Trainer Adam Campton heeds advice from his pop

By Glenn Davis

Rookie trainer Adam  Campton will always remember some timely advice from his late pop - 1962 Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Les Coles - to chase his dreams in life.

Those dreams led the 33-year-old to start a training career a year ago and could soon see him head to Sydney with talented sprinter Lord Markel if the former Victorian is successful at Ipswich on Wednesday.

Lord Markel was Campton’s first winner when he saddled his first starter at Warwick in January.

The six-year-old also gave Campton his first metropolitan winner at Ipswich on April 6 and will be chasing his fifth win for the stable in the Class 6 Handicap over 1200 metres tomorrow.

Campton has racing flowing through his veins as his father, Neil Campton, was also a top jockey in his day winning a Golden Slipper before training at Rosehill in Sydney.

But, Campton admits he never got the racing bug until late in life.

“I wasn’t a big fan of racing early on but my pop has played a big part in my life,” Campton said.

“He was a special man and he once told me to chase my dreams.

“Dad was also a top jockey before he later became a trainer at Rosehill.”

Campton, who has built a strong stable of 33 at the Gold Coast, is hopeful Lord Markel can repeat his recent Gold Coast win.

The six-year-old came from last in a small field of five to score a runaway five-length win on a heavy track on September 24.

“It looks a winning race again for him on Wednesday,” Campton said.

“He was very dominant at the Gold Coast first-up and he means a lot to us.

“He was my first starter and my first winner the day he ran at Warwick and he’s also my first metropolitan winner.

“I’ve had 12 wins since I started training from about 45 runners.”

Campton was living in Hong Kong when a close friend, Luke Murray, told Lord Markel’s part-owner Kevin Page that he intended to return to Australia to train at the Gold Coast.

“Kevin found out from Luke I was coming back home to train and Kev decided to send up Lord Markel to give me a go,” he said.

“I used to follow the horse in Melbourne and I always thought he’d win some races here in Queensland.

“He’s going enormous now and this prep is the right time to have a throw at the stumps if he wins again so we may take him to Sydney for a Benchmark race in a few weeks.”