Daniel Wheeler’s return to the NSW training ranks has been a successful endeavour, with the Coffs Harbour trainer preparing recent winners on his home track.
Earlier this year, Wheeler spoke with NSW Country and Picnic Racing about his career as a jockey and trainer and why he returned to the ranks and set up shop in Coffs Harbour.
After making a return in March, Wheeler had some close calls and couldn’t bring up a winner until his luck changed last month when Clipper Ship (Andrew Mallyon, $14) won the $40,000 Country Boosted Showcase Maiden Plate (1300m) on the Coffs Harbour Cup program.
Earlier this month, Wheeler was back in the winner’s circle, with the ever-consistent Theregos (Raymond Spokes, $11) claiming victory in the 1000m Maiden Plate.
“We had a little run of placings, but we only had three or four horses go to the races, and it can take a little time to settle into somewhere new,” Wheeler said.
“We’re blessed to be here; we’ve got a treadmill and swimming pool, the beach is two or three kilometres down the road, and we utilise all of those facilities, and it’s good to see the winners starting to come.”
Wheeler isn’t new to training, and while his recent victories came 11 years after his previous winners in Queensland, he wasn’t thinking about the past but instead looking forward to an exciting future.
“I trained about 30 winners when I was just a kid and only had five or six in work back then, but I’ll be honest; it was a relief to get the monkey off my back and get going,” Wheeler said.
“I came here with two horses and paid $4000 for both of them, but it wasn’t about what we paid and what horses we had, but more for the lifestyle and to enjoy time with my kids, and if we can get a few winners along the way, that’s great.”
With ‘eight or so on the books and five or six in work’, Wheeler has a few good owners sticking by him, but he isn’t interested in getting too big, too quick.
“We’ve got some good owners that want to buy into one or two horses, so we’re on the lookout, but I don’t want to have big numbers,” Wheeler said.
“I do 90% of the work myself, and I’m here seven days a week as it is, and if I was to wake up to 30 or 40 horses in work, I wouldn’t enjoy it.
“When you get to that many, it’s just the run of the mill, and you don’t go to the beach or treadmill.
“I’d rather have eight to ten in work and concentrate on them and give them my attention and every opportunity.”
Wheeler said working with John Wallace and travelling with Group One winner and champion galloper Shoot Out taught him a lot about attention to detail.
During his travels, he worked alongside Murray Baker and other leading trainers, and throughout his time on the road, he picked up many tricks of the trade that are now part and parcel of his training regime.
“The attention to detail came from being a travelling foreman with Shoot Out,” Wheeler said.
“I was riding all his work, and when he was going away for those good races, I was working with best vets, acupunctures, and farriers, and I learned so much,
“I was next to these big stables every day, and I watched everything they did and all that attention to detail, and it’s something I’ve taken on board and been able to bring back to my little stable.”
Wheeler will be racing on his home track on Monday, with Bad Boy Darrby having his second start for the stable 1200m Class Two Handicap, while Clipper Ship looked well placed in the 1400m Class One Handicap.
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