Whiskey Glasses raises a toast to Davie’s first win

By Jordan Gerrans

Given their journey together, it was certainly fitting that Whiskey Glasses was the horse to secure Bob Davie's maiden training victory.

Whiskey Glasses is a younger half-brother to inaugural Battle of the Bush champion Mason’s Chance.

Mason’s Chance was prepared by Olivia Cairns during his career which yielded 15 victories and over $300,000 in career stakes.

Davie, who is based in Mackay and is only in the infancy of his training tenure, was a long-term trackwork rider for Cairns before she shifted south to prepare her barn out of Beaudesert.

The 39-year-old Davie has recently gone out on his own accord as a trainer.

But, when he was still working for Cairns, Whiskey Glasses was a young horse he guided in the early stages of his career.

Whiskey Glasses delivered Davie his maiden win as a conditioner on Sunday at Bowen before stablemate Sound The Bugle scored in the following event, completing a winning double for the rookie trainer.

“I was a little bit shocked, to be honest,” Davie said in regard to the pair of winners.

“Whiskey Glasses was bred by Olivia and Matthew O'Connell.

“When I worked for Olivia, I actually taught him to basically lead, be washed, float and everything.

“And, then the following year, I went down for a couple of months and I actually broke him in. I always loved the horse.

“Olivia always thought he would be better as an older horse and eventually she made the decision to sell him.

“I couldn't bear the thought of him going anywhere else. So, I ended up buying him six months ago.

“I have changed up a few things with his work and added in some stuff from my equestrian background because I ride all my own work.

“I thought that race on Sunday was a winnable one for him.”

Whiskey Glasses and the now-retired Mason’s Chance are both sons of broodmare Sheer Opulence.

Mason’s Chance didn’t win until his 10^th career start, with Cairns believing he was a slow-maturing horse as he went on to great heights following his winless early days.

Davie thinks Whiskey Glasses is similar in that way as he won at his ninth career effort on Sunday.

Whiskey Glasses was Davie's first starter when the bay gelding finished seventh over 1400 metres at Cluden Park earlier this month.

He appreciated the drop back in distance to 1200 metres in country grade on Sunday at Bowen to score in a close finish.

While Davie was still savouring his maiden win from Whiskey Glasses, Sound The Bugle came out shortly after to win the Ratings Band 0 – 55 Handicap over 1280 metres to make it a red-letter afternoon for the emerging horseman.

“She kind of just really surprised me,” Davie said of Sound The Bugle.

“Because she doesn't need much work, I just gave her a light week and she bounced back and won quite easy on Sunday. It was a good result.”

Hoop Tasha Chambers was in the saddle for both of Davie’s winners on Sunday.

The rookie trainer praised Chambers’ smarts for tinkering with a few things following Whiskey Glasses’ run at Cluden Park recently, which led to an improved performance on Sunday.

Chambers has recently shifted north to Townsville after being based in Rockhampton for a long time.

Davie owns Whiskey Glasses himself while he also has a large share of Sound The Bugle.

While Davie only started his first horse as a trainer earlier this month, he has been around gallopers all his life.

He has family members who trained in New Zealand, while he competed at a high level in equestrian, which led him to ride trackwork for Cairns and Lyle Wright, as well as Natalie McCall at Caloundra.

The Central Queensland-based horseman has recently purchased his own property with stables, which is not far from the Mackay track, and is planning to expand his team in the coming months and years.

He is still working away from the racing game to fund his passion.

Davie has been keen to train in his own right for the last few years, but bided his time until he had the right facilities for his growing team.

“I've got a lot of young horses coming through, no older horses as such,” he said.

“They're literally the only two horses that'll be racing for quite some time.

“So, I have got a bit of a job ahead of me, but I'll get there eventually. It makes it all worth it when you have days like Sunday. I ride all my own work.

“We try and get all the boxes and stuff done, then I go off to work during the day and then it's back to do the horses in the afternoon.

“The last five years, I have worked to establish my property, I rebuilt my entire house and then the stables came last. We finally got it done and I haven’t looked back since.

“It is a lot of hard work and when you have days like that, it definitely makes it worth it.”

With an influx of horses coming to his stable, Davie anticipates he will have 10 in work in the near future.