McGuire clan enjoy day out at Townsville

By Garry Dell

The Townsville-based McGuire family had a special reason to celebrate long and hard after a big day at Cluden Park on Saturday.

Father Patrick and son Matthew each part-owned and separately trained a winner at the same meeting.

The entire family owns the Patrick-trained Nic Legacy while they are part-owners with a group of Matthew's friends in the Matthew-trained Sir Maximus.

Former jockey Patrick has been training a small team for 17 years with the first of his 23 winners coming in 2007 while Matthew's total hit 40 on Saturday after his initial success came in 2019.

Patrick's wife Michelle formerly trained at Richmond in Queensland's North West where Patrick was a leading jockey as well as riding several winners at Cluden before the family moved to Townsville when Matthew reached high school age.

Patrick and Matthew each source horses to buy for their respective stables but regularly exchange ideas on purchases.

Patrick paid $8,000 for Nic Legacy from the leading Hayes camp in Victoria in an online auction back in June while Matthew paid $12,000 for Sir Maximus from the Lindsay Smith yard in an online auction and syndicated it among his friends and other stable patrons.

"Dad and I are separate identities but we bounce ideas off each other and I was into greyhound racing before the gallopers," Matthew said.

"Both sports have been good to the family and the fact we're all involved is great as we all work in together."

Matthew works in sportswear clothing sales and administration while he has 14 horses in work and Patrick currently has four.

He decided this year to travel out west with horses he considered were not quite up to the standard of Cluden, Mackay and Cairns and clocked up several thousand kilometres to such places as Julia Creek, Richmond and towns in between. 

He teamed up with jockey Denicious Smith to win at Richmond with Collombatti earlier this year as well as claiming the Pentland Cup with Vandangle.

"Travelling out there gives you a wider appreciation of the work the country owners and trainers put into the sport and the amount of travelling they do," Matthew said.

"Of course we were used to it as kids following our parents around so  it was natural we were going to follow them into the sport."

Townsville jockey Scott Sheargold guided Nic Legacy to victory in the opening maiden event on Saturday while Jackson Murphy scored the first leg of a double on Sir Maximus.

Murphy completed the double in the following race on the Les Gordy-trained Captain Bond.

The Capitalist gelding was consolation for the Gordy-trained Hallside Hammer who finished midfield in the $105,000 Country Stampede Final at Doomben earlier in the day.

Earlier in the day at Cluden on Saturday, evergreen jockey Jeffrey Felix made the most of a "pick-up" ride on the brilliant three-year-old Roweiner's Dance for Wulguru trainer Bill Kenning.

Kenning had engaged Atherton jockey Stephen Wilson but was advised by stewards early in the morning that Wilson was unable to attend and he secured Felix's services.

"I wanted a strong senior rider to adopt different tactics on the horse after he was disappointing in his two runs under the care of Lindsay Hatch," Kenning said.

"I took the blinkers off and had always considered the horse would be better suited over more ground ridden back in the field although he broke the track record here when leading throughout 1000 metres.

"Jeffrey allowed him to settle at the back and he finished off well over the 1300 metres to grab my other bloke Beau Rain in the final stages and score by almost a length.

"I will give both horses a break now during the hot weather months and aim both towards the Townsville Guineas during the winter of 2024."