Steven O’Dea and Matthew Hoysted will be looking for their first winner as a training partnership on Saturday when they send out four runners, three at Doomben and one at the Gold Coast.
“Forming a partnership was always going to be a possibility from the day Matty first came to see me about the job,’ said O’Dea. “He still had to prove himself and put in the hard yards kind of thing, but he always knew that a partnership was something I would consider moving into the future.
“He’s been with me now for just over four years and he’s certainly done that. He is really dedicated to his job. He is great at the job he does. He is a good horseman. He has got good attention to detail and he has helped to build the stable up and get the results we have got over the past few years … so he has more than proved his worth.
“We obviously get on very well. In terms of how we look at racing and training we are pretty much on a similar page. It is always good to have somebody there to talk things over with and to be able to bounce ideas off somebody else. I can’t even think of a time where either of us grossly objected to the other one’s point of view.
“Matty presents himself very well. He’s got a good way with clients and he deals with the staff very well. It is one of those things, you know. Matt has got the qualities to make it on his own so to be able to retain him in the business and work together in a partnership is certainly a big plus for us.
“There are plenty of positives, that’s for sure!
“To be honest, the way that things have developed with us there’s not going to be a huge change to the way the stable works on a day to day basis. With any stable of our size, it is always pretty much a team effort. You are only as good as the people who work underneath you but, at the end of the day, formalising the partnership arrangement gives Matty the recognition for the work that he has done and is doing.
“Hopefully, we can get that first winner out of the way early. That would be good.”
And what does O’Dea have to say about his four runners on Saturday … one of which could be that first training partnership winner.
OCEAN TREATY, in race 5 at Doomben, will be looking for a fourth successive win (after winning over 1400m, 1600m and 1800m). Saturday’s race distance is 2020m.
“I’ve been really impressed with this mare since she has come to us,” observed O’Dea. “This is obviously her first preparation. She has jumped over the bar every time we have raised it. Look, it is big step up again to a Saturday race … but she is doing well. In all of her wins she has been pretty strong late so definitely getting out to the 2020m is going to suit her. Whether the Saturday run comes a bit too quickly for her is the question, but I think it is inevitable that she is going to be making it to Saturday grade. I expect her to be a good chance with a light weight on Saturday.”
BETTER GET SET, in race 6 at Doomben, was a Maiden winner last start after two trial wins.
“It was really good to see her do that first-up,” said O’Dea. “She is a filly who I have always had a nice opinion of. She has probably been slightly disappointing in her two racing preparations before this, albeit with definite excuses, so it was good to see her get the job done. She goes straight to Saturday grade from winning a maiden, but it is still early in the season and horses can make those sort of quick progressions at this time of the year. Light weight, nice gate, should be good speed in the race, so she should be able to go out and park just behind the speed. A nice each way chance.
JAMI LADY, in race 8 at Doomben, is first-up with a record of having won three out of four previous first-up starts.
“She is a funny one actually,” volunteered O’Dea. “She has got good fresh form, but she always takes good benefit from her first couple of runs. She had a nice trial at Deagon a few weeks ago. She ran nice time there in a good, solid trial win. She hasn’t drawn the greatest gate, but we would ideally like to get in just behind the speed. If she does that, she will definitely be a winning chance on Saturday … but we will need a bit of luck from a tricky gate.”
JEWELIANA is first-up in race 4 at the Gold Coast.
“She going to back to the provincial grade for her first-up run,“ explained O’Dea. “The 1100m might be a little bit short for her first-up. She is obviously drawn wide as well. We will just try to hit the line on Saturday. She is probably also a horse that takes a bit of improvement from a run or two. After this one we will probably get her back to Saturday grade again.”
