No plans to retire veteran Voulait

By Glenn Davis

He may have become wily with age and something of a thinker, but veteran galloper Voulait will be out to continue his good wet track form at Gatton on Tuesday.

Voulait shows no signs of wear and tear for a ten-year-old and steps out for start 102 in the Benchmark 62 Handicap over 860 metres.

After 21 starts for Sunshine Coast trainer Paul Duncan, Voulait joined the Warwick-based Michael Hemmings' stable and has gone on to win seven times for the Darling Downs trainer.

His last win was on a heavy track in a Benchmark race at Murwillumbah back in February.

It was his second win from six starts on the heavy and the son of Wanted will have similar conditions at Gatton with the track currently rated a Soft 7. 

Voulait is winless in his current campaign of eight starts but has placed four times including a last start third to the Mark Palmer-trained Beitsoo in an 800 metre dash on his home track at Warwick on September 22.

Hemmings has been training for many years while his wife and stable supervisor, Naomi Hemmings, renewed her trainer’s licence a few years after they were married in 2016.

“He might be a ten-year-old but he doesn’t act like one and he puts in 110 per cent every time he races,” Naomi Hemmings said of Voulait.

“He’s a massive horse who was 620kgs the last time we weighed him a few weeks ago.”

Naomi Hemmings was a station worker out west after arriving in Queensland from South Australia.

“I started training out west at places like Birdsville when I left South Australia but I gave up my licence for a while,” Naomi Hemmings said.

“A few years after Michael and I were married in 2016, I renewed my licence and I’m also Michael’s foreman.”

Although jumping from a wide gate, Naomi Hemmings is confident Voulait will be competitive. 

“He likes wet tracks and his last run over 800 metres was quite good,” she said.

“It was the first time he’d been over 800 metres for us for a while as he normally races over a bit longer but he was mowing them down at the finish.

“This is a little bit further than last time which will suit him so he should run well.”

Naomi Hemmings is unsure how long Voulait will continue to race.

“We toyed with retiring him after his last spell,” she said.

“We put some feelers out for him to go to a nice home but we didn’t get many replies so we kept him in work.”