It’s starting to look like Melanie O’Gorman was fated to own So Country from the outset. That certainly wasn’t her intention when she secured the son of Shamexpress for $100,000 at the 2019 Classic Yearling Sale. Melanie was already a highly regarded yearling breaker and educator and was keen to try her luck in the horse trading business. Her three point plan was to buy the right yearling for the right money, get it up and going, and then offer it for sale - perhaps a local breeze up sale or the Hong Kong market where she’d already established contacts.
The trainer was more than satisfied with her purchase and couldn’t wait to get the colt home to Tamworth, to begin the breaking in process. Before the year was out she was wishing she’d never seen the catalogue. “He broke in well and was going along pleasingly when he suddenly went dead lame,” she recalled. “I was horrified when the vets diagnosed a hairline pelvic fracture. Thank goodness we detected it early, and six months in the paddock repaired the damage.”
Melanie O'Gorman - the lady who never gave up on the accident prone So Country. Her patience is finally paying off - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
“He was barely back in training when disaster struck again. He slipped and fell one day in the paddock striking a hind joint on a rock as he hit the ground. He sustained a deep cut on the joint, but scans and X/rays confirmed there was no internal damage. Out he went again. It was May of 2020 before I finally got him to a barrier trial. He ran second in two trials at Scone and Newcastle after which I put him away again. He was a three year old when he won an 800m barrier trial at Hawkesbury in January 2021 with Rachel King on board. I immediately offered him to my Hong Kong contacts who knocked him back. To this day I don’t know what put them off. Maybe Shamexpress wasn’t well enough known over there.”
The rising five year old has since raced seven times for Melanie and her partner Duncan McRae. He ran three consecutive seconds in the north west before bagging his maiden win at Tamworth with Ashley Morgan in the saddle. Then came another second at Tamworth followed by consecutive wins at Armidale in early June, and at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday. He was aided by runner up Sir Ravenelli hanging off the track in the straight, but full marks to So Country whose racing manners were impeccable. The gelding needs one more city win to recoup Melanie’s Classic Sale outlay plus subsequent exes. He’ll attempt to square the books when he lines up in a Class 2 TAB Highway at Rosehill on July 30th.
So Country (Jarrod Woodhouse) wins on a frost bitten Armidale track in early June - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Melanie developed her expertise in breaking and educating yearlings when she and former husband Tim Martin established a business at Heritage Park near Camden almost a decade ago. “I ran the business while Tim continued his successful Rosehill training operation,” said Melanie. “With breakers, pre-trainers and spellers we had upwards of 120 horses on the place at one time. We managed with the support of great staff, and it was a wonderful learning curve for me.”
Fast forward to 2015 by which time Melanie had acquired a trainer’s licence and an assurance of ongoing support from old clients needing the right person to break in and educate their young horses. She moved swiftly when ten boxes became available at the Scone racecourse. “I landed in Scone with just four racehorses and high hopes,” said Melanie. “My insecurities were alleviated almost immediately when I got a phone call from Stuart Ramsey of nearby Turangga Farm who offered me a number of horses straight off the top. Stuart and his son John asked me to get some of their homebreds to trialling stage with a view to assessing whether they should go to the city or remain in the bush. I’ll be eternally grateful to the Ramseys.”
Melanie’s resolve to mix racehorse training with the breaking and education of yearlings, eventually led her to an 11 acre property a stone’s throw from the heart of Tamworth. She was able to negotiate a lease on the farm and hasn’t had the slightest regret. “I have fifteen boxes, a walking machine, a dressage arena, a round yard and paddock space,” says Melanie. “The best part is we’re only eight minutes from the Tamworth track, and we’re there almost every day. We try to keep our numbers under the twenty mark. Usually seven or eight racehorses and a similar number of breakers, pre-trainers and youngsters which are earmarked for sale. She enjoys a burgeoning reputation as a specialist in the art of breeze up sale preparation.
Melanie had the services of a couple of pretty good jockeys at the Scone Cup meeting 2015 - Jim Cassidy and Robert Thompson - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Melanie and her sister Melissa grew up in the Northern Tablelands town of Walcha where they learned to ride at a very early age. The youngsters dominated most events at local pony club, and in later years earned great acclaim in the dressage arena and in the show ring. Both O’Gorman girls rode trackwork in Japan in their late teens, with Melanie eventually going on to Kentucky where she worked for renowned horseman Bill Harrigan. It’s well documented that Melissa, now a busy mother of two is the wife of multiple Group 1 winning trainer Matthew Smith. For several years Melanie excelled as a trackwork rider for her then husband Tim Martin at Rosehill.
Nowadays her time in the saddle is rare, and purely social. She realised a few years ago that even the slightest injury would greatly impede the running of her business and her communication with clients. “I missed the one on one connection with my horses for a while, but I was also keen to concentrate on the administration of my horse operation,” said Melanie. “I was also aware that the years were starting to creep up. Currently I have the support of two excellent girls on the ground, and another two who do all of my riding.”
Melanie has developed the talents of several young horses for clients, and a handful of her own sales acquisitions. She’s especially proud of the achievements of the recently retired Trumbull, who won seven races for trainer Kim Waugh including the Gr 3 Sydney Stakes on Everest Day 2020. “I got him for $65,000 at the Inglis Classic Sale and put a lot of work into him leading up to an Inglis breeze up sale in Melbourne that year,” recalled Melanie. “I was pretty downcast when he failed to reach my reserve, but pulled myself together when the mobile phone started to chime. It was the lovely Kim Waugh who’d been watching proceedings online at her Jilliby property. To cut a long story short, Kim and I reached agreement at $120,000. The Darci Brahma colt went on to win $655,000.”
On the professional racehorse training side of the business, Melanie’s special horse was Suncraze who raced only 22 times for 5 wins, 9 placings and $568,000. The Henrythenavigator gelding went within half a length of giving his trainer the thrill of a lifetime, with a fast closing second to Belflyer in the inaugural Kosciuszko. “Corey Brown said a check on straightening for home probably cost him the race,” said Melanie. “It took me a few days to get over that one. His form started to taper off after the Kosciuszko, and I suspected he was developing breathing problems. Eventually he had the “tie back” surgery but he was never the same horse. We retired him after an unplaced run in the 2019 Kosciuszko. I was so sorry to see him go.”
Melanie's all time favourite Suncraze (Corey Brown) in his first city win at Randwick 22/07/2017 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
It’s been a fruitful twelve months for the O’Gorman stable. Apart from So Country’s purple patch of form, Melanie has won races with Go Seeking, Leaglese, Lan Kwai Fong, Beauty Empress, Simpkin and I’m On Break. From a future viewpoint she’s perhaps most excited about the prospects of Simpkin, a Toronado gelding who scored one of the best maiden wins of the year at Tamworth back in March. He came from last of twelve, and despite being off the track from the 500m he stormed home to win with something in hand. He raced twice subsequently for a second and an unplaced effort, before being spelled. Melanie’s expecting more wins from Simpkin next preparation, and hopes to find a suitable TAB Highway for the rising 5 year old.
Simpkin (Rory Hutchings) scores a barnstorming win in a Tamworth maiden - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Like her sister Melissa, Melanie is also a mother of two. Not surprisingly her daughters Estella (18) and Scarlet (14) are avid horse lovers. Estella’s talents in the barrel racing pursuit saw her crowned NSW under eighteen champion last year. That distinction has earned her a spot on the West Texas College rodeo team which will give her an opportunity at the highest level. Melanie has arranged to have Estella’s own horse flown to the US early next month. She’ll be missing from the business just long enough to accompany her eldest daughter to Dallas and get her settled in. She makes no secret of the fact that So Country’s timely win on Saturday will help defray the cost of a very expensive exercise.
It’s been a whirlwind seven years since Melanie arrived in Scone with two young daughters and fervent hopes that she could carve a niche for herself in a very tough business. She needn’t have worried. An appetite for hard work, a love of horses and a fair smattering of talent have earned her a healthy reputation in the NSW racing industry. There are dozens of good quotes about talent. The one credited to Luke Campbell strikes a chord. “Talent is nothing without dedication and discipline, and dedication and discipline is a talent in itself.” Melanie O’Gorman might have seen that quote somewhere along the way.
(Banner image - So Country raced on the pace before a strong win in Saturday's TAB Highway - courtesy Bradley Photographers.)