Hobby trainer Melissa Birt's day in the sun

By Jordan Gerrans

Darling Downs hobby trainer Melissa Birt is optimistic there is more to come after nabbing the maiden victory of her training tenure at Mitchell on Saturday afternoon. 

Birt’s Hoffman was able to win by almost a length following a smart ride from up-and-coming apprentice Brea Harrison at the country track. 

Hoffman is only a recent acquisition for the small Birt team after previously being prepared by Billy Healey at Caloundra and he was able to prevail in a Benchmark 55 Handicap over 1000 metres. 

The 39-year-old Birt was full of praise for the condition Healey presented Hoffman in when he lobbed at her Oakey stable following her $2,250 purchase. 

The son of Spirit Of Boom had his first run at Clifford Park for Birt earlier this month where he was well beaten. 

The four-year-old appreciated the drop back to non-TAB grade on Saturday and collected the second win of his career at just his eighth attempt. 

The triumph was Birt’s maiden as a trainer after first taking a galloper to the races in her own name in late August of this year. 

“I am stoked,” Birt said of the win at Maranoa Diggers' Race Club.

“It was an absolute thrill and a bit of a shock.

“I am a bit of a one-man band because I do it all myself with my horses but there have been a few people that have been helping me at Toowoomba.

“They have got me tickling along well and I need to thank all of them.

“A few of Joe Gleeson’s staff have been really helpful towards me in the morning.

“I wouldn’t have won this race if not for that support team around me.”

Birt has only had Hoffman in her care for the last month or so and says she changed a few things with his work after noticing he was battling through a wind problem. 

Like Birt’s stable, Gleeson’s has also been up in lights in recent days. 

The Toowoomba trainer nabbed the first city victory of his training career when Mr Worthington won a three-year-old event at Eagle Farm on Saturday. 

The Gleeson team have prepared two winners this month and Birt said it was well deserved for the hard-working Clifford Park conditioner. 

Fledgling hoop Harrison positioned Hoffman just behind the leader through much of the trip before presenting him at the top of the straight and the gelding did the rest.

Mature-aged apprentice Harrison has grabbed two winners in the last week and Birt was quick to acknowledge the jockey’s ride aboard her breakthrough galloper. 

“She rode him perfectly,” Birt said.

“That is where I need to give all the credit, to her.

“He seemed to like the track, as well.”

Birt has not long ago returned to the racing industry after previously working as a stablehand for former trainer Mervyn Lewis earlier in her life.

She says she had always been keen to train racehorses but while managing work and her children, the opportunity had only arisen recently. 

Birt also took Destiny Gungho to Mitchell on Saturday with the five-year-old gelding still searching for the maiden win of his career after his 18^th attempt.

Cunnamulla trainer Monique Gavin has also been a big inspiration for Birt. 

"She has been a daily go to for me, helped with my licence and through everything the past 18 months," Birt said. 

"Monique is doing amazingly well in only I think her fourth year of training and has just expanded her stable.

"She's got me to where I am especially with her time and effort with me when she doesn't need to do it."