Showjumper turns his hand to training race horses

By Jordan Gerrans

Brock Everingham has long dreamed of an Olympic bid and now the Marburg horseman has made the successful transition to preparing winning thoroughbreds.

After taking out his galloper's training license earlier this year, the 28-year-old won his first race in the code on Friday afternoon of last week at Gatton.

The Tweed Heads product only has a small team of gallopers in work as well as juggling his showjumpers and day job on the side.

With an extensive history in a number of disciplines in the equine area, Everingham is now keen to build up his stable numbers and make a real fist of training race horses.

He has recently made the move back to Queensland to set up shop at Marburg on 80 acres, a facility which includes a track to work race horses on.

“I have always had such a passion for the thoroughbreds from working with them at such a young age at the showjumping and riding them at pony club when I was eight years of age,” he said.

“It sort of just made sense to start training as it was the right time in my life to be able to do it.

“Down the track I will try and upgrade my license so I can get a few more owners into the stable.

“Hopefully not too far around the corner I will be able to have a few more horses.

“My partner and I bought a property in Marburg and have spent the last 18 months setting it up as a spelling and pre-training facility - incorporating our background in showjumping to improve the standard of education in racehorses.”

Over the sharp 860 metre trip, it was mare Sister Georgia who handed Everingham his maiden victory as a trainer.

The four-year-old had only been in his stable for a couple of starts before Friday’s assignment but she was able to lead under the urgings of apprentice Corey Sutherland and she had enough in the finish to hold on.

Everingham knows jockey Corey Sutherland and his father Stephen Sutherland – who is also a trainer – from their days together in country NSW and the rookie conditioner says the connection with the family made the milestone win all that more significant.

“She has been an interesting little mare and she has taken a bit of time to get going,” the young horseman said.

“Hopefully we can start to reap the rewards now. It has been great.

“To finally get the monkey off my back and get my first winner, it was a huge success and I was very happy.

“It was special to do it with Corey as well as I know him and his father from Tamworth, it made the win all that little bit more special.”

Everingham is an accomplished rider in several areas.

He has ridden track work for many years – including at Murwillumbah on the Northern Rivers of NSW - as well as representing Queensland as a showjumper in New Zealand when he was a teenager.

Everingham has dreamed of representing Australia at the Olympics in showjumping and also spent many years trying to break the high jump world record, which is a single high fence at 2.5 metres.

With his small team of gallopers, Everingham is aiming to incorporate all his history and knowledge into their racing preparations.

“This mare Sister Georgia, I do a fair bit on the arena with her,” he said.

“She has quite a lot going on in her head and it is great to get her off the track and into the arena and canter over a few poles.

“It is good to take her mind off actually wanting to go fast, while getting her to settle a little bit.

“Becoming a trainer has always been a goal and moving to Queensland setting up the property has enabled that.

“I really do believe my success with the thoroughbreds so far is from incorporating my background in showjumping - taking them off the race track, schooling them on the arena, breaking up their routine and educating them slightly differently to the norm.”

Everingham also had another galloper from his team start at Gatton on Friday with Crazy About You going around.

The gelding has had four starts for Everingham and has since gone for a spell following Friday’s effort.

Everingham went close to preparing his first winner with Klang Boy last month at Clifford Park when the gelding was rolled in a tight photo finish.