Symon Wilde to open new satellite stable
The seaside town of Warrnambool has become something of a horse haven with a number of trainers setting up satellite stables.
Entrenched in Warrnambool is Symon Wilde who is about to reverse the trend by opening a satellite stable at Ballarat.
Trainers, like Darren Weir and Ciaron Mahar, have descended on Warrnambool for the beaches and the associated benefits, although work restrictions are in place over the summer months.
Wilde hopes to have a stable of 10 horses in work at Ballarat next month.
He said the move had been delayed because of a wet winter and a case a strangles which closed the stables of Matt Cumani and James Wardeiner.
“We got held up during the winter as they were stuck for room,” Wilde said.
“They were building Matt Cumani his stable and with the wet weather it kept getting put back.
“I was meant to go into one of the barns he was occupying while his place was built, but with the strangles outbreak the move might now be next month.”
Wilde said Ballarat was a progressive training centre and was strategically placed to vut down the travel, especially with the proliferation of night racing.
“You can nearly access every track from there while from Warrnambool it is so difficult having to travel all the time,” Wilde said.
“We’ve got a fairly big stable and I find the travelling a bit arduous on the staff and the horses.”
And Wilde really likes the idea of getting his horses fit using the uphill straight training track at Ballarat.
He said with the number of imported European horses now in Australia it made sense to use that facility.
“That uphill gallop is amazing. They can work on that track 365 days a year,” Wilde said.
“All the European horses we are getting, they’re all trained in a similar fashion.
“Straight-line training up an incline is the way to go.
“We’re importing all these horse that are four and five-year-olds and they’re mature and they’ve been trained in a straight line.
“Their knees and joints aren’t cooked and they do very well out here.
“We tend to train around a corner at speed and our horses can be cooked by the time they’re three and four.”
Wilde won’t be abandoning his Warrnambool base and instead will interchange horses between the two stables, just as Weir does with his big team.
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