A long day sees well-deserved win

There’s no doubting the commitment of country Victorian hobby trainer Geoff Clout that’s for sure.

Clout, who hails from Tyabb, near Cranbourne, bypassed a race meeting at his home track to find a suitable race for his brown mare My Superannuation last Sunday, and despite a 600-kilometre round trip, got the money in true fairytale fashion.

“I put two horses in at Charlton and managed to get into the first and last races, so it was a big day!” Clout said.

“But I think half the battle is picking out the best races for your horses. There was a big chance I would have had them both in the same race at Cranbourne and Tyabb Wonder doesn’t go all that well over the long trip,” he said.

“So I jumped out of bed at 4.30am and jogged the horses before giving them a light feed, then hit the road two hours later. By the time I got home it was about 10pm – all up I think it was a bit over 15 hours. And I made it a bit harder on myself too, because I was a little dusty after spending Saturday afternoon at a 40th birthday celebration for my sister-in-law.

“I travelled up to the meeting by myself because my wife Rosie, who has a stablehand licence, had to stay home and look after our two children. It’s a shame that kids weren’t allowed to be at the races, because they would have all been there with me.”

Clout cheered home My Superannuation (Mr Feelgood-Honeyrose (Partywiththebigdog USA) and up and coming junior reinsman Ryan Sanderson to win the Members Xmas Party Pace-the opening event at Charlton.

After settling three back on the pegs, Sanderson made an unsuccessful early play for the lead, but then grabbed the one-one spot on the back of warm favorite Shaq (Ellen Tormey). Pulling out three wide on the home corner, My Superannuation hit the front and fought gamely to hold off a late challenge from Tophut Johny.

“It was the first time I’d been to the track, but it was a very suitable race for our horse. And she’s just so honest – she just tries her heart out every time,” Clout said.

Clout is in just his second season of training, but is chalking up some impressive figures with only a small team.

He’s had 13 wins and 27 placings for over $85,000 in stakes-with eight of those wins coming this season.

Clout grew up in New Zealand, living close to the Hutt Park harness racing track in the Wellington region.

“My brother Phillip and I would go over and help people out. We only lived about 1000 metres from the track. Phillip still lives in New Zealand and they are right into the equestrian scene. I came over about 18 years ago,” he said.

Clout said while he drove in trials, he decided he “wasn’t much chop” and preferred to concentrate on training.

“You want someone driving your horses who pulls the right rein most of the time,” he said.

“The Charlton meeting was the first time I’d used Ryan, but I was really impressed. I put forward my race plan, but he’d already done his homework and he knew all about our opposition. So I went with him and it all worked out well.

“We also had Shannon O’Sullivan on Tyabb Wonder in the last and she led and ran fourth. I don’t mind giving the juniors a go because they’re the future of the sport. It’s really exciting with a lot of good kids coming through.”

Clout said he’d been fortunate to find some nice horses. Apart from My Superannuation and Tyabb Wonder, who he’s confident will improve with maturity, they also race Malibu Jack, who has been “a real surprise packet”.

“Rosie was onto me about buying another one and kept sending the names of horses for sale through to my phone. I was getting all these text messages and Malibu Jack caught my eye. We ended up paying $2000 for him and another $500 to have him delivered to our door,” he said.

“He took a bit of working out because he was very erratic. But I found the key was to keep him fresh as a daisy. He’s won five races for us and will be back racing next month.”

The Clouts own a 10-acre property and train their horses on a small track.
“It’s only 360 metres around, but I can get some strong work into them. When I need to do any fastwork, I just float them to the Cranbourne track which is 25 or 30 minutes away,” he said.

“I usually do the horses at 4am and then I’m at work by 7am. We operate Black and White Rendering Pty Ltd, which is a family run business we’ve had going for over 13 years.”

By Terry Gange for Harnesslink