It’s been over two decades since former Champion jockey and Group 1-winning trainer David Walsh lined up a runner as a trainer, but that drought will come to an end at Riccarton on Saturday when he lines-up Zelia in the Entain/NZB Insurance Pearl Series (800m).
While more known for his decorated riding career, Walsh also had an impressive training record, headlined by Zirna’s win in the Group 1 New Zealand Bloodstock Breeders’ Stakes (1600m) at Te Aroha in 2003.
“I have had over 100 winners, and the first starter I had won at Reefton,” Walsh said.
“I won the strike-rate award one year when I had 78 starters for 19 or 20 wins. That was quite a big thing way back then.”
While he left training following the 2003/04 season, Walsh continued riding until finally hanging up his boots in 2016 after netting 2262 wins in the saddle.
Walsh then transitioned into a career as a riding mentor for New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing where he spent six years guiding the young riding talent in the South Island before he decided it was time to spend some time away from racing.
“I had done it (riding mentor) for long enough and felt like I needed a bit of a break away,” Walsh said.
“I was working at the driving range down the road by the racecourse for a year and that was awesome. I was doing all sorts of stuff there, which was a long way off what I had been doing and I didn’t have all the travelling.”
While he enjoyed his time away from racing, Walsh always felt the lure of returning to training, and he decided the time was right to give it another crack earlier this year when he spotted Zelia in a paddock at Grangewilliam Stud.
“I have always had the urge to go back (training),” Walsh said.
“It was just a matter of waiting for the right time and right opportunity. This year one thing led to another – I saw this filly I liked, and the stake money is going up.
“With the TAB being restructured and Entain coming along, and all the stakes coming up has been great. A couple of years ago, maidens were running for $10,000 and now the same horses can race for $25,000, it is a hell of a lot of difference in a short time.
“Things have changed a lot, and for the better. It is an incentive to have another crack, because if you can do the job right, have a bit of luck along the way and get a couple of nice horses, you should be able to do well out of it.
“I thought I might as well be a part of this while the money is guaranteed. It all gradually fell into place and here we are with a starter tomorrow.”
Walsh was taken with Zelia as soon as he laid eyes on her when visiting Grangewilliam Stud earlier this year, and he is excited about her prospects.
“She had been through the Karaka Sales and was withdrawn,” he said.
“I saw her at Grangewilliam Stud and I really liked her. John Corcoran, who owned the filly, bought her in Sydney as a weanling to go to Karaka. He was looking to do something with her, so I leased her, and we put a syndicate together, and he is part of it.
“She came down here in June and she was a hairy little thing. It is quite incredible in how much she has changed and developed in five months.”
The two-year-old daughter of Fierce Impact was fourth in her debut trial at Riccarton Synthetic last month before returning to the Christchurch venue to line-up on the grass a fortnight later where she won her 800m trial by an impressive 12 length margin.
Walsh was duly impressed and so were bookmakers, who have installed her a $2.15 favourite for her debut this weekend.
“I have always liked the filly, I thought she would go well,” Walsh said.
“She only does what she has to on the track, which is good.
“The first trial was just barrier practice for her, she hadn’t seen those big overhead gates, and I was quite happy with her first trial.
“I was surprised as much as anyone with what she did in her second trial, you don’t expect horses to be doing that.
“There has been a little bit of interest in her, but at this stage we are happy to race her.”
Walsh currently has three horses in work and said he is looking to expand and will possibly add to his team at next month’s New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale.
“I am looking for new clients. I have got stables at Riccarton with a 12-horse barn, so I am gradually looking to fill it up,” he said.
“I would like to look at getting a couple of ready-to-run horses as all the hard work has been done by then. If you get the right one you don’t know what could happen.”
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