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Thursday
15 July,
2010:
TREVOR Bailey, 46, is a
chip off the old block.
His hard-working, no short cuts approach mirrors that of his father Alan, a
triple Brisbane premiership winner.
And a good work ethic was drummed in at an early age.
Bailey points to grandfather Eric as the hardest man he has ever seen or
been against.
"Dad learned from him and I learned from Dad, so heaven help my kids," he
said with laughter.
The result is that Bailey, like his father, gets a consistent stream of good
winners.
"When I left school, I thought there might be good money doing something
else so I went to do horticulture," he said.
"I lasted three days -- it was way too hard.
"As a kid I wanted to be a jockey but became too heavy and it was back to
working the normal stable chores.
"There was no quick rise in the ranks. I had to start from scratch, I had to
become a horseman."
When the Baileys moved to the Gold Coast in the early '80s, Trevor was
appointed foreman but was seeking to learn more.
He worked for six months with Sydney vet Doug English and spent two years
with leading horse chiropractor Graham Boyd, which included four months in
the US where Boyd established himself as a leader in that field.
Trevor eventually came back and worked for Alan again.
In 2001, as foreman, he went down for the Melbourne spring carnival for two
months and stayed four years.
"We had a bit of success in the spring and I took out a licence and stayed,"
he said.
Bailey trained for two years in Singapore from 2005 before he and his major
backers decided to come back to the Gold Coast.
Since 2001, Bailey has produced a string of black type winners such as
Barlinnie (Listed Doomben Stakes), Suzy Grey (Group 2 SAJC Swettenham Stud),
Fabiarna (Listed QTC Juanmo Hcp), Point Danger (Group 3 VRC Chivas Regal),
Gold Class, Stella Artois (Listed MVRC Crockett Stakes), Perfect Feeling
(Listed SAJC Laelia Stakes), Libidinious (Group 3 SAJC McKay Stakes), Light
Of Success (QEII Cup in Singapore).
Recently he was sent former Melbourne galloper Carlton Forward who will race
in tomorrow's QTIS 3YO Hcp (1100m) at Doomben.
"The owner (of Carlton Forward) Tony Khoury is a friend and along with
(former trainer) Peter Moody they thought a scenery change may do the horse
a world of good," said Bailey. Carlton Forward was a good two-year-old,
slightly below top grade.
Story by Chris Bassani (Gold Coast Bulletin).
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Trevor Bailey |
