Almost 19 years and 1700 kilometres separate the first and second incarnation of Norm Stagg: the horse trainer.
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Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Stagg trained in Queensland before giving the game away in 2002.
And then on January 3 this year, some 6737 days since his last runner, and out of his new base in Tamworth, Stagg signalled his return to training with Zounami.
The gelding ran ninth at Gilgandra but it took less than two months for Stagg to register his first winner since Jessie won at Stagg's then-home track in Townsville in 2002.
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Observance got the job done for Stagg in the first race at Scone last week and it was almost a double when The Gossiper went down by 0.2 lengths in the following race.
Both those horses, as well as Zounami, will line up for Stagg at the Tamworth Jockey Club's Trainers Day on Tuesday.
Stagg thought The Gossiper had the ability to go one better in what will be his last run before a break to put some weight on.
"Regardless, he'll likely go to the paddock," Stagg, who also competes in campdraft, said.
"He's a light horse and will likely have this start and then six months let up.
"It doesn't matter if he has 12 months off as he belongs to my wife and I.
"We've got plenty of time. It's the greatest thing - anyone will tell you, it's [time] the greatest thing [to have] with any horse."
There were a couple things that brought Stagg back into the world of horse racing.
The former team roping champion caught the bug again after talking to his son Dyllan who had recently got into the training game alongside his partner Kayla Russell.
So Stagg, along with wife Jane, decided to get a few horses of their own. He has four at his stable at the moment.
The improved prizemoney was also a big draw card.
Stagg said the industry was in a good position and "giving back to racing people" with the improved prizemoney.
"Twenty years ago you only raced for $2000 and you'd pay the same for a horse that you might pay now," Stagg said.
"It was about punting back in those days. Now you don't have to punt to get a good return."
He added: "You can go buy a nice little horse and you don't have to win a race to get some prizemoney back."
The Staggs made the move to Tamworth "about 11 years ago" so Jane could pursue better employment opportunities.
Jane works for VetPartners Australia while Norm is a fencing contractor and their work along with the four horses keep them busy.
"Four is too many sometimes," Stagg said.
"I get out of bed at 4 o'clock, do my stuff with the horses and go off to work then come home in the afternoon and do the horses again.
"In the middle of the day my wife goes and checks the horses.
"It's a team effort. Without her, I'd be in dire straits."
Racing starts at the Tamworth Jockey Club on Tuesday with the first race - which Stagg has entered The Gossiper in - at 1.15pm.
Ben Jaffrey
Ben is a content curator and journalist for The Land. He has been with ACM since 2015 and first worked at The Area News and then at the Northern Daily Leader. Ben first joined ACM Agri as a digital journalist for all seven agricultural mastheads in 2022 before shifting to The Land full-time in 2023.
Ben is a content curator and journalist for The Land. He has been with ACM since 2015 and first worked at The Area News and then at the Northern Daily Leader. Ben first joined ACM Agri as a digital journalist for all seven agricultural mastheads in 2022 before shifting to The Land full-time in 2023.
