Morton name adding another chapter to rich Queensland racing history

By Jordan Gerrans

The Morton surname is royalty in bush racing in the Sunshine State and the famous clan added another chapter to their legacy on Saturday afternoon at Julia Creek.

The Mortons are steeped in history at one of Queensland’s most iconic racing events – the annual Birdsville carnival.

The late George Morton trained five Cup winners at Birdsville and was the former owner of the neighbouring property to Birdsville, Pandie Pandie Station.

While it was not a Birdsville Cup (not yet, anyway), George’s granddaughter Emma prepared her maiden victory as a trainer on Saturday.

The win came in a Benchmark 45 Handicap over 1100 metres on the dirt at Julia Creek on a non-TAB program with Philadelphia Free.

Emma is now based at Mount Isa after growing up at Birdsville around the industry.

“My dad used to ride them and did all the leg work for my grandfather when I was a kid,” Emma said.

“As a kid we always had the race horses around.

“It has always been in my blood, growing up around race horses.

“I used to ride them many moons ago, just working them and stuff.”

Emma took gallopers to Birdsville in 2023 as an owner before she took out her licence to begin training.

She did so in early November of last year and plans to start horses at the famous Birdsville Cup carnival later this year in her own name.

“Hopefully they can go well there,” Emma said.

The fourth-generation racing participant has four horses on the books at her stable, with three currently in work.

Emma has taken over the training of her partner Justin Bawden's horses of late. 

Bawden – who qualified Theresabearinthere for the Battle Of The Bush Final last year – has stepped away from training and is now mentoring his partner, Emma says, after encouraging her to take out her own licence.

With hoop Shane McGovern in the saddle, Philadelphia Free scored by almost two lengths in the opener from Julia Creek on Saturday.

Emma had gone close to claiming her first winner on a few times over the last six months and she was glad to finally nab the victory.

“It was surreal, with that being the obvious goal of trying to get a winner,” Emma said.

“It was great to see him win the way that he did. It was pretty special.”

Emma has recently shifted her team of horses from the stables at Mount Isa Race Club to her home property.

She had all three in work start at Julia Creek on Saturday, walking away with a winner and two more minor placings.

“All three of them raced really well at Julia Creek, we put a fair few miles in their legs when we went to Alice Springs recently,” she said.

“We had them ready for Boulia but it got called off because of rain so we needed to get a start somewhere. It paid off in the end.”

Stable star Theresabearinthere ran second in the Open Handicap at Julia Creek on Saturday and will back-up in an Open Plate over 1000 metres at Mount Isa on Saturday.

Mount Isa's Buchanan Park will host a big seven-event non-TAB program this Saturday. 

Theresabearinthere was the first race horse Emma purchased after the gelding previously raced in South Australia and North Queensland.

Regular stable rider James Baker will be back in the saddle this Saturday after McGovern did the steering at his last start.

“Following his run at Julia Creek, I think he is ready to fire,” Emma said about Theresabearinthere. 

As well as her grandfather’s handful of Birdsville Cup winners, Emma’s great-grandfather also has a special place in racing history.

Celsus Morton owned and prepared a horse named Pandie Sun who back in 1956 was involved in a triple-dead-heat in the Hotham Handicap in Melbourne.