Recruiter to give Ludwig early birthday celebration

By Glenn Davis

Far North Queensland trainer Ricky Ludwig is confident Recruiter can provide him with an early birthday celebration with a Country Stampede qualifying win at Ewan on Friday.

Recruiter takes his first step towards the $105,000 Country Stampede Final when he resumes in the Ewan Bracelet - an early qualifying race for the December 6 final at Doomben.

Ludwig turns 72 on Sunday week and has never had a runner in the Country Stampede Final, however, he’s adamant former stable star Tycoon Thunder would have won the 2021 edition had he not been injured in the week leading up to the final.

“I’ve had two runners in the Battle Of The Bush finals, one in the Country Cups Challenge Final but I’m yet to saddle one up in the Stampede Final,” Ludwig said.

“I still believe Tycoon Thunder would have won the Stampede Final in his year had he not been injured just before the race.”

While Ludwig hopes to qualify both Recruiter and stablemate Napoleon Strike for the Doomben final, he has already declared his pick.

“Recruiter is the main hope and I’m expecting him to qualify when he runs at Ewan,” Ludwig said.

“If he doesn’t then he’ll go to Gordonvale next to try to qualify.”

Recruiter performed strongly at his last appearance when fourth to the Lindsay Hatch-trained Peshwa in the Battle Of The Bush Final at Eagle Farm in June.

“He was only beaten just over one length after he stood in the barriers for a very long time,” Ludwig said.

“A horse played up on his inside and he stood a bit flat footed when they jumped and he got back a bit further than we had hoped.”

Recruiter hasn’t had a barrier trial to prepare him for his return to racing but Ludwig is not concerned.

“I never give my horses a barrier trial before they race but I always have them ready to fire first-up,” Ludwig said.

“Barrier trials are for Gai Waterhouse and Chris Waller, not Ricky Ludwig.”

Ludwig trained for many years at Beaudesert, south of Brisbane, before moving to Malanda, near Tolga on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland.

He has trained some useful sprinters during his career including Sundae Jester who won 21 races and Row Boat who notched up 14 wins when he was based at Beaudesert as well as former north Queensland star Windmill Lane.

He also trained Pan Gold who was narrowly beaten when second to Chance Always in the 1983 Queensland Cup at Eagle Farm.

More broadly, the two-day carnival of racing at Ewan will take place this Friday and Saturday, with trainers, jockeys and punters coming from far and wide to set up camp a few days.

Earlier this week, the Club welcomed the famous Melbourne Cup trophy through its doors, as part of the annual Lexus Melbourne Cup tour - sharing the magic of Australia’s most iconic race with communities far and wide.

Ewan Amateur Turf Club President David Woodhouse said the Cup's visit to the region set the scene for what will be another memorable carnival of racing in the state's north. 

"There’s been good supporters for a long time, there’s no individual horse or trainer but they’ve always continued to support," Woodhouse said. 

"We’ve had the 2025 Melbourne Cup here on its tour...and for community and family within our region it’s a huge event for sure. 

"It’s the one main event they come to each year but it’s all about family. It’s an under 18 event, we’ll have 800-900 kids under 18 at our event this weekend which leads them into getting a taste for it and hopefully getting into racing."

The club was first established in April 1922, around 160km north of Townsville at the old tin mining township of Ewan, and closed down in 1934 due to the impact of the Great Depression.

It experienced a revival in 1955 and held an annual event until, after much discussion and debate, the club was relocated to its present site on Stockyard Creek in 1970, with the first meeting held in 1971.

After almost 100 years of grass-fed racing, the club switched to corn-fed meetings in 2015, and held its first TAB race day in 2021.