Racing: Training change means seriously competitive fun

By MIKE DILLON

The temperature was barely above zero at 6.05am yesterday as Lance O'Sullivan walked around the corner of the tie-up stalls at Matamata racecourse.

A day earlier he was sunbaking in Fiji, but despite the bitter cold, he is smiling.

And he keeps smiling.

It is difficult to determine why when the 12-times former champion jockey is only an hour into officially taking over the enormous responsibility as trainer of New Zealand's champion stable.

It is one thing to start a training career; it is entirely another to suddenly have to maintain the momentum of the country's best stable from day one.

That is not something that helps you to sleep.

Several millions of dollars worth of equine flesh looking at you in the early morning light.

Horse flesh that will only maximise its potential if you make the right decisions every day.

There are a couple of reasons for O'Sullivan's relaxed attitude.

One is Fiji, but not for the obvious reasons.

He did not lob there for a holiday.

"I wanted to know everything about every horse from Paul before he left for Hong Kong," says O'Sullivan.

"We sat down five times [at home] to begin that process and never got past five minutes without some interruption cropping up."

Paul O'Sullivan had planned a few days in Fiji before officially taking over his new Hong Kong stable and left late last week.

"I decided the only way we were going to properly discuss every horse in the stable was to get away, so I made a last-minute decision to jump on a plane and join Paul in Fiji.

"We sat around the pool for three days and went right through every detail. Some horses we talked about for 20 minutes.

"I wanted to know everything Paul knew about each horse and what he had originally planned for it."

That is one of the reasons for the smile.

"I feel much more relaxed now - I feel I've got a proper handle on things."

The other reason is that O'Sullivan feels he now has a challenge and excitement back in his life.

He admits he has missed the excitement more than he thought he would since retiring from the saddle more than 12 months ago.

"There have been moments lately when I've thought: 'My God, this is a massive undertaking', but I'm more comfortable with the edge it produces now." He revealed yesterday that the last few years of his riding were drudgery, despite the success and the records he was setting.

"I'd come back from a winter holiday to start the new season and I'd loathe it.

"I'd be starting each August 1 at zero and I'd be thinking someone's going to knock me off my perch.

"But now I'm training, I'm excited.

"Forty is too young to retire. It's very nice to play a game of golf, but there's no challenge in it."

Golfers would disagree, but compared to running New Zealand's champion stable, there is no comparison.

Racing is all about timing and O'Sullivan feels the moment of takeover is perfect.

"If I'd gone straight to taking over the stable when I retired last year, I'd have done it without complaint, but I wouldn't have realised how much I didn't like doing nothing and how much I appreciated training.

"Now I do ... and I'm going to love this."

It shows on his face.

He's even got time to crack a couple of jokes with fellow trainers Jim Gibbs and Graham Richardson at the track crossing.

O'Sullivan is going to try to limit the stable numbers to 35, half what brother Paul managed, and is keen to keep his staffing levels, at least initially, higher than usual.

"We're lucky, we've got fabulous staff, it's so important to have the right people."

He will ride a good percentage of his own fast work and will rely on the expertise of his father, retired champion trainer Dave O'Sullivan.

"I'll be using all of Dad's expertise.

"The one thing I don't want is for this to be a burden. It's meant to be fun.

"None of us are doing this because we have to, we're doing it for the challenge."

Outside of Diamond Like and Galway Lass, O'Sullivan is not starting out with many stars in the team, but he sees that as a positive: "At least there won't be the expectations."

A yearling filly walks past.

"These are the exciting ones - you just don't know how good they might be.

"I get a great thrill out of looking at a horse and seeing it improve day by day."

Jockeys think nothing of such things as they get off horses on race day and in training.

O'Sullivan takes his first horses to the races at Tauranga on Saturday - Glitzy, Royal Tease and Our Kitty.

The jockeys he will give instructions to for the first time are Andrew Calder (Royal Tease), Cameron Lammas (Our Kitty) and Troy Harris, who began his career so successfully at Ruakaka yesterday, will ride Glitzy.

How will O'Sullivan go as a tipster?

"On work, Our Kitty should be competitive, but she can mix her form.

"We thought she'd win at Te Rapa and she went shocking then came out and won nine days later."

As O'Sullivan left the hotel for the airport in Fiji on Tuesday, his brother slapped him on the back and said: "You know what to do."

Lance O'Sullivan rode 64 group one winners during his headlining career.

"What I want to do now is win a group one as a trainer. Actually, I want to win lots of them." And he didn't have to smile when he said it: he already was.