Ex-trainer John Nikolic one of racing’s most feared men
JOHN Nikolic has spent most of his life thinking outside the square. To those who have known him, it was seemingly a case of when, not if, trouble would find him. And possibly finish him, writes Leo Schlink.
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WHEN John Nikolic crafted a personal profile on a social media networking site two years ago, he provided a telling insight into one of racing’s most mysterious, and feared, characters.
And a poignant prophecy.
Describing himself as “an adventurous and friendly 43-year-old”, the disgraced horse trainer was asked what he hoped to teach, learn and share through the website.
“Hopefully (lessons from) my experiences and mistakes. Too many people live their lives in fear,” he answered.
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“I’m very open-minded, and love experiencing new things and meeting new people.
“I like those who think outside the square and enjoy themselves, with a happy positive outlook on life. I dislike judgmental haters who revel in criticising others.”
Now on life support in a Fijian hospital, allegedly after being caught in a multimillion-dollar drug bust, Nikolic has spent most of his life thinking outside the square.
He is understood to have self-harmed as his boat was raided and was taken to the intensive care unit of the Lautoka Hospital in northeast Fiji.
To those who have known Nikolic — whose father, John, and brother, Danny, are also notorious racing figures — it was seemingly a case of when, not if, trouble would find him.
And possibly finish him.
It has seemed that way for much of an unconventional existence that’s been pockmarked by brushes with the law. A devotee of Dick Francis, the British jockey turned crime writer who trotted out thrillers based in the racing world, Nikolic has led a chequered life.
He was investigated over the 2011 murder of Danny Nikolic’s former father-in-law, Les Samba.
And he has repeatedly fallen foul of racing authorities.
In 2010, Nikolic briefly stopped training after an investigation into the performance of $1.30 favourite Baby Boom, which was beaten into fourth place at the Sunshine Coast on January 3.
Reacting to claims that up $300,000 had been wagered against Baby Boom on betting exchange Betfair, stewards opened an inquiry. Nikolic abruptly handed in his licence, without explanation.
A year later, he was questioned for six hours by police investigating Samba’s murder.
His wife, Yvette, was also interviewed by detectives.
Neither was charged.
In 2015, Nikolic was warned off Australian racetracks for nine months after he admitted treating Wonderful Jester with a prohibited substance, moments before the horse landed a betting plunge at Murwillumbah on August 3.
Wonderful Jester was backed in from $8 to $3.
Nikolic used an absorbent pad to rub penetrene, a non-performance-enhancing product, to “both sides of (Wonderful Jester’s) neck, front of his chest, over his legs and then his nose” in the stabling area shortly before the race, then threw the pad over the fence.
A rival trainer retrieved it and presented it to stewards.
The pad also tested positive to cocaine. But urine and nasal samples taken from the horse after the race both returned negative results for cocaine.
Nikolic said he had no idea how the pad had tested positive to cocaine.
“Cocaine is pretty much everywhere these days, and even on banknotes, and it certainly didn’t come from me,” Nikolic said.
At Murwillumbah in January the previous year, the Nikolic-trained Wonderful Jester had returned a positive result in a test for the prohibited substance gabapentin.
Nikolic previously trained horses in Malaysia, where he prepared more than 100 winners, before deciding to relocate to Queensland.
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