Young Tassie couple on the move

Talented young Tasmanian harness racing team Conor Crook and his partner Jordan Chibnall are making the move to the mainland to try their luck.

“We will be based at the new Shepparton Training Centre complex. It’s an exciting move for us, and we’re really looking forward to it,” Crook said.

“There’s room for us to have 18 horses there, but we’ve booked our boat tickets across for later this month and at this stage we’ll have eight or 10 horses coming with us.

“Hopefully we can put some runs on the board early and attract some outside horses to train as well.”

Crook, originally from Cowra in NSW, moved to Tasmania six years ago and worked for the all-conquering Ben Yole stable.

“I was with Ben for three years and then moved out on my own. Jordie came across from Kilmore and has done really well as part of the Yole team. She still claims a five-point concession and is driving in great form,” he said.

Based at Beaconsfield, the 26-year-old, who still has a metropolitan driving claim, said the couple had enjoyed their time on the Apple Isle, but after a visit to Shepparton felt the time was right for a new challenge.

“We’re limited a bit in Tasmania in regard to the amount of feature races with good stakes. We just thought with our aspirations in the sport, Victoria was the place to be and Shepparton sits centrally to a lot of tracks,” he said.

“The town has a real country-feel about it and the new complex is amazing. It has three tracks and we’ve been getting regular updates from (club secretary-manager) Ian McDonald. It’s all looking fantastic.”

Crook said the pair didn’t have a lot of horses with low ratings, but were thrilled with the chance of training a smart youngster in Sinister (Heston Blue Chip)

“He’s a three-year-old owned by Summit Bloodstock, Aaron Bain and Brad Elder, and should do very well. Col Thomas at Leeton had him and he won three or four as a two-year-old,” he said.

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink