Stuart Kendrick wins 2021/22 Sunshine Coast and Queensland provincial trainers premiership

Sunshine Coast and provincial premiership winning trainer Stuart Kendrick says the competitive rise in talent in Queensland is an exciting and welcome test for his stable.

Sunshine Coast and Queensland provincial premiership winning trainer Stuart Kendrick says the recent injection of experience and talent to the region is an exciting and welcome test for his stable.

Kendrick took out the 2021/2022 season with a total of 71 wins, 143 placings from 447 starts at Queensland provincial meetings.

Jockey James Orman edged out Ryan Maloney to finish on top of the jockeys premiership table for the second year in a row.

It’s now the ninth year in a row that Kendrick has finished at the top of the Sunshine Coast premiership table and the third consecutive year at the provincial level.

“It’s satisfying because as I keep saying each year the competition is getting tougher and tougher and you can see that through the quality of horses and the quality of trainers that are here,” he said.

“There’s $300,000 and $400,000 yearlings going around on a Sunday so you’ve got to have a nice horse to win here and I can only see it getting tougher.”

Stuart Kendrick at his on-course Corbould Park stable.

With leading Queensland duo Steve O’Dea and Matt Hoysted coming off a terrific season and the likes of Annabel Neasham, Chris Waller and Kris Lees establishing their own satellite stables in the Sunshine State, Kendrick said he was welcoming the increased competition.

“I think that’s part of it and getting some experienced trainers and good horses up here means you’ve got to step up to keep your nose in front,” he said.

“We were going through our consistency the other day as our percentages in the top four are excellent at home and at the provincial level and even in town in the top four or five they are good, we’ve just got to work on that winning percentage.”

Kendrick thanked his team’s efforts and said the proximity of his Palmwoods farm as well as his on-course stables was helping his unit maintain dominance.

“Our farm is only 20 minutes away and it allows us to keep a lot of these horses up longer as they each have mini spells each time they race so you can see how they recover so much better,” Kendrick said.

Originally published as Stuart Kendrick wins 2021/22 Sunshine Coast and Queensland provincial trainers premiership