SUE Grills has something of an affinity with Monday’s Memorials race meeting at Gunnedah.
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The Tamworth trainer will have several runners on a seven-race TAB program that includes the Bective Station Somerton Cup, Arthur Gore Memorial and Keith Swan Memorial.
Grills, a Hunter and North West Racing Association trainers premiership winner, started her career at Somerton as a young apprentice riding for her “pop”, the late Arthur Gore and her uncle, the late Keith Swan.
“Yogi (her twin brother Ron McGrath) was actually apprenticed to pop,” she said.
“I was apprenticed to Uncle Keith. But I rode my first winner for pop at Inverell.”
She remembers it well, although the date is a little hazy. Might have been 1987.
“It was my first ride in a race, a horse called Majoriole. I also rode a few winners for pop, including Drop A Note,” she recalled.
Swan then took over from Gore and won a Tamworth Cup with Drop A Note as well. While Grills’ riding career lasted just three or four years her training career didn’t start for another decade.
“Only got me licence when Uncle Keith was sent out,” she said of a rare suspension for her late great uncle.
Then with his passing her training really ramped up at Somerton before she made the big step of moving into Tamworth.
“That was 10 years ago,” she said.
It has had its positives and negatives. Training at Somerton was easier, quieter and she could do what she wanted, such as working the horses the reverse way of going if she wanted.
However in Tamworth (at the track) she has the chance to gallop her horses on the grass track and days like Wednesday’s 10 barrier trials.
The biggest problem at Somerton was “getting and keeping staff” she said.
That also holds true in Tamworth as well.
Along the way she has had some great highs and some lows.
Outstanding galloper Border Rebel was a magical little horse who won three Listed races (Takeover Target Stakes at Gosford and two Hinkler Handicaps at Eagle Farm) in amongst many others.
The lows were the deaths of young jockey Tim Bell, who started his career as an apprentice with Grills and more recently Darren Jones at Warialda. Jones rode a lot of work for her and helped out greatly.
So to Gunnedah on Monday and Grills will have many memories of her “Pop” and uncle as she saddles up Moonlight Spy in either the Arthur Gore Memorial. She also has Whisper Delovely in a 1000m maiden and Hammoon Dancer in the Keith Swan Memorial, with Hallucinate an emergency.
She heads into the meeting on the back of a double at Binnaway on Saturday with Drawn To You and Snow Sparkle both saluting while Star of Legs was a half-length second in the Binnaway Cup.
