After two years with his father, Wayne decided thoroughbred training was his calling, and applied for his own trainer license, which was duly granted in August 1983. Wayne amassed a small team of thoroughbreds, and divided his time training between the farm, and Wangaratta racecourse. In 1985, Wayne moved to Benalla, purchasing a farm and stable complex which sat directly opposite the racecourse, before moving his operation to “Spring Lodge” at Goorambat in 1999, where he remains to this day. In his time at Benalla, he boasts four Benalla Trainer premierships, a North East Trainer premiership, and two North East Horse of the Year awards, as some of his more notable achievements. Wayne’s good horses during his career have been many, including Simple As That (15 wins), Destry Girl (11 wins) and Devil May Care (5 wins); these horses winning respectively at Listed and Listed/Group 3 level. But the mantle of ‘No 1’ sits with Diplomatic Force, who raced in Victoria, Queensland and South Australia, placing multiple times at Listed and Group 3 level, winning a Group 2 (Yallambee Stakes) and Group 3 (RN Irwin Stakes), and placing in a Group 1 (The Goodwood). All up, the horse won seven races and placed ten times, earning total prizemoney across his career of $622,000. To this day, the 18-year- old gelding – a homebred which gives Wayne an added sense of achievement – spends his retirement relaxing in Wayne’s lush paddocks at “Spring Lodge”. Over the years, Wayne has been a renowned industry mentor and educator to many, including track riders, several of whom have gone on to train in their own right (Peter Robl, Dwayne Reid & Nathan Newton). His list of indentured apprentices is also extensive; Peter Robl, Travis Creek, Jess Payne, Amanda Masters, Todd Rawiller and Simon Miller. More recently, at the ‘tender’ age of 69, Wayne has taken Hannah Le Blanc under his wing. A fixture in the industry for 39 years, Wayne has trained 277 winners. He is credited with a Group 2 win, two Group 3 wins, two Listed race wins, together with multiple Group and Listed placings. His prizemoney earned across his training career sits just shy of $4 million. From the early years working as a stable hand for his father, to honing his craft firstly at Wangaratta and then Benalla, successfully breeding homebreds and competing with these horses at Group and Listed level around Australia, to educating and mentoring track riders and apprentices, we say congratulations Wayne, you are a most worthy recipient of the 2023 Country Achiever Award.
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