By Jordan Gerrans
From the production line of trainers coming from the leading Ciaron Maher and David Eustace barn in Melbourne, emerging youngster James Healy is aiming to make his own mark on the Sunshine Coast.
The 27-year-old prepares a boutique team of seven runners across the road from Corbould Park.
Coming on two years since he had his first starter in his own right, Healy has two victories to his name and goes in search of his third on Wednesday afternoon at Doomben.
Two winners in almost 24 months are not numbers that set the world on fire but Healy is trusting the process of it all at the moment.
“It is taking a bit to get going up here and things are starting to go all right,” he said.
“It is going along ok.
“It is going slow but the winners will start coming soon, I just need to be patient.”
Just as Jack Bruce and Annabel Neasham have done in recent times, Healy spent time working under the watch of the top combination of Maher and Eustace.
He spent three years in their yard after previously cutting his teeth working for Queensland trainers Liam Birchley and Rob Heathcote.
As Maher and Eustace have won big-time races for fun in recent years, Healy believes it was a perfect location to learn from one of the leading stables in Australia.
“I thought the time was right to go down south and I learnt so much from Ciaron and Dave,” Healy reflected.
“They are incredible horsemen.
“Ciaron is the sort of bloke that you do not ask a lot of questions of, you just sit back and watch and get a grasp of what he is thinking and doing.
“Dave is the sort of bloke you ask questions of and he will give it to you straight.
“They work really good as a team and you try and bring that up here to my stable, the way they train and do things.
“It is invaluable experience working for them.”
Before heading to Maher and Eustace, Healy crossed paths with former leading city apprentice Aidan Holt, who now rides in North Queensland as well as helping his wife Georgie train her team of gallopers.
The Holts sent their consistent provincial horse Bold Kingston to stay with Healy in the week leading into the recent Country Cups Challenge Final, where he ran a gallant race into fourth.
Aidan backed his close friend to make his own mark on the industry as a trainer as he builds momentum.
“I am good mates with James and we worked together for a few stables and now he has gone out in his own right as a trainer,” Holt said.
“Whenever I send horses to James, he looks after it like they are one of his own.
“He really takes pride looking after horses.”