| Training racehorses. Is it luck, judgment, talent, persistence, commitment or is it knowledge. At Victory Lodge you will find all of these attributes that makes a successful thoroughbred training operation.
Clarry Conners is not your typical horse trainer. He has been around the thoroughbred all his life, enjoying one of most colourful upbringings in racing alongside his father, Clarry senior.
The two Clarrys traveled NSW from racing centre to racing centre, which for the teenager Clarry junior, was a wonderful education for when he did finally branch solo.
And as a stand-alone trainer, Clarry made an instant impression on the fickle industry and always had a stand-out horse in the stable.
Of course, Victory Lodge, named after Clarry's complex, was his first taste of Group 1 success, winning the 1984 AJC Sires Produce Stakes - beating the great Red Anchor.
A host of the elite Group races have followed, including the training of two Racehorse of the Year- the champion filly Research and the champion two-year-old Tierce, Ironically, sired by Victory Prince.
Research did the impossible - beating the colts in the 1989 AJC Derby then backing up four days later to win the AJC Oaks.
Tierce and Burst won Sydney racing's two-year-old grand slam - 1989 STC Golden Slipper Stakes then the AJC double of the Sires Produce and Champagne Stakes in successive years, an amazing training feat.
Not to mention Clarry's four Golden Slipper successes - Burst, Tierce, Prowl and Belle de Jour.
So Clarry's record says it all, but where he differs from most Sydney stables, is that a racing a horse with Clarry is an experience with a difference.
Clarry's wife Maree is the stable manager and alongside her husband every day to ensure the communication to owners is second-to-nine.
And you need not worry about your horse's welfare. Clarry and Maree live on site so your horse has the trainer's attention 24/7.
No wonder Victory Lodge is such a successful establishment. |
