Beau Gorman going his own way

By Jordan Gerrans

A homecoming to Ipswich in recent times has been the driving factor in the reemergence of Beau Gorman as a trainer in the Sunshine State. 

The 33-year-old has trained in his own right on and off over the last decade while also spending time working for bigger operations such as the Matthew Hoysted and Donna Stanbridge stables.

Back now focussing on his own training team out of the Ipswich Turf Club, the popular horseman has enjoyed a strong run of form across the 2025-26 campaign.

Gorman heads to Kilcoy on Saturday afternoon, with stable apprentice Olivia Kendal in tow, with two runners as they aim to add to their season tally.

He initially trained out of Ipswich in his early days in the caper and is glad to be back.

“Training out at Ipswich, I really like it,” Gorman said.

“It's just a really relaxed environment; just some horses that really thrive on having that relaxed environment.

“The facilities are great. It's just a really good place to train at.

“I like to keep my team small and keep my hand on things so I can be a little bit more hands-on with my horses.

“I liked it, Ipswich, when I was here before, so it drew me back here.”

He prepares around a dozen gallopers. 

While only taking 63 starters (as of Friday morning) to the races in the 2025-26 term so far, Gorman has walked away with 11 winners while striking at 17%.

Gorman’s runners also boast a 50% strike-rate for running in the top three.

The obvious aim is to win races but with Gorman’s career-best mark of his runners finishing in the money, it shows he is placing his team smartly and that they are well prepared for their assignments.

After spending time working for prominent Queensland conditioners Hoysted and Stanbridge, the horseman says he has aimed to implement learnings from their stables into his own team.

“Working for Hoysted, I watched the way he's so on to everything and he's very particular in everything he does,” Gorman said.

“I just learned that obviously to get the best out of your horses you need to have your finger on the pulse always and just being particular, making sure everything's done to the best of your ability.

“Working for Donna, she just taught me a lot in the way she managed staff, the way she managed her horses and took care of them.

“Working for both of them, it was just a really good experience and I really enjoyed it.

“I feel obviously since coming back from having that little break, I've come back a much better trainer, I would say.

“I'm a lot more aware of what needs to be done to make your horses competitive.

“Also, things like your stable structure, knowing just all the little one percenters that all add up at the end and can hopefully get you across the line.”

Ipswich Turf Club Chief Executive Officer Nathan Exelby believes up-and-coming trainers such as Gorman are key to the growth of the industry.

“I remember clearly Beau ringing in saying he wants to come back to Ipswich,” the club boss said.

“He's put together a small team and he's trying to grow that team.

“To see the results he's had since coming back is terrific.

“You want to see young guys like that continue to build and get that success.

“It's so important for the industry, not just here at Ipswich, but across the whole industry that you see young people like that coming through.”

The Gorman stable heads to Kilcoy Race Club on Saturday with Brave In Seattle in the QTIS Three-Year-Old Maiden Plate over 800 metres while in the Colts, Geldings and Entires Maiden Handicap over 1200 metres, they will present with Claw Machine.

Kendal, who has been Gorman’s long-term apprentice, takes the ride of both runners.

Claw Machine has placed in two of his last three efforts while Brave In Seattle ran second at Ipswich last month. 

While Gorman is Kendal’s boss for her apprenticeship, she admits he is more like a big brother in the way he has guided her over the years. 

“Beau, he's pretty laid-back, very cool, calm and collected,” Kendal said.

“He's been a long-time friend of mine. 

"The stable has looked after me for a long time. We work pretty well together, I think. He's a pretty good boss. 

"He lets me sort of do what I need to do. I have gotten a lot of opportunities elsewhere because of him allowing me to freelance in riding trackwork, at times. It has benefited my career plenty.”

After working closely with Stanbridge in recent years, Gorman has picked up big-time owner Mike Crooks as a backer for his stable. 

Many of Crooks’ runners race with the Mishani prefix with horses such as Reactor and Suspect running for the Gorman yard over the last season. 

Looking ahead into 2026 and beyond, Gorman is keen to have more runners in the metropolitan arena. 

“I'd just like to try and upgrade my stable a little bit,” he said.

“I like to go where I can win, so I've been placing my horses in more the country circuit.

“Ideally, in the best-case scenario, I'd like to have some horses that I could potentially take to your provincial and obviously your city races.

“I think we're starting to step into the provincial scene where we're getting a couple of nice horses that are sort of showing us that we can go there.

“So, just building, I'd like to keep my numbers down but also upgrade my stock.”