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Former jockey Adrian Coome hopes to continue great start to his training career.

24 October 2018

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By Glenn Davis

Former top central Queensland jockey Adrian Coome is hoping to maintain his perfect strike rate in his new career as a trainer at Rockhampton on Thursday.

Four-year-old mare That’s Anna, which is owned by Coome's family, gave the rookie trainer his first win with his first starter when she won a 1200-metre maiden at Rockhampton on October 20.

Coome’s wife Peta and his father-in-law Andrew Wright own the daughter of Benfica who was originally trained by Andrew Suli before leading central Queensland trainer Tom Button had her for her first two starts.

That’s Anna was dual accepted in the Class Two Handicap (1300m) and the Ratings Benchmark 55 Handicap (1050m) but Coombe will send her around in the Class Two after she drew barrier five compared to gate eight in the Benchmark race.

“She would have needed to draw inside five in the Benchmark race to have any chance in it as she would get too far back,” Coome said.

“I couldn’t have started my training career any better when That's Anna won last time and I’m confident she'll go well in the Class Two.

“It’s a big jump from a maiden to a Class 1 let alone a Class 2 but it’s doesn’t look an overly strong field.

“It was a tough win when she won her Maiden. She had to work hard early from a bad barrier and toughed it out well.”

In his riding days, Coome won seven Rockhampton jockeys’ premierships and two in Mackay but his career was plagued with weight problems.

He gave riding away for 12 months last year before making a comeback about two months ago but it lasted for only three rides.

Among his list of achievements was winning the Rockhampton Cup three times as well as three Rockhampton Newmarkets and three Townsville Cups.

“I’ve always wanted to train and I’ve been thinking about it for a while when I was offered a few to train," he said.

“I didn’t have the desire to continue riding. It was pretty tough trying to lose weight all the time.

“I always said if I didn’t have the right attitude to ride and win at all costs I wouldn’t do it.”

Coome has eight boxes at his Callaghan Park stables and has five of them already filled.

Racing Queensland webnews   October 24