Kiwis settle in across the ditch

Brothers Craig and Tony Jamieson have joined the Cranbourne Harness Racing Club’s training ranks following their move from New Zealand.

The Jamiesons were introduced to the sport from an early age with their parents being hobby trainers, and both took up work at stables upon leaving school.

Craig was an accomplished junior driver and has worked with some of Australasia’s leading stables, while younger brother Tony is an A-grade farrier.

In 2017, they formed a partnership and enjoyed success while combining training with full-time work, but felt a lack of racing opportunities and stagnant prizemoney in their homeland meant growing their operation was not practical.

“We felt like we were on a hamster wheel at home, it felt like we weren’t going anywhere,” Tony said.

“Craig emailed the club to see if there was space and (Cranbourne Harness Racing Club CEO) Dave Scott got back to us and it went from there.”

Following that initial enquiry, the Jamiesons toured the sprawling training facilities at the Cranbourne Racecourse in April and quickly decided to relocate.

“We were blown away when we first got here to be honest, we just don’t have this back home,” Tony said.

“We thought if we come over and we didn’t like it, that’d make our mind up and we’d stay home. But it was the total opposite – all of the guys here have been so welcoming – I can’t say a bad word about any of it to be honest.

“We’ve only been here not even a week, but it gives us a good feel. We’re under no illusions, but we’ll be trying our hardest and looking forward to seeing where that takes us.”

The Jamiesons have brought five standardbreds with them across the ditch and they will be joined by six locally-owned horses as they build their team towards a goal of 20.

Tony expects that, all going well, they will have their first runners in around six weeks. In the meantime, he is looking forward to settling into the new surroundings before their families join them in the coming weeks.

“The horses travelled better than I thought really. I thought they’d be a bit more jaded, but they got here good. It’s going to take a while to get used to it, but this is like the Plaza Hotel compared to what we’re used to,” Tony said.

“We’re already missing our families and looking forward to them coming across when the kids finish the school term. It’s a big move, but they’re excited by it and there’s so many more opportunities for them as well.”

The Cranbourne training centre is now home to 13 trainers with approximately 55 horses in work on site.

by Michael Floyd, reprinted with permission from Harness Racing Victoria