Caulfield Cup-winning trainer Jim Mason returns from bankruptcy in style

Jim Mason won the 1996 Caulfield Cup and has had his share of troubles since, but has bounced back to train on the Sunshine Coast.

Jim Mason, who trained 1996 Caulfield Cup winner Arctic Scent, has embarked on a new chapter of his career in racing, training on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. Picture: Ben Dorries

He’s the Caulfield Cup winner who went bust with bankruptcy but has bounded back again.

Jim Mason was 32 when he trained Arctic Scent to a Caulfield Cup for big-time owner David Moodie.

The racing world appeared to be at his feet.

After the exhilarating high of the Cup triumph, Mason trained for a Chinese ownership syndicate and then worked for Gerald Ryan in Sydney before heading back to Victoria to train in his own right.

• PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet’s team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW!

Trouble struck and he was struggling to make ends meet, financially ruined, before grabbing a lifeline when he worked as an assistant trainer for Greg Eurell.

Now 59, Mason has just emerged as a private trainer on the Sunshine Coast for businessman and owner Michael Sherrin and the pair struck gold immediately when Street Chase won at a sodden Doomben as a $21 chance on Saturday.

Mason reflects on how he reached a “really shabby stage” in his racing career and his life.

“I always visualised myself training my whole lifetime and then all of a sudden the rug gets pulled out from under me and I was financially crippled,” Mason told Racenet.

“I went bankrupt – everyone goes through knocks don’t they?

“I went through a really shabby stage, because I got divorced around the same time.

“I went and joined Greg (Eurell), to get back on my feet again.

Trainer Jim Mason (left) and owner David Moodie, moments after Arctic Scent won the 1996 Caulfield Cup.

• ‘He wouldn't have won’: Trainer has no regrets on Rothfire

“It filled in a hole in my life and kept me out of trouble, it was good to get away from being a trainer and not have to worry about chasing money all the time because it can be a difficult industry.

“It’s some sort of story, I’ve been on an incredible journey.

“I really don’t know how I pulled myself out of the situation I was in.

“But I guess I am pretty laid-back and it takes a bit to really rile me and even going through that period I tried to keep my cool.

“It sounds bizarre, but I don’t reflect on things too much, I just go with the flow.

“But if someone said to me not so long ago that I would be at Doomben winning a race with a horse I trained, I would have said they were dreaming.”

Jim Mason pictured after Arctic Scent won the 1996 Caulfield Cup.

The call for Mason to work as a private trainer for Sherrin came out of the blue and via a third party.

Group 1-winning rider Nikita Beriman, who now calls the Sunshine Coast home, had been apprenticed to Mason many years ago in Victoria.

• ‘Black Caviar class’: Dye's huge praise for HK Sprint hotpot

They have remained firm friends and Beriman phoned Mason and told him to get on a plane to the Sunshine Coast and meet with Sherrin.

Mason takes up the story.

“Out of the blue, Nikita rang and said you’ve got to come up to the Sunny Coast to meet Mike (Sherrin),” Mason said.

“I spent two days talking to him and I really liked what I heard.

“I have never met a more passionate racing man with incredible direction.

“Everything that comes out of his mouth makes sense.

Arctic Scent, ridden by jockey Brent Stanley, winning the 1996 Caulfield Cup.

“He is the coach – everyone can be tough, but the good thing about him is that if things aren’t going well you just talk to him.

“That was only about 10 weeks ago, and here I am now training for him.

“I had never had a horse run in Brisbane before and, on Saturday, I didn’t even know where the jockeys’ room was at Doomben.”

Street Chase, a three-year-old son of Zoustar, is being aimed toward the $3m Gold Coast Magic Millions 3YO Guineas in January.

Originally published as Caulfield Cup-winning trainer Jim Mason returns from bankruptcy in style