Winning trainer still 'baffled' by breakthrough win

By Jordan Gerrans

If The Devastator winning at Wondai last week is not the most unlikely winner in Queensland this year – it has been in the top five, at least.

Almost a week on from the shocking result, The Devastator’s trainer is still ‘baffled’ by what happened at South Burnett Race Club last Thursday.

The eight-year-old mare has been racing on the country circuit since early 2021 without much joy.

Entering Thursday’s 1000 metre maiden, The Devastator’s best ever result in one of her 14 career starts was third, which came at Wondai in July of last year.

Since then, the bay mare had finished inside the last three runners home in her six starts.

Outside of that one third-placed finish, her best result was fifth at Esk in March of 2022.

It is fair to say the maiden sprinter was not setting the world on fire at the track.

She was beaten by more than 10 lengths in her last five starts before Thursday of last week.

Despite all that, trainer Roy King and his pride and joy that he bred came out and shocked all involved to win at Wondai last week at their Anzac Day meeting.

The victory came in the QTIS Maiden Plate over 1000 metres by a length.

Almost a week removed from the race day, the 69-year-old hobby trainer is still in disbelief.

“At this moment, I still struggle in seeing her win – I am baffled, still,” King said.

“I really am baffled. It just came out of the blue and I cannot understand it.”

King is honest about his own training ability; he is still learning the caper after coming into the racing industry later in his life.

The Durong-based conditioner has an extensive background in boxing before getting into horse racing.

He says when he gave up sweet science many years ago, he needed something to do so he got into the gallopers.

Outside of having a flutter at the races, he had barely any contact with horses before taking up training.

He purchased a mare named Nicornat at a sale.

While he tried to get Nicornat to the races, she never had a race start – so her focus shifted to the breeding barn.

Nicornat produced a grey named Gorgeous King who King raced and had three starts before being retired.

The Devastator is also a progeny of Nicornat.

Despite The Devastator and Gorgeous King's difference in age, they both began racing around the same time at the early and middle stages of 2021.

King says he broke in the horses himself.

The Devastator was ridden by Rhiannon Payne in her breakthrough victory.

The 33-year-old Payne is key to it all, King says.

Payne rode Nicornat at one stage when they were trying to race her.

She partnered The Devastator on race day at Kilcoy in late January before having her second engagement on the maiden mare on Thursday.

The fledging trainer can pick the story up from here.
“You have drawn gate one, get her out in front and go for it,” King recalled as he informed Payne of her instructions.

King watched on with pride in the saddling enclosure. 

“She just kept on going and going," King said. 

“Rhiannon told me that she was baffled as well, as the moment I pulled the reins, she just took off is what she told me after the race.

“Rhiannon thought she is just like her mum.

“Rhiannon was unreal and was smiling from ear to ear when the horse went over the finishing line.”

King stables his one galloper in work at Durong and will head into Wondai for her work a couple of times a week.

King is adamant that he did not do anything different in the week’s leading into last Thursday to produce such an improved performance.

“I do not know,” he said.

“I have changed a bit of feed here and there with her.

“But, really, I have done nothing different with her, I do the same thing every day with her.

“She gets her apples and her carrots as well as the normal horse stuff.”

King will be aiming for the second win of his training career when he enters his last-start victor at Burrandowan for next Saturday.

While King has bred the two horses he has ever started in a race, he says he is keen to buy a juvenile filly to train in the near future.