RELATIVELY new to the game of training horses, Mount Gambier’s Peter Hardacre, 38, is one of many local trainers striving to get the absolute best out of himself and his thoroughbreds.
“I’ve set myself to get the best results as a trainer and when I do something I want to do it 100pc, so that’s what we have set up and set out to do,” Mr Hardacre said.
With three horses racing in the final day of the Mount Gambier Gold Cup carnival, Mr Hardacre said at that time of year his excitement always builds.
“I love getting involved in the local carnival, it’s our time to shine and that’s what we try and do,” Mr Hardacre said.
“There is nothing better than winning races at your local track and you always try to have your horses right for this particular carnival.”
Despite being involved in the horse racing industry since he was 17, Mr Hardacre only returned to Mount Gambier to start his own training business in 2012.
“I lived in Melbourne for 14 years and started a business breaking in and pre-training horses for big Melbourne trainers, which was a really good grounding in the industry,” Mr Hardacre said.
“We set ourselves up financially over that period, so it was a good time to move back and get things kicked off here.”
With an owner-trainer’s licence, Mr Hardacre spent the first few years finding his feet and setting up his property.
“I spent a couple of years with an owner-trainer’s licence to get a bit of a feel for it, so I wasn’t allowed to train horses for outside parties,” Mr Hardacre said.
“There were a few challenges in the beginning, particularly getting the right staff and facilities to help make sure the horses were at their optimum fitness on race day.”
Mr Hardacre obtained his full licence in 2014 and said he was starting to get his business to where it needs to be.
“We are getting that routine now and getting that feel for how different horses respond to different types of work,” Mr Hardacre said.
“We have thrown a lot of money into the facility and there are lots of ideas going forward when the finances allow it.”
Years of education have helped Mr Hardacre acquire and develop a number of quality horses currently in the stable.
“I bought some really nice yearlings last year that will hopefully step out into the city races next month and I think the yearlings I bought this year are even an improvement on them,” Mr Hardacre said.
“It is an ongoing process because we want to give our horses every chance to show us what they can do, but at the same time we want to keep improving that stock by buying more horses each year.”
While plenty of work has to be done training the horses, Mr Hardacre said his relationships with the owners are one of the main keys to success.
“I’m certainly happy with the way I’ve been supported by my owner base,” Mr Hardacre said.
“I try and stay on the front foot with them with weekly to fortnightly updates so they aren’t wondering what is going on with their investment.”
