Former harness trainer dreaming for Group 1 gallops glory

By Jordan Gerrans

A first-time owner and former harness trainer are dreaming of upsetting some of the big boys of Australian racing in Saturday’s Queensland Oaks.

Trevor Lambourn was once a prominent horseman in the trots and pacers but has over the last four years transitioned over to the gallopers.

He has struck gold with a little filly by the name of Original Glaze, who is owned by Brisbane’s Poh Yuan Chin.

Lambourn and Chin did not know each other before they came together to purchase the former George Osborne-trained filly online.

About six months later, the unlikely partnership are hopeful of upsetting a Group 1 field on Saturday afternoon at Eagle Farm.

Chin told Lambourn that he could spend $50,000 on a horse online to train for him. 

He parted with just over $10,000 for the daughter of Thronum and she has scooped up almost $80,000 in stakes so far.

“A friend of mine told me about him and said that he always loved horses and wanted to be involved in racing,” the trainer recalls about his new stable owner.

“He just wanted to dip his toe in the water and have a feel of it all. He is one of those people that likes to learn. Hopefully we can go back to the sales and buy a few more now.

“She has done a good job for him and he is really excited about Saturday.”

The former harness man prepares his dozen gallopers on his property at Lower Mount Walker and will head into the track at Ipswich for his fast work when required.

Original Glaze has taken a liking to the Bundamba surface in the early stages of her career as a race horse, saluting there twice as well as a strong second at her last start.

The racing fraternity at Ipswich are getting behind the emerging filly in Saturday’s $700,000 feature.

“It is a great story as she was only a $10,000 Inglis purchase and the horse has been rehabbed by a local Ipswich trainer,” Ipswich Turf Club CEO Tim Dunn said.

Original Glaze ran second in a Benchmark 65 Handicap for three-year-olds at her last start at Ipswich.

The team behind her recognise that she faces a serious step-up in grade on Saturday but they believe she will put in a solid account for herself.

Original Glaze ventured into town three starts back in the Listed Princess Stakes, where she ran just over nine lengths behind the winner.

She has since won a Class 3 at Beaudesert since her most recent outing at Bundamba.

“She is going super,” Lambourn said.

“Her run in the Princess Stakes, I think you just have to put a pen through it as she was slow away and it was not ideal where she ended up in the run.

“She was still bobbing away at the 100 metre mark, she just felt the early toll in that class.

“I think it was a big run and effort on the times she ran.”

She hit the line strongly at Ipswich over 1710 metres at her last effort, which Lambourn thinks will set her up beautifully for the 2200 journey on Saturday.

“I am super confident she will get the trip,” he said.

“She is only a tiny little filly.”

The former harness man stepped away from the code around four years ago and got his new start in the gallopers helping out other trainers who had minor injuries with their horses.

Lambourn’s property at Lower Mount Walker boasts a water walker, treadmill and an 800 metre sand track.

He has worked with top horses such as Weetwood Handicap-winning galloper Jadentom as well as runners from the stables of Lindsay Gough and Nick Walsh, among others.

The rehabbing of other trainers horses has taken a back seat in recent times as Lambourn has developed his own team of gallopers.

He has 13 winners to his name in the four seasons he has held a gallopers licence, with 2022-23 his best campaign yet with six victories recorded so far.

“I have steadily tried to pick up a few cheap horses from online to have a play with,” he said.

“I am starting to get away from doing the rehab work for other people and more so concentrating on preparing my own team.

“I have got a good group of owners at the minute and hopefully I can find them a nice horse or filly like this one.”

The change from harness racing to thoroughbreds four years ago was not a complete shock to the system for Lambourn.

In his younger days, he was an apprentice jockey, moving up to Townsville to ride for around a year in 1994 before giving it away.

He also rode some track work for Gough before focussing in on the pacers and trotters later on.

“I still had a burn to compete so I got involved with the trotting,” Lambourn said of stepping away from riding. 

“I had a bit of success in the trots, I had some lovely horses.”

In recent years, he prepared standardbreds such as Jack Hammer, Majestic Kiwi, Itsadanceoff, Nui Toc Tien and The Shady One, among others.

Original Glaze is rated as a $61 chance with the TAB for Saturday’s Queensland Oaks as of Tuesday afternoon.