FNQ horse trainer earns record breaking season
The truth is in the numbers about how well local trainer Stephen Massingham has gone in the 2019-20 season, more than doubling his winning tally from the year before.
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It is a bit like the chicken and the egg when it comes to Stephen Massingham’s huge rise as a trainer over the last 18 months or so.
Was he a great trainer before he started to get the top horses from leading north Queensland owner Tom Hedley?
Or, have his numbers gone through the roof because of it?
Well, the answer is the first option.
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But, the growing association with the biggest owner in the north has not hurt at all.
Talking after Full Recognition brought Massingham’s season tally to 30 winners at Cannon Park yesterday afternoon, Hedley laughed that he had made Massingham as a trainer.
It was a joke between mates who have become one of the strongest teams in the racing industry north of Brisbane.
The truth is in the numbers about how well Massingham has gone in the 2019-20 season.
From around 80 starters at Cannon Park over the last 12 months, the 47-year-old local horseman has about a 40 per cent winning strike rate with 30 wins, after Full Recognition’s triumph.
Massingham claimed his first CJC premiership last season and is a clear leader this season to claim back-to-back titles, more than doubling the tally from the season before.
He does not like to pump up his own tyres, but Massingham, who goes by “Boogie” to his mates, can recognise the efforts of his staff and trackwork riders, turning the quality Hedley stock into regular winners.
“It has been really good, I have had a really good year,” he said.
“It is good to get the results, me and the team. We work hard to get the horses to the races.
“With the nice horses, it helps.
“You can have the good horses, but you still need to get them there.”
It did not take long for 30 to become 31 winners for the season either, as Bold Type bolted in the Benchmark 72 Handicap (1250m) later in the day.
And, it became 32 not long after that, as Brilliant Mind made it a treble for the day.
It was a racing season the Massingham team will never forget, winning the triple crown of north Queensland staying races with The Harrovian as well as winning a stack of other quality races.
And, leading into the business end of the 2020 campaign, they are confident more big-time races are just around the corner at Cluden and Cannon parks.
“He can get the nice horses that I buy, but a trainer has to have a bit of ability, too,” Hedley said of Massingham.
“Racing in Queensland has never been better than what it is now. I do not want to slow down, so we have got more with Stephen.”
Full Recognition collected his third win from his past four starts in the Class 6 Plate (950m) as jockey Chris Whiteley swooped down the outside.
Townsville hoop Graham Kliese picked up an early double as he builds in his comeback from serious injury.
Racing at Cannon Park was delayed by half an hour yesterday, with all races pushed back.
“Due to an irrigation malfunction at the Cairns Jockey Club on Monday night, a section of the track between the 400m and the 300m was rated in the Heavy range,” Racing Integrity Commissioner Ross Barnett said.
“The remainder of the track was rated a Good 4.
“Stewards inspected the track on Tuesday morning in the company of a senior jockey and deemed it safe for racing.”
Originally published as FNQ horse trainer earns record breaking season