Rookie trainer Sally Taylor has decided not to use an apprentice’s claim on Rednav as she strives for her first metropolitan winner at Doomben.
The Taylor-trained Grafton Cup winner Rednav has been lumped with top weight of 59kg in Saturday’s Open Handicap (2200m) at Doomben.
Northern Rivers jockey Peter Graham has ridden Rednav at his two most recent wins and will again be on the gelding.
Taylor said she had not considered claiming on Rednav despite him rising from the 54kg he carried to win the Listed Grafton Cup on July 14.
“It was a bit more weight than we hoped for. But Peter knows the horse and gets the best out of him. Peter is a very experienced rider and it is what we need,” Taylor said.
The Coffs Harbour-based Taylor is off to a flying start, training seven winners from 32 runners since taking out her licence in February.
Rednav, formerly with Greg Eurell in Victoria, has been her star winning the Grafton Cup Prelude and the Listed Grafton Cup.
The gelding had won three times in Victoria but was still a Class 3 horse when Taylor took him over.
“I have done a few different things with him and he seems to like life up here. I jump him a bit and take him to the beach,” Taylor said.
The 23-year-old Taylor has a solid background with horses.
“My dad was a trainer, mostly at the picnic meetings, and he was also an Australian polocrosse player. So I have always been around horses,” Taylor said.
“Early on I was a show jumper but always wanted to do something with horse racing.”
Taylor works three to four days a week in the mobile phone shop run by her main owner Peter Woods who races Rednav with friends.
“Peter encouraged me to have a go at training and he has been a great support,” she said.
Life is certainly busy for Taylor who now has 10 horses in her stable and rides them all work.
“I had four horses before the Grafton Cup but my numbers have shot up since then. I still like to ride all of them because you get a proper feel for where they are at,” she said.
Taylor starts work at 4.30am and usually finishes about 6.30pm after taking her horses to the beach.
“I have no plans to give up working in the shop at the moment because I enjoy being there,” she said.
“But eventually I might be able to be a full time trainer and who knows I might even be able to move to Sydney or Brisbane.”
