However, he did go back to Benalla for its races on Sunday, coming home with a maiden win for one horse and a close second for the other.
Reid is the first to admit his path to setting up his own stables has been a drawn out and circuitous journey.
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Starting out with Wayne Nichols at Spring Lodge, where in 2006 Reid was named Racing Victoria employee of the year, his next step took him to Melbourne and the stables of the legendary Bart Cummings, where a massive highlight was strapping Viewed for its Caulfield Cup win in 2009.
Reid was also a regular trackworker for stables such as Godolphin, Mark Kavanagh and Paddy Payne, later joining Payne on a more regular basis.
All the time he was absorbing the rarely glimpsed touch of the masters, honing his horse craft and building something of a reputation as a man who knew his way around thoroughbreds in particular, and racing in general.
“With Paddy I reckon I did it all, from driving the horses to races to helping with training, strapping, track rider and stable hand, and eventually I had one or two horses of my own using Paddy’s stables,” Reid said.
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“I have had my training licence for 10 years but have only recently decided to step it up as I have had people wanting to give me horses, which is why I bought a one-acre block next to the track at Seymour, which has stabling for 20 horses and access to day paddocks on Crown land controlled by the racing club.
“I’ve got seven horses in work and will have three more by the end of this week – and yes, I still help out at Paddy’s.”
At Benalla, his horse Brown Boy Bobby, with Seymour jockey Tahlia Hope in the saddle, was sent out a 13/1 shot in the $23,000 Burton’s IGA Euroa Plate over 1112 m – the opening race on the card – and got pipped by half a length at the post by favourite Shorthand.
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But it got better two races later in the $22,000 Ray White Euroa Plate when his five-year-old gelding Demilitarized led from go to whoa, with Hope back in the saddle to go one better.
“It was a fabulous ride by Tahlia. We had the worst draw at 13 but this fella has some genuine gate speed. But even then I could not believe how fast Tahlia got him to the front after the starter let them go,” Reid said.
“From there she controlled the race, stretching the field out down the back straight and working overtime to keep Demilitarized going in the one direction. She let them bunch up a bit as the field went around the last bend and lined up for the charge down the straight.
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“But Tahlia had it planned to perfection, even though she ended up winning by just half a length. With his gate speed I told her to wait and see where he jumped and she obviously got it right.
“We have only had Demilitarized since March, so getting the win was great, although I thought he should have won at his previous start here, running third in a 1306 m where he missed the jump and ran into a few roadblocks in the race.
“So we were pretty confident today would be the day and it was.”
Reid said he would wait a few days and see how Demilitarized pulled up before planning his next start.
He will be taking Keymaster to Bendigo today for a BM64.
Other highlights at Benalla were Seymour/Benalla trainer Peter Smith taking out the $22,000 McDonald’s Euroa Cup Handicap over 1212 m and jockey Teo Nugent riding a double.
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