'Team Beck' racing into the future together

By Jordan Gerrans

While it was only a slight change in the form guide, for Toowoomba’s Nick Beck it was profound and meaningful.

The life-long racing participant would be a well-recognised name for many punters and industry followers in the Sunshine State, previously training in a partnership with Group 1-winning conditioner Rex Lipp.

He went by Nick Hahn in those days. 

When Nick decided to go out and train on his own accord earlier this year, he left his birth last name of Hahn in the past, as well.

Going out training in your own name is a big step forward in your life, just like marrying your husband is.

They both happened around the same time earlier this year for Nick as he became Nick Beck following his marriage to long-time partner Greer and he began to train under the banner of his husband’s last name.

The Toowoomba horseman explains that in the process of coming out as a gay man to his friends and family, he lost a number of relationships.

On the other hand, he gained an array of new friends and a support network he did not have previously.

So, for 'Nick Beck' to start his first runner in a race, it was a poignant moment in his life.

“I really wanted to take Greer’s name and as I said, you lose people along the way, and my Dad was one of the people I lost along the way,” Nick said.

“He could not cope with me being gay and that is his choice, but we have not spoken since in those 12 years.

“It was a big thing for me to take Greer’s name, it was a real driving factor.”

When they were married earlier this year on the Darling Downs, Greer reflects that he was not too fussed if Nick took his last name or not.

But, now that it has happened, Greer can only see positives.

“It just shows with the business of Beck Racing now that people from the outside understand more of why it is named the way it is,” Greer said.

“It is driving the business, which is great and what we want.”

Nick and Greer first met back in 2016 through mutual friends and it just blossomed from there, not long after they were dating.

They were engaged on Stradbroke Handicap day a couple of years ago and married in Toowoomba in February, 2023. 

After stepping away from the Lipp partnership, Nick now trains his own team, with Greer helping out behind the scenes.

Greer completes much of the accounts, book work and other requirements for a stable of horses behind the scenes, while also taking a galloper or two to the races when required.

Like Nick, Greer has been in the game for many years, previously managing jockeys for a quid.

The Becks reside in Toowoomba and prepare their team out of the Bahram Training and Spelling centre.

Nick hails from Toowoomba while Greer calls Roma his home town.

The Darling Downs city is a welcoming and inclusive environment for two gay men in 2023 but when Nick was growing up in the area around 2010, he refers to the town as ‘very narrow-minded’.

At the time as a late teenager, Nick was confused about who he was as a person.

He ventured to Melbourne which helped him in the context of his sexuality and it certainly did not hinder his prospects in the racing game, either.

“I was 18 years old and very confused about who I was so I needed to get away and experience it on my own,” Nick said.

“It definitely helped me a lot personally the time I had down there, on top of what I learnt from professionally.

“I made a lot of life-long friends down there and I did not come out as gay until I moved to Melbourne.

“You lose people along the way but you also gain more friends through the process than you ever thought and the more people you tell, the easier it got.

“We are getting to the stage now where in the world we people do not need to come out any more, as long as you are true to yourself – people do not care any more.”

Nick was finding himself as a person while in Victoria but he was also adding to his resume as a future thoroughbred trainer.

He worked under the guidance of another Queenslander who moved interstate in Peter Moody.

Nick cut his teeth around Clifford Park as a young fella working for stalwart trainers such as Michael Nolan, Kevin Kemp, Lipp as well as both Gollans.

He got his first job working in Nolan’s barn as a 13-year-old after school and on weekends.

After undertaking an extensive apprenticeship, Nick felt he was ready to train on his own two feet earlier in 2023 and started his first runner under his married name at Dalby in April.

“I just felt that I had learnt a lot from Rex in the two years I was there, that was the goal I set was two years and I achieved that,” the trainer said.

“There is no bad blood between Rex and I, we actually have a horse that we all have shares in.

“I felt like I was at the point where I wanted to have a crack on my own and you sort of get to the point where you either sink or swim.

“I reached that point and we wanted to have a go on our own.”

‘Beck Racing’ has 14 in work by the end of September and the trainer says he has a couple of ‘babies’ that he is looking forward to seeing hit the track in the coming months.

The 30-year-old loves working his emerging stable out of the Bahram Training and Spelling centre, describing it as a ‘relaxing’ environment.

The team have three winners in recent months.

“Racing has always been my passion,” Nick said.

“I often refer to my time with ‘Moods’ as university for me, it was a dream to be at Caulfield to be around those horses and travel away to big carnivals like Perth and Sydney.

“You pick up certain things along the way and model your own style of everything you have learnt, really.”

After starting out in the code as a 13-year-old, Nick says he has never faced any homophobia in the racing industry.

He encourages any racing participant struggling with their sexuality to “not be afraid to find yourself”.

“People will love you and accept you for you,” he said.