Tony Comerford reminisces on Cleveland Bay success

By Andrew Smith

From arriving at Cluden Park at 3am, to heading off to his day job at 5:30am - Tony Comerford wouldn't have it any other way.

For the Townsville hobby trainer, having just the two horses in work is the perfect amount.

Comerford juggles taking care of Chilli Jam and Ultimate with full-time work at a pump equipment shop in Garbutt in the city's inner-west.

The gruelling routine is one he’s been following for a decade.

“You get used to it, you’ve done it all your life and everyone does the same thing,” Comerford said.

“You just get up early and do the horses, go to work and come home and do the horses again, it’s just Groundhog Day I suppose.”

“I like to keep a small number, get them done and go to work - any more, it just takes too long to do in the morning.

“You just get used to being tired."

Comerford also previously had Hell Of A Boy in his stable, who overcame a rare illness called "Puffs" which stops horses from sweating.

The gelding recovered to eventually post seven victories and thirteen placings for the stable.  

Racing is in the 54-year-old’s blood.

Born and raised in Mount Isa, Comerford was attending races from a young age, accompanying his bookmaker father to the track.

A friendship with amateur jockey-turned-trainer Damien Finter led to more opportunities in the industry.

“Damien’s father trained and I got into it from there and moved to Cairns eventually later on,” Comerford said.

“I was working for Jonny Petersen for a number of years, and we ended up moving to Townsville here when they first started TAB meetings.

“I always got up and did the horses and went to work whether you’re training them or strapping them.”

It will be a bittersweet feeling for the trainer watching Saturday’s Cleveland Bay Handicap.

He was due to have stable star Chilli Jam line up in the time-honoured $100,000 event at Cluden Park.

But Comerford was forced to pull the five-year-old out of the race on Wednesday after she suffered some leg swelling following her Tuesday morning gallop.

Adding to the heartbreak over the decision to withdraw Chilli Jam, she was yesterday named the 2023-24 Cluden Park Horse of the Year after an impressive season which included six wins, including five straight on the Townsville track.

It has been a stunning turnaround for the mare who had previously raced in country Victoria and New South Wales with no success.

Chilli Jam landed in the warmer climate of North Queensland after Comerford bought her in an online auction.

“To think she was a maiden in January and to come this far, everyone’s expectations are far exceeded,” Comerford said.

“It’s a big effort with her so she just went through the grades step by step and surprised us all a bit really.”

Chilli Jam will head for a spell – something Comeford was already planning on regardless following this weekend.

He had previously tasted success in the Cleveland Bay after training Deadly Choices in the 2020 edition of the race.

Comerford had temporarily taken over the training of the gelding from Finter.

“I only had the three runs with him - Damien sent him over here, he couldn’t come over here for work commitments, so I’ll take it I suppose,” Comerford said.

“Look you need a lot of luck - he drew a bad barrier and got a good run so in the field on Saturday whoever gets a good run will probably win the race.”

The Stephen Massingham-trained Mr Maestro was the $5.50 favourite as of Thursday afternoon.

The Kiwi horse will jump from barrier two following last night’s draw in Townsville, but Comerford was not ruling out several locally-trained runners.

“There’s a couple of the locals that have a runner in good form - Demon Award was a good run on the weekend, Hurtle was a real good run in the Lightning and Jeffrey Caught’s horse Third Realm has been in exceptional form of late,” Comerford said.

“There’s a few more visitors as well, it’s a real open race this year so there’s plenty of chances and I think everyone with a runner will think they’re a chance.

“The locals have got a show this year and a few visitors are obviously always hard to beat so it’s a very open race.”

Saturday’s nine-race card at Cluden Park also includes the $150,000 Townsville Cup.

It is one of five cup races staged across Rockhampton, Mackay, Townsville and Cairns as part of the Northern Queensland Winter Racing Carnival.