QOTT Retrainer Rikkie Morton makes a difference
January 9, 2025
Preparing horses for life after racing has always been in the blood for Rikkie Morton, but his retraining has gone to a whole new level since joining the Queensland Off-The-Track (QOTT) Program.
The 40-year-old recently signed on as a QOTT Acknowledged Retrainer, with both thoroughbreds and standardbreds in his care.
With his parents and grandparents all horse people, Morton has been around horses his whole life and decided he too wanted to make a difference when securing his property at Winwill in 2022.
“When we bought our property a few years back, we decided to buy some horses and to put it bluntly, I couldn’t trust anyone with my horses,” Morton said.
“So I put in the effort and got myself a couple of mentors and put my natural instinct to work and got to training these horses and it actually flowed on from there where I had friends of friends coming to me and asking me to train their horses and I ended up building a business from it.
“What I found was in the market, a lot of the clients that were coming to me were purchasing off-the-track racehorses for a sum of money thinking that this horse is safe and sound for them to jump on and ride and off they go.
“It was quite contrary to that - they needed a lot of retraining after coming off the track.
“People were buying these horses for cheap, then they couldn’t handle them, didn’t know what to do with them, and were uneducated people in terms of retraining retired racehorses and it wasn’t a good outcome for the horses or the owners either.
“I wanted to try and have an impact in that area where I’d been successfully retraining for our clients and I can make it more accessible so I can stop that cycle as much as we can by retraining these horses and then putting them into suitable homes.”
Morton operates his business, MCE OTT Retraining and Rehoming, alongside wife Chantelle.
The 125-acre property has onsite training facilities and access to an abundance of trails around the surrounding Lockyer Valley region, which Morton frequently utilises when retraining off the track horses.
Since joining the QOTT Program in October, he has already successfully rehomed former harness racer Goelitz, who had eight wins from a 56-start career.
Morton currently has three other horses on his property who are also being retrained, a number that he says would not have been possible without the assistance of the QOTT Program.
“I think it’s a great thing, it’s outstanding for us as retrainers,” Morton said.
“I was already doing it where I was either sourcing these horses myself or I had a couple of race trainers that were utilising us.
“But the benefit of the QOTT Program to help financially, and know that the biggest costs of actually doing it ourselves was going to be reimbursed when we successfully rehomed that horse, has a massive positive impact.
“With Goelitz, I’m about to get reimbursed all his vet bills, all his feed, and for me that seems small, but it gives me the ability to have confidence to get the next horse in.”
Morton said the QOTT Program had also helped him with being able to dedicate more time to the retraining process.
“We break horses and train horses of all shapes and sizes but our clients are limited by budget so they may say they can only afford six weeks’ worth of work,” he said.
“With QOTT, I have six months available to me where I’m covered in terms of bills and that means that I don’t have to rush this horse through in six weeks or accelerate his program and push him on to the next challenge before he’s ready.
“That’s where the QOTT Program helps…I can have more horses because I have the ability to be reimbursed once they’re rehomed.
“Additionally, the amount of people that have contacted me saying I got your number from Racing Queensland - whether it’s a purchaser or a trainer looking to rehome a racehorse - it just works in both aspects.
“It brings more opportunity to me with horses and also helps me rehome those horses to buyers that are buying through trusted sellers so it’s just a win-win all the way round.”
Morton says his greatest success story as a retrainer so far has come in the form of former racehorse Maxi’s Taxi.
The thoroughbred gelding only started in five races and required plenty of attention when he landed in Morton’s care.
“He would never go on a float, he hated a float and would always carry on about it,” Morton said.
“It was a process, and it took time and it didn’t happen in six to eight weeks, but it got to the point where I was happy for my kids to ride this horse in the round yard.
“The willingness of Maxi to learn and be re-educated at nine years of age was great to see.
“Working him through that and getting him through those challenges and to be able to ride him in the round yard - that’s a very emotional outcome when you can get a horse to do that.”
While Morton retrains both thoroughbreds and standardbreds, he is most enjoying working with the harness racing breed to prepare them for new homes.
“Both breeds have their challenges in terms of retraining them, but in my experience the standardbred is a much quieter, calmer horse for the clients I aim to match them with,” Morton said.
“There’s plenty of people out there retraining horses for dressage and for sporting events, that are probably a little bit more of the athletic-type horses so to speak, and the thoroughbreds are really good for things like showjumping.
“Whereas there’s a bit of a market out there for middle-aged women who have had kids that are trying to get back on a horse for the first time in a number of years, or ones that have had an incident at some point in their time riding horses.
Most people will seek advice from trainers or owners when bringing a retired racehorse into their care. But for Tamara Janus, it was a conversation with a horse transport truck driver that convinced her she had picked up a good one. Tamara signed on to be a Queensland Off-The-Track Acknowledged Retrainer earlier this year, having already been involved in the QOTT Program as an Approved Coach. The latest addition to her Upper Caboolture property has come in the form of retired racehorse Wairere Falls. The thoroughbred was trained by Chris Waller and raced at Flemington, Rosehill, Eagle Farm and Doomben over an almost five-year career that netted close to $600,000 in prizemoney. The gelding recorded six wins and 19 placings from 65 starts, having his last race at Eagle Farm on December 28 last year. Tamara said a conversation with Grandview Park Stud had led her to pick up Wairere Falls, but it was when the eight-year-old arrived at her property in mid-February that she knew she had made the right selection. “It’s always the same truck driver from Sydney Horse Transport - I think it’s the third or fourth horse I’ve had through Chris Waller, and every time, this truck driver has always got a little tidbit for me,” Tamara said. “He was two hours late arriving, so I thought ‘oh gosh he’s going to tell me that the horse is terrible at loading,’ or that he’s got all these problems. “I said, ‘oh apparently he’s pretty quiet?’ and the driver said, ‘quiet? This is the quietest thoroughbred I’ve ever met!’ “He told me even the 75-year-old lady who helps at Chris’ stables every morning and brought him to the truck said, ‘this thing’s just a real pet, you’re going to love him.’ “It’s always nice to hear that sort of information from people that do see them, especially the guy that transports them to and from the track quite often - he’s got a little bit more insight and I think he likes to have a chat!” Wairere Falls, who is called “Saint” around the property, has taken to his new life like a duck to water. Tamara said he had made the transition from the track to trail riding with ease. “Most of the country racehorses that I’ve taken out on trails are a little bit more used to it coming from the bush but for a horse that’s raced on mostly city tracks, he’s just going ‘oh this is great’ – he was looking through the trees and bush, and he was loving it,” Tamara said. “He’s great through all his obstacles, he is really good on his flat work, just super willing, and probably the most sensible off-the-track city horse I’ve taken out to a trail. “It’s still only early days, but the plan is to get him out to the local club that does competitive trail rides, and the local dressage club too.” Kicking off her riding career at Pony Club at just three years of age, Tamara achieved dressage success as a teenager and turned her focus to natural horsemanship, where she developed a passion for breaking in young horses and retraining older horses. Her love of training horses then turned into a full-time business 12 years ago, when she started TJ Equine. She has also competed in the Australian Brumby Challenge at Equitana, Coonamble Colt Start, Winton to Longreach Endurance Ride and Race to Ranch at Cowgirls Gathering, and competes regularly in dressage, agricultural shows, competitive trail rides, working equitation and team penning. In that time, she has retrained around 20-30 off-the-track horses for clients, but these days focuses on only having around one or two horses in her care at any single time. The 35-year-old explains how she decided to step back slightly from her busy workload, before signing up for the QOTT Acknowledged Retrainers Program. “A couple of years ago I went, I can’t do training and coaching and everything because I was just stretching myself too thin - I’ve got two young kids as well and thought I’m just going to really focus on the coaching side,” Tamara said. “As much as I love it, I just got the itch to do a bit of training again, and I didn’t want the constraints of having clients horses in and not being able to go anywhere. “So with the QOTT Program, I’m able to pick a horse, do a little bit with it, help it along its journey, and I’ve always had a thing for the off-the-track horses.” Since commencing as a retrainer, Tamara has taken on five retired thoroughbreds to retrain and rehome under the QOTT Program. She is also looking to retrain standardbreds as well while working as part of the program. “When a lot of people look for a horse, they don’t want a thoroughbred or a standardbred, but I think once they meet one, they change their opinion of it,” Tamara said. “They have such great work ethics coming from the racing industry - they have had a job and a career…they tend to be willing to go towards another vocation. “When they first come in, they don’t show a lot of personality but after one or two months, they’re like ‘this is who I am’ and we go from there. “I think it’s very rewarding and it gives me a bit of purpose because I do like giving back - it’s nice to do something to help horses along the way so they’ve got a future no matter where they go.”
Thoroughbred Breeders Queensland Association would like to show our support to the embattled farming families and communities throughout Western Queensland who have been affected by the recent devastating floods. As farmers ourselves, we know the devastating impact this will have on the livelihoods of so many people for many years to come, because even after the initial cleanup, there is the rebuilding of property, livestock and crops. Our thoughts are with everyone who has been affected by this disaster, we hope our donation to Rural Aid helps in some way. We would also like to encourage our members to donate either financially, or through fodder, horse rugs and equipment. The TBQA is supporting Rural Aid and you can find more information about them here https://www.ruralaid.org.au/ but there are many other worthwhile organisations that are seeking donations. Thank you for your generosity and support.
Each thoroughbred breeding region has unique characteristics, so it is crucial to have accurate information specific to each state. Information acquired from the Australian Stud Book indicates that pregnancy loss is highly variable across breeding regions. To address this pressing issue, it is essential to obtain state-specific information to assist breeders to reduce pregnancy losses. In determining how best to reduce pregnancy losses, it is important to understand the size of the problem, at what time of year losses occur, at what stage of the pregnancy most losses happen, the major causes of losses, and the influence of the environment on the mares. Work investigating pregnancy losses in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales, completed in 2021 as part of AgriFutures Australia project The pathology and epidemiology of equine pregnancy loss (PRJ-011719), delivered interesting and unexpected results that breeders and their vets can use to plan how to reduce pregnancy losses. To improve the quality of the information collected, this project will continue the case-control study undertaken in that initial project and investigate Queensland studs as well as those in the Hunter Valley that participated in the earlier work. If you would like to participate in the study, that is being undertaken by Dr Joan Carrick, please contact her on joan@equinespecialistconsulting.com Find out more in the information brochure here
Calling individuals aged 18-25 passionate about a career in the thoroughbred industry. Applications are now open for the Les Young Scholarship, offering an opportunity to shape your career and undertake an international course at The National Stud in the UK. Learn more & apply here: The 2025 Les Young Scholarship | AgriFutures Australia
Applications close 12 noon (AEST) 14 April Passionate thoroughbred breeding industry professionals wanted: Applications now open for AgriFutures Thoroughbred Horses Advisory Panel Chair. AgriFutures Australia is seeking a suitably qualified industry representative to join the AgriFutures Thoroughbred Horses Advisory Panel as Chair. This exciting opportunity is open to thoroughbred breeders, industry professionals, equine veterinarians and/or researchers who have an interest in contributing to the profitability and sustainability of the thoroughbred breeding industry. Learn more and apply here: Advisory Panel Recruitment | AgriFutures Australia
The Thoroughbred Breeders Queensland Association is very proud to unveil our new logo. This is the first time since the TBQA was established in 1949 that we have upgraded our branding. The logo was launched at the March Magic Millions Yearling Sale Welcome BBQ on Sunday, 23 March. This new look makes the TBQA easily identifiable and relatable. It's sleek, fresh and modern but we were very conscious of maintaining some of the tradition of the organisation and keeping the horse's head which was synonymous with our original logo, along with our maroon and gold colours - after all we are Queenslanders! Thank you to Ryan at Monocreative for working closely with the TBQA to create our new look.
Thoroughbred Breeders Australia (TBA) and Aushorse have appointed Andrew Hore-Lacy as its next Chief Executive Officer. Following a comprehensive international search, Hore-Lacy, who currently is the head of horse racing at the Seven Network, emerged as the preeminent candidate to lead both organisations, owing to his vast experience and profound knowledge of the thoroughbred industry. In his role at Seven, Hore-Lacy leads a team of 15 full-time staff, responsible for the creation, development, and production of all horse racing-related content and programming. His tenure at the network has been marked by a series of innovative and successful initiatives that have significantly enriched the network's horse racing portfolio. Aushorse Chairman Antony Thompson said Hore-Lacy’s previous experience and passion for the industry made him the ideal candidate for the role. “Andrew has an authentic commitment for the entire racing industry and a deep understanding of the breeding sector's pivotal importance, alongside the many challenges faced by breeders. His robust background in communications, media and stakeholder engagement equips him with a diverse array of skills. We are excited to welcome him as the new CEO of Thoroughbred Breeders Australia and Aushorse,” Thompson said. “I am confident that Andrew will leverage his expertise, leadership acumen, and strategic foresight to not only advance the interests of TBA and Aushorse on both domestic and international stages but also to reinforce Australia's vibrant and robust breeding industry, which is revered globally.” TBA President Basil Nolan said the selection panel had been impressed with Hore-Lacy’s energy and commitment to building on the programs and initiatives run by TBA and Aushorse. “Andrew demonstrated a clear understanding of the work undertaken by the team, particularly in areas of education and training, as well as marketing initiatives such as the Investor’s Guide. He conveyed a compelling vision for enhancing these established foundations, and I am confident he will introduce innovative perspectives that will enable TBA and Aushorse to continue to thrive,” Nolan said. Before his appointment as Seven’s Head of Horse Racing, Hore-Lacy distinguished himself as a Senior Producer across a spectrum of sports, including AFL, horse racing, tennis, and the Olympic Games, further underscoring his versatile and comprehensive expertise in the sports and media industries. Hore-Lacy thanked the TBA and Aushorse boards for the opportunity. "I am honoured to take on the role of CEO and lead these organisations into the future,” Hore-Lacy said. “Working for Seven for 15 years has been an incredibly rewarding experience, filled with personal growth, meaningful challenges, and the opportunity to collaborate with an incredible high performing team. "I believe that the thoroughbred industry is a vital part of Australia’s cultural and economic fabric. My goal is to foster growth and innovation, ensuring that we continue to thrive both domestically and internationally. “I look forward to getting started and building upon the strong foundation laid by Tom Reilly and driving these organisations forward to new heights.” Hore-Lacy will succeed Tom Reilly, who was appointed CEO of the Melbourne Racing Club in January. Both Thompson and Nolan gave thanks to Reilly for his work leading the organisations for a decade. “It’s important to state how grateful I am to Tom for his work. Under his leadership the TBA started a host of education and training initiatives that have worked wonderfully,” said Nolan. Thompson added: “Tom has really driven the breeding industry forward in many areas. From an Aushorse perspective, he has really given the Australian industry huge recognition on the international scene and we’ve seen significant international investment as a result. I am sure he will do a great job at the MRC and everyone wishes him all the best in the future.” Hore-Lacy will commence his role with TBA and Aushorse in June.
The Rockhampton Jockey Club’s annual Capricornia Yearling Sale (CYS) will be delivered Sunday 13 April at the Showground’s Robert Schwarten Pavilion, in the heart of the Beef Capital City. The Sale will be preceded by the Capricornia Yearling Sale Race Carnival on Friday 11 and Saturday 12 April. Exclusive to Sale graduates, the two main races are the 2YO Classic with prize money of $168,000* while $118,000* will be on offer for the 3&4YO Classic. Over the two-day carnival, connections will compete for over $640,000* in prize money. (*Including QTIS bonuses). The $30,000 Country Cup will be raced on Friday, while the $30,000 Mayor’s Cup is an integral part of the Saturday program. And at 11.00am on Sunday 13th April, the first of around 110 thoroughbred yearlings will go under the selling agent Magic Millions auctioneer’s hammer. Friday evening is a standout highlight of the weekend calendar, delivering excitement and anticipation with the Classic Race Calcutta in the Members Lounge. In response to feedback from owners and key stakeholders, the event will be even more thrilling this year with the addition of a second Calcutta, focusing on the contenders of the 3&4YO Classic. The highly anticipated night will provide a competitive atmosphere and opportunities to get involved in the action and excitement of the two marquee CYS races. This year there is likely to be strong representation from the racing hubs outside of Rockhampton and Central Queensland with Classic race starters expected to come from far and wide. At the Sale, thoroughbred nurseries and hobby breeders will be represented from all parts of Queensland, and Northern New South Wales. With a proud history spanning over 37 years, the Capricornia Yearling Sale remains one of the few Yearling Sale-Race concepts conducted by an Australian race club. Thanks to the expertise and support of the Magic Millions team, the event continues to thrive as a key date on the racing and breeding calendar. Don’t miss out – mark your calendar to make tracks to Rocky in April! www.callaghanpark.com.au/racing/capricornia-yearling-sale/
Magic Millions advise after careful consideration the Gold Coast March Yearling Sale will be delayed two weeks. Due to ongoing weather implications the decision has been made as early as possible to provide certainty to all stakeholders and participants. The 2025 Magic Millions Gold Coast March Yearling Sale will now commence on Monday March 24 and concluding on Tuesday March 25. The start times on both days will revert to 11am (Qld time). "The two week delay will be required so the sale can be held safely on the Gold Coast," Magic Millions Managing Director Barry Bowditch said. "We want to be able to provide certainty to all of those involved in the auction with Cyclone Alfred approaching the South East Queensland coast." "Magic Millions will always place safety for our participants and horses first and while changes will always create issues, this delay is necessary." "We thank our breeders, vendors, buyers and all other parties for their understanding at this time and we wish all people in the affected areas the best over the coming days." Latest forecasts from the Bureau of Meteorology predict gale force winds and substantial rainfall for the Gold Coast region over the coming days. The Gold Coast March Yearling Sale will be now held a week following the Adelaide Yearling Sale (March 17 and 18).