The amazing rise of trainer Clinton Taylor

By Jordan Gerrans

From an early age, finishing second was not an option for Clinton Taylor.

The former talented apprentice jockey wanted to win every race he was in.

Now as a trainer, he is desperate to do the same.

The 39-year-old has long been considered the rising star of the training ranks in the Sunshine State and he now gets his opportunity on the big stage over the coming month.

Clinton has had gallopers place in Listed company before.

With a promising colt in his barn, the Rockhampton-based horseman gets a chance to grab his maiden Group-level victory this Saturday before a tilt at the prized Magic Millions early in 2024.

Clinton’s father Garnett – who also trains his own team of horses – believes his son would have competed at the highest level as a jockey if he did not battle with his weight and was forced to step away from race riding.

“He could have went to the top, he was an extremely good jockey,” Garnett said.

“He always tried very hard and he has always been a winner, he always wanted to win. Second was never good enough for him.”

The dreams of being a top hoop are now long gone but everything points to Clinton rising to the top echelon of trainers in the Sunshine State.

From his provincial base in Central Queensland, Clinton has boasted a 29 per cent strike rate or better in each of the last four years.

He has flirted with relocating to the city and Clinton’s stable rider and close mate Justin Stanley believes that if the team was to move south then he would be competitive on a regular basis at a metropolitan level.

Stanley – who will partner the team’s boom colt Astapor on Saturday – thinks Clinton’s horsemanship is what sets him apart from other trainers.

“He is a typical country bloke and a very good horseman, that is one of his biggest qualities,” Stanley said.

“As he was a very good rider and now can ride his own work, he is a very good judge of his own horses. Any sort of problem horses he rides them himself and gets them going.

“From my perspective as a jockey, it is easier to talk to a trainer that rides his own work and detail what I feel to them.

“It is definitely a huge plus for a trainer to ride their own work and it does not happen as much these days compared to 20-30 years ago when trainers did ride their own work.”

Clinton and Stanley present with their unbeaten colt in the Group 3 B.J. McLachlan Stakes over 1200 metres at Eagle Farm on Saturday.

Astapor is considered one of Queensland’s leading hopes of lifting the Magic Millions 2YO Classic on the Gold Coast next month.

Unbeaten in two career starts, he is listed as a $17 hopeful for the Magic Million as of Friday morning.

A strong showing in the B.J. McLachlan Stakes will no doubt see that price shorten.

Growing up in regional Queensland with his father as a trainer, Clinton was destined for a career around the gallopers.

He rode a pony around home from as young an age of three, progressing to pony club before starting to ride track work for his father.

“When I moved to Roma and started training, that was when he started to ride work and he started to get his interest in racing,” Garnett said.

“Being a jockey was what he wanted to be, but his weight was always going to catch him.

“He rode very well for the few years he had before the weight did catch him. That was when racing was always going to be a part of it.”

According to Racing and Sport’s statistics, Clinton stepped away with 113 winners on his resume with one ride in a black-type race.

He rode almost half that tally of winners for his father and trainer Les Ross.

One memory that stands out to Garnett around Clinton’s career in the saddle was winning the Roma Cup for Ross – when Garnett was working for Ross as a foreman.

After finishing riding in 2002, Clinton did not take up the training caper until 2018.

When he did step away from racing to work on a farm, Garnett was unsure if he would return to the industry but on reflection he believes the break did him the world of good.

In his short training tenure so far, the Callaghan Park-based conditioner has developed a team of horses that are regularly competitive in black-type races in the city.

“I think we are all pretty proud of what he has done as a trainer and he has done it really quickly,” Garnett said.

“I am proud of him and all my kids for what they have achieved. It is not easy to do what Clinton has done and he has done it quickly from Rockhampton, which can be difficult to do.

“The thing he does do well is that he places his horses well, travels a lot and takes them to places they can win. That is what you need to do.”

It is not just Astapor flying the flag for the barn as Chinny Boom has also created plenty of headlines with her seven wins from just 10 career starts.

Chinny Boom gets another crack at black-type company when she fronts up in the Listed Nudgee Stakes after Christmas. 

The Clinton Taylor and Stanley combination is a prolific one – winning 88 races together at almost 35 per cent strike rate.

They hope Astapor can again tick that forward on Saturday.

“We have become really good friends now, it started out as a jockey and trainer relationship and then became friends,” Stanley said.

“Now, we are probably friends first and jockey and trainer second. I am happy to count him as a close friend.”

Stanley describes his good mate as one of the hardest workers he has ever seen.

As of Friday morning, Astapor is on the second line of betting for Saturday's key Magic Millions lead-up event at $4.50.

He is yet to race up to 1200 metres and Stanley thinks that his final furlong in his two career races have been ‘super impressive’ and he will eat up the extra trip.

“He keeps meeting it when the bar is raised and the bar is getting really high on Saturday so we will get a really good idea of how good he is,” Stanley said.

“The times and margins what he has run so far have been really good. I think he is pretty smart but he is still raw. He will be hard to beat on Saturday and we are pretty confident he will run well.”

Stanley believes the team will be at the Magic Millions on the big day in a few weeks’ time.

Clinton has noted earlier this week that if Astapor does not fire on Saturday, he could miss the Magic Millions and head to the paddock for a break ahead of the QTIS Jewel later in 2024.