South Australian breeder Harry Perks honoured with Order of Australia Medal
South Australian breeder Harry Perks reflects on his career after he was honoured with an Order of Australia Medal.
Having bred 138 stakes winners, Harry Perks knows a thing or two about success, and the South Australian Racing Hall of Fame member now has an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) nestled alongside his name.
An accomplished businessman, Perks was recognised for his service to accounting and thoroughbred racing on the 2025 Australia Day Honours list in late January.
It was the beginning of a week of recognition for Perks, who was also named Racing SA’s Leading Breeder, Leading Breeder (Individual winners) and Leading Breeder Stakes winners for an incredible 14th time, at the SA Thoroughbred Breeders Awards on Saturday night.
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“Oh it’s fantastic,” Perks said of his Order of Australia Medal.
“I’ve got three brothers who have been very successful, it’s nice to outdo them – I’m a pretty competitive person.
“My two elder brothers were both doctors, one was an anaesthetist and the other was an Ophthalmologist. My younger brother Greg was in the accounting practice with me.”
Perks, who grew up in Victor Harbour, discovered his passion for horse racing while at Flinders University with a friend, Steve Kelton. Kelton’s father was the Morphettville trackwork clocker at the time.
“Because I knew Steve I got interested in going to the midweek races, back in the 1960s when Victoria Park was going and there was 100 bookmakers,” he said.
“The only way you could have a bet those days was to go to the races.”
That interest grew incessantly, and Perks, along with two other friends, Trevor Robertson and Rod Fairclough, created Toorak Park Stud.
“In the early 80s, we bought our first horse, a filly (Matihi Bay), and decided to set up a stud in the hills at Macclesfield,” he said.
“Because I lived in Toorak Gardens, and there was the Toorak Handicap, we called it Toorak Park Stud. That name has continued since then.”
We'd like to take the opportunity to congratulate @SAbreeders Committee Member Mr Harry Perks who was today awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his outstanding services to horse racing and business. pic.twitter.com/O6fveFBNK0
— SAbreeders (@SAbreeders) January 26, 2025
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Challenging winter conditions saw Perks and co move their breeding operation to the esteemed Mill Park Stud at Meningie, where elite racehorses continue to be born and raised today.
“The trouble with the hills is it’s cold in winter and the mud (etc),” he said.
“In the 90s, a trainer came up one day and said I couldn’t buy a yearling off this property as they just don’t grow out as well as they should.
“We got out of standing stallions and moved the mares down to Mill Park which has been fantastic.
“It’s probably 5-6 degrees warmer but you don’t have mud – it’s really good for raising young horses.”
It’s one thing to nurture a horse through the yearling phase, but another entirely to get them to perform on the track.
That’s where Hall of Fame trainer Leon Macdonald enters the fray in the early 1990s.
Perks and Macdonald enjoyed a prolific alliance that spanned four decades, including Group 1 wins in the AJC Derby, Caulfield Cup and VRC Derby.
“Initially we used a couple of different trainers to start, over a bit of time we got to know Leon a lot better,” Perks said.
“Some trainers tell you the horses might be an each-way chance, and it gets backed from 20s into 10s, and then it gets up.
“Leon never backed his horses, he was always about giving you the honest approach of what he thought – which is what I appreciate.
Perks has raced 96 of the 138 stakes winners he’s bred, including Group 1 stars Gold Guru, Rebel Raider, Southern Speed, Dalasan, Serious Speed, Go Indy Go and more recently, Goldrush Guru.
GOLDRUSH GURU wins the Penfolds Victoria Derby 🌟
— Victoria Racing Club (@FlemingtonVRC) November 2, 2024
It's a race to remember for @jamieleekah07 and Andrew Gluyas.
🎥 @wwos | #DerbyDay | #MelbCupCarnivalpic.twitter.com/k1P2iYAD9e
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Gold Guru’s brilliant 1997-98 season is front of a mind when Perks reflects on his achievements.
“When Gold Guru became champion three-year-old, he won a Group 2 as a two-year-old, but as a three-year-old he won two Group 2s and three Group 1s, a lot of them were in a 10-week period,” he said
“To beat horses like Might And Power in the Ranvet Stakes and Tie The Knot in the Derby in Sydney – that was a real highlight.
“Winning the Caulfield Cup (Rebel Raider), that was also a special day.”
Go Indy Go won the Champagne Stakes at Randwick in 2014, and the filly was one of three Perks-bred horses that won stakes race on that day.
He also had a similar result in October 2023 when Attrition won the Toorak Handicap, with Air Assault and Arctic Glamour winning stakes races in Adelaide and Sydney, and another filly placing at stakes level.
All four were bred by Perks at Mill Park Stud, and Perks’ passion for breeding horses still remains as strong as ever, as do the results, winning the Group 1 VRC Derby with the Andrew Gluyas-trained Goldrush Guru last year.
“I don’t go and spend huge money on mares, but I’ve had pretty good success on the way I do things because it’s worked (previously),” he said.
“I’m heading down to Mill Park shortly within the next couple of weeks as we’ve got yearlings, it’s great to go and look at them and how they’ve progressed.”
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Perks has relied on the judgement of those around him, including renowned bloodstock agent Adrian Hancock, the team at Mill Park and Macdonald.
“Adrian Hancock has been a great influence to us over time,” he said.
“When you are not with the horses all the time, you don’t understand all the faults, some people look at a horse and say this is this or this is that.
“That’s why you rely on people like Mill Park who are very good at judging horses.
“Leon Macdonald was very good, he could see the issues (with a horse), you rely on these people to give you good advice over time.”
With Macdonald now retired, Gluyas, Macdonald’s son-in-law is continuing the racing legacy with Perks.
The pair are eyeing more Autumn carnival success with Goldrush Guru, and have smart staying mare Arugamama in Sunday’s Hobart Cup. “Andrew did a lot of hard work with Leon for a long time, it’s great to see him getting success, he obviously trains Goldrush Guru and is doing a great job,” Perks said.
“She’s (Arugamama) stakes-placed at the moment, it would be nice if she could win one.”
Originally published as South Australian breeder Harry Perks honoured with Order of Australia Medal
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