Darryl Sherer
Joe Waldron gained his thoroughbred grounding from the very best in the business and he’s now putting that experience to his own benefit.
The 25-year-old has established a training and pre-training operation at Te Awamutu and recently saddled his first winner when Princess Dillon was successful at New Plymouth.
“It was a huge thrill and hopefully I don’t have to wait too long for another one,” he said.
Waldron has branched out on his own after a period as travelling foreman with the powerful Cambridge stable of Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman.
“I was with Mongolian Khan when he won the Caulfield Cup and finished up after the Oaks-Derby double (Bonneval and Jon Snow) in Sydney,” he said.
The multiple Group One winner Turn Me Loose was another star performer Waldron was associated with.
“I couldn’t have wished for a better pair than Murray and Andrew to have done an apprenticeship with,” he said.
“I’ve got 18 with a split between racehorses and youngsters in pre-training,” he said. “I’ve got three tried horses and the rest are two and three-year-olds. I kicked off in mid-May and it’s building up nicely.
“I’m doing quite a few pre-trainers for Murray and Andrew and slowly building up the racing team. I’ve had a couple for Tony Pike and Stephen Marsh as well.”
He is also enjoying strong support from high-profile identities Lindsay de Souza, who was part of the Turn Me Loose ownership team, and Novara Park’s Luigi Muollo.
“Lindsay has been fantastic and I’ve got a couple for him and the Turn Me Loose crew and for Luigi as well so I’m slowly pulling a team together,” he said.
Waldron is an accomplished horseman and rides all his own work.
“Racing has always been in the family and I mainly come from an eventing background,” he said.
“I was on a couple of Olympic development squads and rode for New Zealand a couple of times.”
His first thoroughbred success with Princess Dillon prompted a family celebration as the Dylan Thomas mare is raced by his mother Sharon.
“We bought her at the Karaka broodmare sale in May and paid $1200 for her,” Waldron said. “She’ll stay all day, the further we take her the better.” – NZ Racing Desk.