Ian Craig and I stood side by side at a television monitor to watch the running of the race bearing our names at Randwick on Saturday. We were mutually chuffed to see Opal Ridge plough through the testing ground for an easy win in what should have been the sixth event on the ten race card. It turned out to be the last. The filly tracked Dashing Legend and Burgunder into the straight before Tyler Schiller steered her between those two horses topping the rise. The race was over in a twinkling. The filly’s large ownership group gathered on ground level to watch the action on the giant infield screen, and were predictably animated as their filly crossed the line more than two lengths clear of the Godolphin runner Pericles.
The cheer squad should have been even bigger. Allan and Ryan Hunt who purchased Opal Ridge at the 2021 Inglis Classic Sale, were unable to make the trip from their Moruya base, but enjoyed every moment as they watched the Sky coverage. By an amazing quirk of fate, the father and son duo have both been dealing with cancer issues. They’re quick to tell you that Opal Ridge has taken them on a thrilling journey, providing them with a therapy the oncologists don’t have at their disposal.
It's hard to believe Opal Ridge could have all four feet off the ground in Saturday's conditions - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.
Allan and Ryan went to the 2021 Inglis Classic Sale with the express purpose of buying a horse for Luke Pepper to train. The emerging stallion Rubick was coming up with winners on a regular basis - winners like Yes Yes Yes who’d been impressive in winning a couple of two year old races at Moonee Valley and Flemington not long before the sale. Allan and Ryan took a shine to a Rubick filly out of the three time winning mare Chadana, a daughter of Myboycharlie. “She was actually passed in but Allan and Ryan were able to negotiate a deal with the vendor,” said Luke. “How they got her for just $20,000 I’ll never know. She was very immature to look at, and maybe that was the reason people shied off her.
“She came straight to my stables at Canberra after being broken in. I like to give the yearlings about ten days in the stable before they go to the paddock, and I actually rode her a few times. The first thing I noticed was her laid back nature. Nothing bothered her. We put her away and I really didn’t expect much of a change between then and the start of her next preparation,” said the trainer.
“I got a major shock when she came back into the stable a couple of months later. I honestly thought the spelling farm had sent me the wrong horse. She’d grown and furnished to an amazing degree, giving me something to work on. Mind you she still has a fair bit of filling out to do. I think you’ll see a big difference next autumn.”
Buyers Allan and Ryan Hunt quickly put a syndicate of friends together to race the Rubick filly. They named her Opal Ridge for no other reason than the way the words rolled off the tongue. Luke appointed himself the filly’s official trackwork rider and immediately fell under her spell. The sweet temperament was still there, and within weeks she was moving like a good horse. “Everything about her was one hundred percent racehorse,” he said. “With the immaturity factor always at the back of my mind, I just let her do what she wanted to do. I felt we had a natural two year old on our hands.”
Opal Ridge's owners were oblivious to the rain after their filly romped home on Saturday - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
It was January 21st of this year before Luke produced Opal Ridge in a Canberra two year old event over 1000m. With Kayla Nisbet up, the filly raced midfield to the turn before letting down impressively to put the opposition away in a few strides. Luke’s euphoria was quickly dispelled when she came out of her box the following morning noticeably lame in a hind leg. X/rays revealed a hairline fracture just above a hock. “The vets weren’t too alarmed and were confident she’d get over it with a lengthy spell. As things have turned out it was probably a blessing in disguise.”
The Rubick filly gave notice of better things to come with this brilliant debut win at Canberra. Kayla Nisbet was the jockey - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Luke had moved his operation from Canberra to Scone by the time Opal Ridge returned to the races six months later. Giving away age to most of the opposition, she strolled home in a Scone BM58 with Mitchell Bell in the saddle. She pulled up perfectly. Fifteen days later she was desperately unlucky when second to Troach in a late season two year old race at Rosehill. After being badly held up in the straight, the filly motored home to get to within a length of the winner. Her potential was there for all to see, and not surprisingly the offers started to roll in. “We had some very tempting offers for Opal Ridge and I feared the worst,” said Luke. “She has a lot of owners and two of them have had serious health issues. All agreed that they were enjoying the ride far too much to let her go.”
Three weeks after her luckless Rosehill second, Luke decided to have a throw at the stumps in the Gr 2 Silver Shadow Stakes won by Zougotcha. “From a wide gate she never got on the track against some classy fillies, and finished out of a place,” said Luke. “She wasn’t beaten far, and all things considered we were pretty happy with the effort.”
James McDonald was on board two weeks later, when Opal Ridge comfortably handled a Heavy 9 track to beat Prince Nicconi and Salire in a 1200m TAB Highway. Next assignment was the listed Heritage Stakes at Rosehill on an unexpected Good 4 track. With Brenton Avdulla replacing McDonald, Opal Ridge was far from disgraced in finishing second to the highly rated Economics. That paved the way for her big pay day at Randwick on Saturday. The $20,000 filly goes to the paddock with $445,000 in the bank, and a group of owners who can’t believe their luck.
Opal Ridge illustrated her tolerance of heavy tracks with this win in a TAB Highway in early September - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.
Forty two year old Luke Pepper loved training horses at Canberra but finally buckled under the heavy worker’s compensation costs imposed by the ACT government. NSW based trainers pay $30,000 less per year than their ACT counterparts. He had a one year wait after applying for boxes on the Scone racecourse, but couldn’t get there quickly enough when granted stables in the middle of this year. “This location gives trainers comfortable access to a large number of tracks,” said Luke. “It’s a little over three hours to Rosehill and Randwick. Brisbane isn’t the end of the world, and we’ve got all of the north coast meetings within easy reach. We race on the tablelands and in the central west. We even won a race recently at the famous Wean picnics in the north west.”
It’s no surprise that Luke has an affinity with picnic racing. He would have given anything to ride professionally, but realised early in life that he’d have to settle for a short term career in the amateur ranks. He rode fifty winners in just four seasons on the circuit, before starting to struggle with the picnic weight scale. Intent on staying in the racing industry he landed a job at the Meringo Stud on the NSW south coast. He was there when a newly acquired broodmare called Shady Stream produced a Celtic Swing colt. How could anybody on that property have known the new arrival would become one of the most celebrated thoroughbreds in the world. Little did Luke realise he and Takeover Target would cross paths again one day.
A young Luke Pepper soon after the start of his solo training career - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Luke Pepper’s affinity with horses and his talents as a trackwork rider assured him of regular employment in the racing game. He spent time with the successful Barbara Joseph operation and later became stable foreman to Nick Olive. “I enjoyed every minute of my time with both,” said Luke. “They’re outstanding professionals and between them gave me a wonderful grounding for my future as a trainer.”
During his time with the Nick Olive stable, Luke became Takeover Target’s regular work rider. Joe Janiak was of the opinion Luke and the champion sprinter got on well together and didn’t like to separate them. Such was Luke Pepper’s affinity with Takeover Target that Joe invited him to accompany the horse on two overseas assignments. Luke rode the remarkable gelding in all of his work in Japan leading up to the Sprinter’s Stakes at Nakayama, 40km east of Tokyo. “This was his finest moment,” says Luke. “He decimated a field which included half a dozen Gr 1 horses. The great Silent Witness was one of them. It was a privilege to be a part of it.”
Trainer Luke Pepper’s first win came with Ganesan at Queanbeyan on October 31st 2009 with Tim Phillips on board. His first metropolitan success came just eight months later with a genuine Commands mare called Panderelle who won a BM89 on the Kensington track with Corey Brown in the saddle. Until Opal Ridge came into his life, Luke had regarded Viceroy as his star boarder. “We had some fun with him,” said Luke. “He’d won races at Balaklava and Ballarat before finding his way to our place. “We were lucky enough to win one race at Wagga, and three at Canterbury. He ran second in a Wagga Town Plate and fourth in a Ramornie Hcp. He’s got a home for life at our place, and my partner Tahnee Mills loves to pop him over a few jumps from time to time.”
One of Viceroy's four wins for the Pepper stable - Canterbury 15/12/2017 with Tye Angland in the saddle - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Tahnee’s passion for horses is matched by her commitment to a career in the scientific field. On moving to the Hunter Valley with Luke, she was delighted to find a position as a scientist with the Hunter Equine Centre. “She spends every spare minute helping out in our racing operation,” says the trainer. “She can’t believe her good fortune in being able to combine both loves.”
Luke’s affinity with fillies and mares hasn’t been overlooked by owners. He realises he’s in exactly the right spot to attract the patronage of the many Hunter Valley studs who like to race female homebreds with valuable bloodlines. While on the subject of bloodlines it’s interesting to note that Luke nearly dropped the catalogue when browsing through the entries for this year’s Magic Millions Tasmanian Yearling Sale. His eyes widened when he spotted an Outreach filly out of Chadana - a half sister to his stable star. A couple of bids and $30,000 later Luke had himself a filly he’s already named Diamond Ridge. He’s keeping 50% while members of the Opal Ridge syndicate have snapped up the balance. The filly is back in the paddock after a couple of “jump outs” and I’m sure there’s an upbeat inflection in the trainer’s voice when he talks about the latest acquisition to his seventeen horse team.
Only a few days have passed since Opal Ridge checked into a VIP spelling yard at the nearby Willow Park Stud. Luke’s already counting the minutes to her return. Next year’s autumn calendar features a mouth watering sequence of races for the top grade fillies and mares. Equally tantalizing is the prize money on offer. Bring on 2023 says the young horseman whose emergence as a very serious horse trainer is gathering momentum by the day.
(Banner image - Opal Ridge displaced plenty of turf as she slogged through the heavy ground to win on Saturday - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.)