Juggling act for jockey and QOTT retrainer

By Andrew Smith

You’d be hard pressed to find someone who says Nikki Olzard has too much time on her hands.

The 18-year-old is one of Queensland Off-The-Track’s youngest Acknowledged Retrainers, the program’s only retrainer that works with both Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds.

On top of that though, Olzard recently completed her required set of public trials and had her first rides as an apprentice jockey in Gladstone in May.

A fruitful few weeks followed, with the teenager posting nine wins over two months across meetings in Longreach, Thangool, Barcaldine, Springsure, Mackay, Alpha and Emerald.

It makes for a particularly gruelling schedule for Olzard who has to juggle her trackwork and stable commitments with her care of retired racehorses, as well as the travel between tracks across the Capricornia region.

“I ride at work in the mornings, go home and ride the off-the-trackers during the day, and then come back to work at the stable in the afternoons,” Olzard said.

“I start at 3am and don’t finish until about 8am at the track, and then do the stables in the afternoon from 2pm to 4pm.

“My Saturdays are generally spent racing and Sundays are OTT competitions.”

Based in the Gracemere area just outside Rockhampton, Olzard has been around horses her entire life, first sitting on one when she was just 10 days old.

What followed was an extensive list of equestrian achievements, ranging from showjumping, dressage, hacking and gymkhanas, to campdrafting and even the Australian Light Horse.

Working for the Coome Racing stable piqued her interest in becoming more involved with racehorse aftercare.

“Coome Racing - that I’ve worked at for nearly three years now - offered me a horse probably about two months after I started and it just started from there pretty much,” Olzard said.

“It’s always been a bit of an interest - I’ve always had the horses and it’s just another opportunity.

“It gives the horses something to do after they finish racing, and gives them a second chance.”

Olzard has only just joined the QOTT Acknowledged Retrainer ranks after turning 18 in May, and has mum Maree to help out with the seven horses in their care, which includes six Thoroughbreds and one Standardbred.

“Mum has been really good - she does a lot of the groundwork and other stuff for me,” Olzard said.

“Standardbreds are very versatile with what they do, and they’re a lot more level minded than some of the Thoroughbreds.”

“Realistically I take any horses that are given to me, and then I assess them to see what discipline they would suit.

Olzard has already had plenty of success in the showjumping arena, with former racehorse Traq taking out the Rockhampton Equestrian Group’s 2022 OTT Hi Points Award in the Junior Division.

With the Gladstone Calliope Equestrian Group’s CQ Showjumping Championships last month, and a burgeoning riding career, the youngster isn’t keen on slowing down anytime soon.

“Hopefully I can keep doing both of them (riding and off-the-track retraining) – the retraining gives me something to do in my off time,” Olzard said.

“The QOTT program is really good, and very beneficial for everyone.”

Olzard has had great success with retraining and rehoming 30 off the track horses over recent years, and has proven age is no barrier to getting on board with the QOTT Acknowledged Retrainer program.

“Just have a go - before you try to become a retrainer just get a couple of horses, see if you enjoy doing it but there’s no point doing it if you don’t enjoy it,” Olzard said.

“You want to have good groundwork done – you want to make sure the horse is nice and supple to ride and very kind.”