Kris Thomas emerges from behind the scenes

By Jordan Gerrans

Central Queensland’s Kris Thomas is usually a ‘behind the scenes man’ as he pre-trains and owns a glut of gallopers in the region. 

But, his name was up in lights on Thursday of last week when a horse he trains and owns won in commanding fashion at Mackay. 

In true Thomas fashion, the horse – Better Be Ready – has already transferred over to another trainer as he returns to his ‘behind the scenes man’ role. 

The 43-year-old has held his own training licence for the last year or so but has mainly referred to Joshua Manzelmann and Jennifer Hatfield, among others, to prepare his gallopers. 

In just his fifth starter as a trainer, Better Be Ready won by more than four lengths on Thursday at Mackay and the team already have the feature NQ Classic on the agenda with the talented four-year-old. 

“I don’t think I have been that nervous since I used to play footy,” Thomas said about his emotions before the races on Thursday. 

“I was up at 1am just looking at the horse making sure he was okay. It is a lot different to just owning them.”

The Sarina-based Thomas owned a large chunk of Better Be Ready when he was previously prepared by Kelly Schweida in the city.

The son of Better Than Ready won on debut at Ipswich over the 800 metre scamper in November of last year but he was only able to place once in seven subsequent runs. 

In his first look at race conditions in Mackay in a Class 1 Plate over 1560 metres, Better Be Ready sat on the pace and scored with ease. 

“I just thought I’d have a bit of a go with this one as I owned half of him when he was with Kelly,” Thomas said.

“I wanted to see how hard it is to train as I got my trainer’s ticket about a year ago.

“That is one of the first times I have had a proper dig and taken one to the races. 

"He blitzed them on Thursday.

“I was amazed that they bet the $4 at one stage - it must have been because I was the trainer, because if Kelly was still the trainer it would have been much shorter. The horse won easy.”

Thomas reported post-race that high-level hoop Sean Cormack is keen to stick with the gelding through his preparation following Thursday’s romp. 

The feature NQ Classic for three and four-year-olds is now on the agenda for Better Be Ready. 

The $35,000 event is for QTIS-eligible gallopers over 1800 metres and will be run on the last Saturday of this month at Mackay. 

The stayer-in-the-making has already been transferred to Manzelmann’s barn in anticipation of the race. 

The team will take the gelding to Bowen next Tuesday in his final hit-out for the NQ Classic. 

Thomas is also keen to get a few country TAB starts into Better Be Ready so he will be qualified for regional racing series’ such as the Country Cups Challenge down the line. 

As an owner, Thomas has enjoyed success in recent years with gallopers such as Acrophobic, who Hatfield prepares, while Montenegro Man won 11 races including the Cairns Newmarket in 2024. 

Thomas’ horses race in orange and black silks with lightning bolts which were designed to emulate his favourite NRL side, the Wests Tigers.

The passionate industry participant got his love for the game from his Pop who owned a number of horses in regional New South Wales when Thomas was a youngster.

On top of pre-training his horses, Thomas also runs a cattle property in Central Queensland.

“I have built a little track here where I live and then take them to the beach as well as swimming them,” he said.

“I have been trying different things to freshen it up. I do all the pre-training for all my horses up here.

“I do most of it, get them up to fast work and then give them to the trainer before they start their race prep

“It is better that way so I can enjoy myself at the races and not have to worry about training on the day.”

The Thomas and Manzelmann team have invested more so in babies in recent years, including breeding a few themselves, instead of buying tried gallopers. 

They have around seven two-year-olds getting ready for the new season and already have their eyes set on the Pallarenda Stakes at Cluden Park in Townsville. 

“We are starting to get a better strike-rate with it than what we had at the start,” he said.