get a little spare time we try to get to the beach and relax," he said.
Of course, while the rest of the country looks to wind down and enjoy family as the festive season approaches, for those in the racing industry the pace increases.
"This is our busiest time of the year," Richardson said. "There is not only racing but we are also really busy looking at yearlings, then we have the Ellerslie carnival, the Wellington carnival, and yearling sales."
With the yearling sales come the challenges of replenishing the stable's stock and matching those horses purchased with owners. It has been well documented that Richardson took a $240,000 punt when buying the unbeaten winner of her five lifetime starts, Volpe Veloce, without owners in mind. "It's a lot of pressure, it took 13 months to find owners for her," Richardson said. "We were in the same situation with Strada Cavallo when we bought her too."
Given the investment from trainers Richardson believes there should be more support from the Racing Board in the area of stakes. "We are putting the product on the table and getting no thanks," he said. "We - all of us trainers - are promoting the industry and getting new owners but we are getting no thanks. If they don't have our horses and our owners then they don't have anything to bet on!"
While he admits he does have concerns about the industry Richardson said his competitive nature is what ensures he gets out of bed and to the stables in the morning.
"I do love the game," he said. "I"ve met some amazing people, people worldwide that you wouldn't have met if it wasn't for racing." -NZ Racing Desk
The Matamata trainer enjoyed a successful weekend with four winners at two venues on Saturday, catapulting him up the trainers' premiership. However, he is not letting the run of success go to his head.
"It's my job," he said, dismissing the suggestion that a quartet of winners might be something worth celebrating.
Not that there was even time to acknowledge those successes with today's meeting at Ellerslie ensuring there was no "day of rest" for Richardson.
The dapperly-dressed trainer found his way to his chosen career following what is best described as an "interesting" time in the saddle.
"I didn't ride, I tried to!" he recalled. "I rode over jumps for 18 months and during that time I broke nine bones."
"I love adrenaline and I always wanted to ride a winner, which I did, then I retired," he said.
Despite having only once sat on a horse when he was 13, Richardson was determined to make his future in racing from the time he began working for training legend Jim Gibbs as a youngster. But, perhaps thankfully, given his ability as a rider, life as a jockey wasn't his focus.
"At 12-years-old I knew I wanted to be a horse trainer," he said. The fact his schoolyard mates read like a who's who of Matamata racing stables quite possibly contributed to that decision. "Just as well I wasn't hanging around with car thieves," he quipped.
That desire to train horses was realised when Mike Moroney took him into partnership. "We would spend hours working in the evenings looking at where to place horses," he recalled. "I learned so much off him, he was a very good horseman, but then so was Gibbsy and DJ, [O'Sullivan] I learned so much off everybody."
After two years Richardson bit the bullet and branched out on his own. "I am very driven and thought why work for someone when you can work for yourself. People had got to know me when I was working for Mike but even so it was very hard," he said.
After twenty-something years training on his own behalf Richardson is not taking things for granted.
"Even now it is still hard," he said. "As a trainer you have to sell yourself and promote yourself and make sure you look after your owners."
In that area Richardson said he is lucky to have the support of wife, Rochelle who is the driver behind the stable's television advertising, along with their social media presence.
"She is very switched on and is a big part of the business, looking after our Twitter and Facebook as well," he said.
Despite the seven-day-a-week nature of life as a trainer, Richardson ensures time is always made for family life with Rochelle and sons Matthew and Heath.
"Family will always come first and when I do get a little spare time we try to get to the beach and relax," he said.
Of course, while the rest of the country looks to wind down and enjoy family as the festive season approaches, for those in the racing industry the pace increases.
"This is our busiest time of the year," Richardson said. "There is not only racing but we are also really busy looking at yearlings, then we have the Ellerslie carnival, the Wellington carnival, and yearling sales."
With the yearling sales come the challenges of replenishing the stable's stock and matching those horses purchased with owners. It has been well documented that Richardson took a $240,000 punt when buying the unbeaten winner of her five lifetime starts, Volpe Veloce, without owners in mind. "It's a lot of pressure, it took 13 months to find owners for her," Richardson said. "We were in the same situation with Strada Cavallo when we bought her too."
Given the investment from trainers Richardson believes there should be more support from the Racing Board in the area of stakes. "We are putting the product on the table and getting no thanks," he said. "We - all of us trainers - are promoting the industry and getting new owners but we are getting no thanks. If they don't have our horses and our owners then they don't have anything to bet on!"
While he admits he does have concerns about the industry Richardson said his competitive nature is what ensures he gets out of bed and to the stables in the morning.
"I do love the game," he said. "I"ve met some amazing people, people worldwide that you wouldn't have met if it wasn't for racing." -NZ Racing Desk