JASON COYLE PULLS THE RIGHT REIN AT KEMBLA GRANGE

Catch The Glory gets the better of The Black Cloud to win Saturday's co-feature - courtesy Bradley Photographers.

As Jason Coyle travelled to the Kembla Grange meeting on Saturday he was at sixes and sevens regarding a start for Catch The Glory in The Warra, the $300,000 Gr 3 co-feature to the The Gong. The weather report wasn’t good and the presence of Peter Snowden’s Zealously in the field had scared the pants off most rival trainers. Zealously’s close second to Rey Magnerio in the Gr 2 Caulfield Sprint a month earlier far outshone the form of any of his Warra rivals. On arriving at Kembla Jason was delighted to hear that the track was holding up, and even more delighted to learn that Peter Snowden had scratched Zealously from the black type race. With Imperial Force and Zaragoza also out, Catch The Glory would have only six rivals in the 1000m dash.

In the absence of Zealously punters took an age to establish a favourite. The Black Cloud was the popular pick at post time but only marginally ahead of Sunrise, Catch The Glory, and Dragonstone. Sunrise had the added momentum of a “push” on CH 7’s Sunrise show on Friday morning, when it was light heartedly suggested the mare had been named after the long running programme. Sunrise wasn’t the best away in The Warra but quickly sped through to lead from The Black Cloud with Barber third on the inside of Catch The Glory. Predictably all seven runners headed to the middle of the track on the hometurn with Sunrise giving a strong kick to lead clearly on straightening. The Black Cloud grabbed Sunrise at the 200m with Catch The Glory looming large on the outside. Jason Collett had the long striding chestnut mare in full flight on the line to beat The Black Cloud by a neck with Sunrise third.

Jason Collett's poise and balance were evident as he won The Warra on Catch The Glory - courtesy Bradley Photographers.

And what of Jason Coyle’s long association with winning jockey Jason Collett. “I was using Jason Collett long before he settled at Warwick Farm and long before he was in the kind of demand he enjoys today,” said the trainer. “He’s got better and better. Early on he had a reputation for wanting to get back on horses and try to bring them all with a late run. Today he rides every horse according to its characteristics and best racing pattern. He always has them where they’re most comfortable. He’s ridden well over 100 NSW winners in three of the last four seasons, and has a career tally of 142 stakes races including 8 Gr 1’s. Like many jockeys he gets washed away in the J. McDonald tidal wave, but is much closer to the elite benchmark than most people realise.”

Horse lover Collett gives The Warra winner a rub between the ears - courtesy Bradley Photographers.

Jason Coyle took a shine to Catch The Glory at the Magic Millions National March sale in 2023. “She was well put together with high white stockings front and back on the near side and an attractive blaze,” said Jason. “I liked her sire Zousain who’d only won a couple of races but had run second in a J. J. Atkins, a Golden Rose and a Coolmore Stud Stakes. Her dam Catch That Cat had won six races including three at Moonee Valley and just to add a bit of sentiment, her granddam Appolonian is a daughter of old favourite Octagonal. The filly was passed in initially, but I was able to negotiate privately with owner/breeder Brett Kirkby and acquired her for $50,000. In putting a syndicate together I retained a share myself, several long time stable clients came on board and I was delighted when Brett Kirkby also joined the team.”

Without even trying Jason Coyle has emerged in recent years as a noted trainer of fillies and mares. His skills are again evident with Catch The Glory who’s already turned her $50,000 purchase price into a hefty $485,000, the result of five wins and four placings. Her wins prior to Saturday came in a maiden at Kembla in August last year, a BM72 at Warwick Farm, a BM72 Midway at Randwick, and a BM78 at Rosehill.

Immediately after a second to Fire Star in a strong BM88 at Rosehill on September 13th, Jason contrived a little plan for his up and coming mare. “I opted for a freshen up, a couple of quiet barrier trials followed by a crack at one of two races before she went for a spell,” said the astute trainer. The options were The Warra at Kembla or the listed Starlight Stakes at Rosehill on November 29th. We opted for The Warra which is worth $100,000 more than the Starlight. It’s always good when a long range plan comes off. The mare has done a super job and will now head to the paddock at the top of her game.”

Just over a decade ago Jason Coyle’s training future was imperilled by the collapse of Nathan Tinkler’s Patinack Racing empire. He and John Thompson had been personally selected by the coal magnate to train a huge number of fashionably bred horses at two venues. Both trainers were enjoying significant success for their employer when the vast operation ran out of funds after just eighteen months. In that time Jason snared a Gr 1 double for Patinack with Onemorenomore (Champagne Stakes) and Linky Dink (T.J. Smith in Brisbane). In 2014 a total of 1600 Patinack horses went under the hammer at two “fire sales” leaving Coyle and Thompson without jobs. Ten years on, both have rebuilt their careers with distinction. John Thompson works a team of 40 horses from Randwick stables while Coyle prepares a slightly smaller team from his Warwick Farm base. Both enjoy the support of loyal owner groups and are regularly in the winner’s circle on metropolitan and provincial tracks.

At least Jason grabbed a couple of Gr. 1s before Patinack Racing was wound down. One of them was the Champagne Stakes with Onemorenomore (Peter Robl) - courtesy Bradley Photographers.

At the time of the much publicised corporate collapse, Coyle went from eighty horses in work to a team of six, accommodated in boxes he was able to lease from fellow Warwick Farm trainer Steve Englebrecht. To this day he pinches himself to believe that a succession of horses came into his stables destined to each win multiple races - Berry Delicious (5 Sydney metro wins), Scream Machine (6 Sydney metro wins and a Wagga Cup), Insensata (6 wins including Rosehill and Eagle Fam), Salsonic (4 wins including Gr 2 Queensland Guineas), the lightly raced Va Pensiero (3 wins including Gr 3 San Domenico Stakes and Gr 3 Run To The Rose), Siren’s Fury (6 wins including Gr 3 Dark Jewel Classic and Gr 3 Star Kingdom Stakes), Memes (6 wins including four at Randwick), Slightly Sweet (5 wins including the listed Winter Stakes, Gr 3 Keith Nolan and Gr 3 James Carr Stakes) and White Moss (8 wins including the Gr 3 Nivison, the Gr 2 Millie Fox and two editions of the Gr 2 Sapphire Stakes). These were the horses to bring Jason Coyle back from obscurity, and needless to say he’d love to have any one of them all over again.

One of the horses to regenerate Jason's career was Va Pensiero (Nathan Berry) seen here beating Dissident in the 2013 Run To The Rose - courtesy Bradley Photographers.

Had Jason’s father Peter not enjoyed a dabble on the horses, the spark may never have been ignited in the first place. The patter of radio race broadcasts was a familiar sound to young Coyle as he grew up in the Sydney suburb of South Granville. Slowly but surely, he became captivated by the theatre of racing and it was no surprise to his family when he came home one day to announce that he was starting work in the Gai Waterhouse stable. He later furthered his experience under the tutelage of outstanding horsemen like John Size and David Payne. It’s well documented that he launched his solo training career from rented boxes at Newcastle racecourse with four very suspect horses, one of which he bought from a Sydney stable for the token payment of one dollar, simply to make the transaction legal and binding.

Winners are grinners! Here's Jason after a stakes win with More Energy at Rosehill 24/02/2018 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.

The gelding in question was called Up For Grabs. He was by champion stallion Zabeel and was a maiden after fourteen starts when “purchased” by Jason from a client of the Payne stable. Young Coyle’s attention to detail, and his unrelenting dedication became obvious to many when Up For Grabs quickly won a maiden at Muswellbrook and a Cl 1 at Wyong. He was the first of the 551 wins currently complementing the trainer’s CV, highlighted by two Gr 1’s and another twenty three black type successes. When the massively ambitious Patinack Racing enterprise folded, Jason was left with some indelible memories and a future of great uncertainty.

His courage to rebuild is commendable, and the lessons learned are set in stone. He’ll never again put all his eggs in one basket. This bloke is a born horseman with a great talent to offer. With only thirty horses in work, he won’t be winning any premierships, but he will be winning plenty of races for owners who share his patience, and appreciate his understanding of racehorses.