It’s not surprising James Lyons has found his niche in racing given a rich family heritage.
Lyons is the grandson of riding legend Billy Cook, who won two Melbourne Cups aboard Skipton and Rainbird and was buried wearing the racing silks of Carioca, who won a Sydney Cup in 1953.
His uncle Peter Cook won two Cox Plates on Surround and Kingston Town and emulated his father by winning the Melbourne Cup twice aboard Just A Dash and Black Knight.
Lyons has forged a successful career in real estate but training racehorses remains a high priority.
“My dream has always been to be a leading horse trainer,” he said.
“That’s my passion. That’s where my heart is. I’d love to emulate my grandfather and my uncle and hopefully in the next year or two I can progress from here and build a nice stable around me.”
Lyons believes Nobody’s Boy can develop into a winter carnival contender if he performs up to his expectations at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
“He needs to grow up mentally because the penny certainly hasn’t dropped with him yet,” he said.
“When it does he’ll be a serious racehorse. He’s not bombproof. He’s six months off his best but he’s a progressive horse.”
Nobody’s Boy made a spectacular debut at the Sunshine Coast on December 23, winning by six lengths after missing the start.
A fortnight later at the same track the gelding ran an unlucky second but Lyons thought enough of his performance to give him his chance in Saturday grade in Brisbane.
“The first person I blamed after the race was myself because I was a little bit soft on him leading into it,” he said.
“He’ll certainly benefit from that run and he’s definitely on an upward spiral.”
In addition to Nobody’s Boy, Lyons has bolstered his stable numbers by securing two yearlings at the Magic Millions sales last week – a filly by Testa Rossa and a colt by Duporth.
The Testa Rossa filly is a half-sister to Chris Waller’s exciting two-year-old Calming Influence, an impressive debut winner at Rosehill last Saturday.
