Beer and Carpenter bringing a gun to the room in Brisbane

By Jordan Gerrans

The high-profile Mitchell Beer has revealed it was young Queenslander George Carpenter’s attention to detail that convinced him to enter a training partnership with the former Caloundra conditioner. 

The Sunshine Coast product initially trained a small team of his own in the Sunshine State before recently shifting to New South Wales to take up an assistant trainer’s role with Beer.

In recent months, they have gone into a training partnership as co-trainers.

After a strong start to the 2025-26 season together, the newly minted operation travels their first runner back to where Carpenter cut his teeth in the game this Saturday afternoon. 

The Beer and Carpenter team have last start Newcastle winner Gunroom entered for the Class 3 Plate over 1350 metres at Doomben.

After preparing a couple of winners in his first foray into training on his own, the up-and-coming Carpenter gets his maiden chance to win a city race in Queensland.

Carpenter is just 26 years of age. 

The charismatic Beer has developed a sizeable following for his stable in recent years through his social media presence and, of course, the winning results on the track.

The Kembla Grange-based Beer says his new co-trainer is now getting the recognition he deserves for all his hard work behind the scenes by being listed in the form guide.

“I think his attention to detail is what stands out,” Beer said about Carpenter. 

“He is very thorough as a kid. He presents himself well to owners and staff. He is quite an understanding person when things do not go to plan or they do not work out.

“In this game, if you take 100 winners to the race and you only lose 80 times – you are flying.

“The ability to process losing is something people need because it is hard for kids these days who want to win straight away and want everything now. George gets the whole picture and he has been a great addition.”

The new training team was unveiled in late August. 

They have collected eight winners dating back to late September, including Sunrise’s triumph on Melbourne Cup day at Randwick. 

“I’m really proud to be stepping into the co-trainer role,” Carpenter said when the partnership was announced.

“It means a lot to have Mitch’s trust and the support of such a great team and group of owners.

“I’m looking forward to continuing the work we’ve started together.”

The former Chancellor State College student on the Sunshine Coast previously worked for Stuart Kendrick and Matthew Hoysted before having his first runner in April of last year.

The 37-year-old Beer had long been searching for a training partner and says he clicked with Carpenter when he initially lobbed at his stables. 

“I think in this day and age, training is a two-person job,” Beer said.

“It is a big commitment to train horses; it is your whole life, so you need the drive and need to live that lifestyle.

“When George came down, we pretty much knew straight away this is what we would do in a partnership.

“We have had a great start to the partnership. It has gone terrific, we have had a winner at Randwick already and it has really started to flow.

“He has found his groove down here and he has good confidence in what he is doing. We have good confidence in each other.”

The Beer and Carpenter operation is a big one, highlighted by them having runners at seven different tracks between Friday and Monday. 

They come to the Sunshine State for the first time this weekend and Beer personally is doing a rain dance in the Wollongong region of NSW for their Doomben runner Gunroom.

Doomben is rated as a Soft 5 on Thursday afternoon with rain predicted on Friday and Saturday. 

"I think what drew us to the race in Queensland is the rain that is forecast,” Beer said. 

“He is a horse who really grows a leg on a track with a bit of give in it. I will be cheering for the rain come Friday and Saturday.

“He is fine on top of the ground, but the rain will only increase his chances and it looks like we will get some rain between now and then.”

Beer is hopeful the track gets into a Soft 7 or Heavy 8 range by Saturday afternoon. 

Gunroom has won on heavy and soft ground. 

The co-trainer believes Gunroom – who the stable only just picked up from leading Sydney trainer Joseph Pride – is well placed in a Class 3 Plate carrying 58.5kg on Saturday. 

The gelding was set to carry 60kg in a Benchmark 72 Handicap over 1300 metres at Rosehill on Wednesday if the stable opted to send him around.

The son of Snitzel has won his last two starts, with the latest being for the Beer and Carpenter team at Newcastle almost a month ago. 

“He has been a good addition to the stable,” Beer said.

“He was really good first-up. When you get one that has won in town last start, you are on a bit of a hiding to nothing

“But, the horse was really good. We had to ride him a bit upside down because the track was not playing for horses that were running on at all.

“We had to ride him outside his comfort zone, putting him outside the leader with a big weight first-up, so he did a really good job. 

“He will only come on from that and it looks like a pretty even race on Saturday.”

The stable is set to target the Provincial-Midway Championships in NSW with Gunroom early in 2026.