Riding still on the agenda for Stewart despite breakthrough training victory

By Jordan Gerrans

Top Brisbane rider Brad Stewart has his eyes firmly planted on a return to the saddle on race day when his body will allow him.

In the meantime, the 45-year-old is picking up winners in another way.

The Group-level winning hoop prepared his maiden winner as a trainer on Saturday on the non-TAB circuit at Stanthorpe.

To make the occasion even more joyful for Stewart, it was his fiancé who did the riding - Johanna McGrath.

The first victory for Stewart came with a gelding he bred - Masterplan - through mare Western Desert.

It was just his second starter as a trainer following the gelding’s first-up effort at Ipswich earlier this month.

The 26-year-old McGrath was proud to hand her fiancé his first triumph as a trainer.

The maiden victory as a trainer goes on Stewart’s resume alongside more than 1,400 as a jockey in his career.

“We walked the track together before the race and we were pretty confident in the horse,” the apprentice hoop said.

“The first-up run was not a worry, he just doesn’t really go much when he is on the outside.

“Brad was quietly confident before the race.

“It was a great opportunity for me as a jockey to ride a horse that I knew that was going to be prepared for a race like that.”

The win was a family affair for the Stewarts. 

Masterplan is owned by Stewart's mother Pauline. 

Western Desert was prepared by Stewart's father Neville. 

Neville also previously trained Masterplan before Brad took over the duties in recent months. 

McGrath is indentured to Queensland Hall of Fame trainer Pat Duff at Deagon.

Stewart has his small team of gallopers based in the Deagon area, as well.

The revered Duff is in his 80s these days.

A phone call from the great Duff to McGrath following the Stanthorpe win on Saturday hit home for the apprentice hoop.

“He told me that he still remembers his first winner all those years ago when he started training,” McGrath said.

“He told me it is something that Brad will never forget and it is more special when your partner rides that first winner for you.

“It is extra special and it has been great. Brad has been surprised with how many people have called him following it.”

As well as working for Duff at Deagon, McGrath also rides plenty of track work for fellow veteran trainer Barry Baldwin in town.

Utilising McGrath’s three-kilogram claim, Masterplan scored by a length in Benchmark 45 Handicap grade over 1200 metres on Saturday.

The team plan to now head to Kilcoy this coming Tuesday with the three-year-old gelding.

The stable also have a young filly they have bred from Western Desert who they hope to race in the future, as well.

Stewart – a long-term city jockey in Queensland – has not ridden in a race since Weetwood Day at Toowoomba last year.

He is on the sidelines with a serious pelvis injury that has required multiple surgeries.

While he has gone more than a year since last making an appearance on race day, McGrath is optimistic that he will get back.

Stewart is working through his recovery with specialists.

“If Brad can come back riding, then that is his number one goal,” she said.

“I think he would like to train but I do not think his desire is to be a big trainer, he loves riding and is a very competitive person.

“If he can come back riding, that is what he will want to do.

“At the moment it is just a process, it is his hope to get back riding.”

While Stewart would love to be riding at the races once again, he has been busy over the last year after welcoming daughter Penny into the world with McGrath.

McGrath and Stewart were engaged in the middle of last year with Penny now nearing her first birthday.

“She is the thing that has kept Brad going the most, he absolutely adores her,” McGrath said of baby Penny.

As well as her commitments as an apprentice jockey, McGrath is also finishing a law degree that she anticipates she will complete in 2024.

McGrath has nine career winners to her name as a hoop after making her debut in the 2020-21 season.