why has a trainers surname come up as starts
its Bart C u m m ings

I was thinking that following my mention of Gai that I ought to post this article:-


Gai Waterhouse tells how Tulloch Lodge almost went broke

    * Ray Thomas
    * From: The Daily Telegraph
    * September 10, 2010 12:00AM

THE knives were out. She had lost her Sydney trainers premiership title, the winners had dried up and the business was under financial pressure.

This was to be a seminal moment for Gai Waterhouse. Success had followed her everywhere and criticism was largely foreign to a trainer more used to widespread acclaim.

But instead of ignoring her detractors, Waterhouse took a more pragmatic view of the situation.

"The criticism didn't upset me because it was true - we weren't getting the results," Waterhouse said in a remarkable admission.

"So, it was pretty simple, I had to train more winners. To do that, I knew I had to change things around because if I didn't we would have gone broke."

Waterhouse might have been a little melodramatic - she used to tread the boards as a television and stage actress after all - but her point was well made and revealing.

Using the criticism as motivation, Waterhouse has "gone back to basics" and the famous production line of winners out of Tulloch Lodge has roared back to life in recent weeks.

She led in a hat-trick of winners at Royal Randwick last Saturday including the Chelmsford Stakes and Furious Stakes and has another powerful team of runners at Rosehill Gardens tomorrow.

Her all-star team is led by glamour mare More Joyous in the Group Two $200,000 Theo Marks Stakes, Melbourne Cup hopefuls Herculian Prince (Group Three $125,000 Kingston Town Stakes) and Descarado (Theo Marks), Montana Flyer (Group Three $125,000 Research Stakes) and unbeaten Halekulani (Listed $120,000 Heritage Stakes).

But really there wasn't much wrong to start with. Racing's first lady still had a 2009/10 season most trainers would love to have - leading in 137 wins in total, 73 in Sydney and five at Group One Level. But she endured a quiet winter with only a handful of runners and winners, sparking the criticism.

Waterhouse's comeback probably began to materialise the day she won an extraordinary 17 heats at a Randwick barrier trial session early in August. The trainer likes to test her horses in trials but this was something else again. However, the reality is she had been plotting the resurgence for some weeks, according to her husband, leading bookmaker Rob Waterhouse.

"Gai is an extraordinary person, she's always so positive, but probably her biggest problem is she is too nice and can't say no to anyone," he revealed.

"She always gives 100 per cent in everything she does but now she is giving more of her herself to training her horses. In Gai's business, as a horse trainer you really need to be right on top of things or it just doesn't work.

"She's a great trainer and it was just a matter of getting her priorities right again."

The couple were holidaying overseas in June when the trainer determined how she would turn the stable's fortunes around.

"I remember saying to Rob that when we returned home I was going to roll up my sleeves, get back to the stables and spend more time with the horses, study them, see for myself what they needed," she continued. "The only way to do that is to put the hours in."

It is difficult to imagine any trainer working harder than Waterhouse. She rises at 3am most mornings and it is nothing for her to work up to 18 hours a day. She is a driven woman but retains an infectious "joie de vivre" about her work and life.

Waterhouse has plenty to be cheerful about as she has developed arguably one of the strongest spring carnival teams of her career.

The trainer is hoping either More Joyous or warhorse Theseo can provide her an elusive Cox Plate next month.

More Joyous, aiming for her sixth stakes win in succession tomorrow, was awesome winning the Sheraco Stakes first-up two weeks ago.

Despite carrying 59kg, she produced some amazing sectional times in sweeping to an easy win - recording 33.09s for her final 600m, 21.71s for 400m and 11.11s over the last 200m.

"She is one of the most naturally talented horses I've ever had," Waterhouse said of More Joyous. "She is so much bigger and stronger now and I'm sure she will cope with more racing."

Waterhouse said More Joyous' initial aim was the $500,000 Epsom Handicap (1600m) at Royal Randwick on October 2 in preparation for the $3 million Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley on October 23.

"I think she might need another run before the Epsom - either the Shannon Stakes or the George Main Stakes," the trainer added. "I'll just see how she goes [tomorrow]."

More Joyous is raced by John Singleton who Waterhouse reserved particular praise.

"Everyone has 'Singo' down as a lucky owner," Waterhouse said. "But he's not lucky, he's just very good at breeding top-class racehorses.

"I don't think 'Singo' gets the credit he deserves. He has got the best boutique band of broodmares in the country that goes right back to a wonderful mare my father trained, Denise's Joy.

"He puts his mares to the best stallions like More Than Ready and the results are phenomenal. More Than Ready is a super sire and 'Singo' is on to another winner with his new stallion Big Brown."

Not only has Waterhouse changed her training routine, she is also concentrating more on developing quality stayers in a bid to finally win a Melbourne Cup.

When she first took out a trainer's licence, Waterhouse cut her teeth preparing stayers and had Melbourne Cup second placings with Te Akau Nick (1993) and Nothin' Leica Dane (1995).

But Waterhouse hasn't had a Melbourne Cup runner since Mr Celebrity ran unplaced five years ago and is desperate to be back on Australian racing's big stage.

"I so dearly want to win the Melbourne Cup," she said.

"I haven't had a runner for a few years and I told Rob I was sick of not having a good stayer in the stable.

"He then went out and found some very good, tried New Zealand stayers in Herculian Prince and Descarado.

"He's a genius at finding these good stayers early in their careers and it's a method we used with a lot of success in the past. We found stayers like Te Akau Nick, Hula Flight, Electronic and Coco Cobanna this way."

Waterhouse said about a decade ago she decided to concentrate more on training sprinter-milers and this left the stable cupboard bare of quality stayers for a few years.

"My clients wanted the more precocious types so we were more actively trying to find Golden Slipper horses," Waterhouse said.

"For a while there I went away from the stayers a bit but I love training these distance horses. It's very satisfying to watch a quality stayer emerge."

Waterhouse believes she has three legitimate Cups contenders this spring in Herculian Prince, Descarado and AJC Australian Oaks winner Once Were Wild.

"I still have to qualify Herculian Prince for the Cups but he is doing everything right," she continued.

"His run in the Tramway [third to Neeson] last week was outstanding but just wait until he gets to 2000m. He's crying out for this distance. He's heading towards The Metropolitan and then he'll go to Melbourne.

"Descarado is already qualified for the Cups because of his second in the [AJC Australian] Derby to John Wallace's very good horse [Shoot Out]. I'll send him to Melbourne after [tomorrow's] race.

"I can't tell you how excited I am with Once Were Wild. This mare, who is another bred and owned by 'Singo', is the ideal Caulfield Cup horse.

"She's in for a big spring - I've never been so confident about a horse going into the feature races as I am with her."

Despite losing her premiership title to Peter Snowden, Waterhouse revealed it isn't high on her priorities to regain the title this season.

"The only goal I've set for myself is to improve my strike-rate and try to win as many Group One races as I can," Waterhouse said.

The final word goes to Rob Waterhouse who found an ideal way to encapsulate his wife's training career.

"They once said Gai only trained stayers and couldn't train two-year-olds but she proved them wrong," he said.

"Then they said Gai couldn't train fillies, then it was stallions and she proved them wrong again.

"The only thing left for her to prove now is whether she can train hurdlers and steeplechasers. I'm sure she can but she will probably never get the chance."


A bit of a confession, that she wasn't spending enough time with the horses!

So You Think was very impressive last night beat shocking who could only finish 4th with minimum ease...Also seen that Camponologist is being  prepared for a tilt at the Melbourne Cup..Goldolphin always has 1 horse that runs a nice race i cant see this horse being it though..

So You Think won 2nd up 1800m.
Master trainer.
Won with ease. could be something very special.

I think some people are being blinded by how brilliant So You Think is at 7-10f, and just assuming that the horse won't get 2 miles.

He is by High Chapparal, who won the Derby and Irish Derby, and was 3rd in two Arcs.

Kudos to whoever has heard of the Damsire, Tights.   Is by Nijinsky, so there is more stamina there.

In the bottom quadrant is the Derby winner Pinza.


If he stays fit, and doesn't go over the top, I think the big question isn't whether he will stay, but will he settle.  Remember, in his barnstorming win in the Cox Plate, after the initial hurry up to get a good position it was the horse's decision to stroll on, not the jockey's.  The jockey just went along with it.

yep Weld does that quite often. Very coy about his targets for horses, very coy indeed. Borderline infuritating .. what's the big secret ?!

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