Spotlight On: Michael Nolan

By Brodie Nickson

Toowoomba legend Michael Nolan has made Clifford Park his home for over 30 years as the Group 1-winning trainer eyes off more success in 2024.

Nolan has been a tremendous educator of young horses, with recent Group 1 winner Hinged, Little Mix and Kisukano all beginning their careers under the Toowoomba trainer.

Hinged and Little Mix were both purchased by Brae Sokolski’s Yes Bloodstock out of Nolan’s stable following a handful of starts.

Enigmatic beast Kisukano was the latest filly to provide Nolan with many fond memories - however, it is now a potential stayer that has caught the public’s attention.

Under The Louvre filly Exotique Miss started her winter campaign with a bang as she targeted potential Oaks glory, but did not make it into the final field.

It means the humble Toowoomba trainer, who began his career with pacers, is still chasing his second Group 1.

“I got into racing through my uncle, Basil Nolan, and father, Paul,” Nolan said.

“They raced a few horses together originally and Basil had a few by himself at Raheen Stud, where he bred thoroughbreds.

“So, I was always around (horses) as a young bloke and that is probably how I became so interested and provided me my first introduction into racing.

“Basil and Dad were both bookmakers, so I knew a bit about betting and punting at an early age too, but it didn’t interest me as much as the racing side of things.”

Nolan secured work with harness racing trainer Neil Coy at Junabee, located just outside of Warwick.

“My brother Peter got me a job with the pacers and that was my first introduction into training and actually getting a horse fit,” Nolan said.

“Seeing a horse go from the paddock and on the journey of getting them ready to go to the racetrack was great.”

It was an experience Nolan felt equipped him with an abundance of knowledge transferrable to thoroughbreds.

“I learnt a lot from the pacing side. They required a lot more work and I learnt a lot about just mainly getting a horse fit and giving them a good groundwork,” Nolan said.

“I learnt how to give them a good grounding so they can maintain their fitness and race into a longer prep.

“I have always been able to do that with my horses and have been able to keep them up longer by giving them a good base.”

At the end of the 1980s, Nolan decided it was time to go out on his own.

“I moved off the farm at Warwick to Clifford Park at Toowoomba,” Nolan said.

“We saw better opportunities and Clifford Park as a main training centre, which it was at the time.

“Jimmy Atkins was very established here at the time. He was training a lot of different big race winners across Australia and I just saw Clifford Park as a place I could further and better myself.”

Having never left Warwick, Nolan describes the hour-long drive to Toowoomba as a monumental change at the time.

“Everything - all my mates - were at Warwick and with the support of both my parents, we saw the move as the best decision to make,” he said.

“They had put a new woodfibre track in at the time, which was great, and they had a swimming pool.

“A big part of my life has been Clifford Park. It’s been great to me and everything I have in my life has been thanks to racing and Clifford Park.”

Toowoomba has been the base of attack for Nolan, which included the rise of Group 1 winner Lauries Lottery.

The Sir Laurence gelding won on debut at Toowoomba before going on to win his next three, including the 2YO Inglis Classic and Group 2 Todman Stakes.

He was beaten as favourite in the Golden Slipper, before returning to claim the Group 3 Roman Consul on his way to running second in the Caulfield Guineas.

“Lauries Lottery came along at a time of my life when I was going pretty good,” Nolan said.

“I was training a lot of winners provincially at Toowoomba and he probably promoted me in a way. All of a sudden we were in Sydney for the Inglis Classic.

“He started favourite in the Golden Slipper, went to Melbourne and I went everywhere with him.”

Nolan and Lauries Lottery would combine for their biggest win together at Doomben in 1999 when the pair claimed the Group 1 Doomben 10,000 in a driving finish.

“He gave me a Group 1 winner with the Doomben 10,000 so I have got to always think that was my biggest thrill,” Nolan said.

A proud local trainer, Nolan also claims the Weetwood Handicap to be some of his most cherished wins.

“I always from the time I got here wanted to win a Weetwood so bad and when I won my first, second and third, they were all very special to me too,” Nolan said.

Nolan most recently went back-to-back in the race with Miss Amagica winning in 2012 and 2013.

Clifford Park has been a happy hunting ground for southern interests, including Brae Sokolski who purchased 2022 Surround Stakes-winner Hinged, alongside Steve Tregea’s stayer Incentivise, who went on to win the 2021 Caulfield Cup and run second in the Melbourne Cup.

“(Hinged) wasn’t much when she arrived at the stables. She was in and out as a two-year-old;  she might have won a jump out and obviously we decided to take her to the races,” Nolan said.

“She drew wide up here at Clifford Park. Sky Bogenhuber rode her and we weren’t all that confident because she drew deep.

“She absolutely brained them and went straight to Brisbane and did it quite quickly.

“She was going to be a good filly wherever she raced and would have won all of those three-year-old fillies races I’d have imagined if she stayed.”

Nolan is hoping emerging filly Exotique Miss can follow a similar trajectory.

She stamped herself as a potential Queensland Oaks contender when bolting in first-up in April, before backing up her Daybreak Lover win with a monumental performance in the Princess Stakes at Eagle Farm.

Nolan describes the day she destroyed her opposition by 10-lengths in a midweek 3YO BM65 as the day “he thought he had a nice horse”.

“The plan was to always give her a break and target these three-year-old fillies races during the winter,” he said.

“Her target was 1200m first-up, Daybreak Lover, back-up in the Princess Stakes and of course push onto the key lead-ups and eventually the Oaks.”

Unfortunately, an Oaks run did not eventuate for the filly, but she still has the support of a very close group of connections.

Nolan admits if it wasn’t for the persistence of young James Nolan, he wouldn’t have given the filly a second look at purchase.

“When we bought her we thought if we won a QTIS Mile we would be quite happy. She has really come out of left-field to do what she has done for myself and my group of friends,” Nolan said.

“(Owners) are all good mates. Shaun Buckle, Paul Reedy, Tony Franke, Chris Tait and David Robinson are all Toowoomba boys.

“I have known them for a large chunk of my life, they have raced horses with me for a long period of time and for us to have this sort of horse together sharing in the fun, it makes it more special for me, especially the wins, it is a lot of fun to win with your mates.”