Coffs Harbor trainer Trevor Hardy has produced champion jockeys like Zac Purton and Glen Colless, but it’s seeing his daughter emerge as a promising trainer that gives him more satisfaction than anything else.
Hardy has just one horse at work – Aheadofhistime – racing at Doomben on Saturday, but Hardy will have just as much interest in another race earlier today when his daughter Joanne rides Endangered Species.
UNRESTRICTED ACCESS: JOIN RACENET IQ TODAY FOR JUST $4.99*!
Bored with the thought of retirement, the 81-year-old said he prefers looking after horses and is very interested in his daughter’s work.
“She’s having a really good race right now, she won one of those Country Classic races at Rosehill (Real Time Warrior) and she’s got a lot of winners,” Hardy said.
“I have a part in a Spirit Of Boom with her, I let her do her thing with it because I don’t want to do too much.
“I tell her that she learned everything from me but I don’t know if she agrees with that.
“One of the only reasons I keep training is because I need something to do, I’ve played golf but I’m not very good at it and then there are the bocce and fishing – I figured I might as well have a horse and keep it going.”
Champion Hong Kong jockey Zac Purton with his former handler Trevor Hardy, at Sha Tin in 2018. Photo: Supplied
The veteran trainer still remains in regular contact with Purton, who won the Brisbane Jockeys Premiership as an apprentice in 2003, before eventually moving to Hong Kong – where he is recognized as one of the best riders of all time.
Hardy taught Purton to ride a horse on a beach at the age of 14 before getting his license, Purton living with his boss during the week while his parents lived in the countryside.
UNRESTRICTED ACCESS: JOIN RACENET IQ TODAY FOR JUST $4.99*!
However, it wasn’t all bright lights and smooth sailing for Purton, with Hardy saying the young jockey’s often candid comments managed to rub some people the wrong way.
“He was a bit rough and wild when he was young but he was always so good to me and my wife, she handled it,” he laughed.
“He was good to us but he used to upset a few coaches because he always said what he wanted.
“I still talk to him a lot, I’ve watched him and they say how difficult it is there at the moment (with Covid).
“He’s done really well, he’s got a nice young family now and he’s prepared for life, so that’s pretty nice.”
Coach Trevor Hardy with his former apprentices Glen Colless and Zac Purton. Photo: Tim Marsden
Aheadofhistime has a $26 chance with TAB in the Class 6 (1200m) handicap, while Endangered Species is the same price in the 1615m version of the race, earlier in the map.
Hardy expects his five-year-old, majority owned by Brisbane-based Darren Wilson, to relish the race with the weight on his back thanks to jockey Cejay Graham’s 3kg claim.
UNRESTRICTED ACCESS: JOIN RACENET IQ TODAY FOR JUST $4.99*!
“We try to take the weight off him, if you go back to his form, when he wins he doesn’t have a lot of weight,” he said.
“The most important thing is to get them working here (because of the rain), it’s not like you can do a lot of work with them here, but he’s fit enough now.
“He came back and did a few runs, three seconds and a fourth but he carries 60kg all the time, they don’t win too often with that.”
