Latest News

By Ray Hickson

The pandemic has been a catalyst for change for many people and Joe Burges is one of them.

Trainer Joe Burges (Pic: Steve Hart)

As Covid struck, the 36-year-old with a background in training campdraft horses was practicing as an equine dentist and harbouring a desire to become a racehorse trainer.

So he made the leap and has been training for about 15 months.

Before the switch he purchased a son of Dream Ahead for $4000 in June 2019 with his mate Jayden Dorney and that horse, Markwell Dreamer, is now taking the rookie trainer to the $150,000 Newhaven Park Mid North Coast Country Championships (1400m) at Taree on Sunday.

He's already amassed over $80,000 for them from 10 starts, including three wins.

“I didn’t see my wife allowing me to have a horse in work with someone else,’’ Burges said.

“When Covid hit it was pretty quiet and I thought it was my opportunity to hook in and have a go.

“I rode some gallops for Terry Evans (at Tuncurry) and started with a few for myself. I’ve for 15 or 16 in work. A couple are breakers, a few pre-trainers and a couple of ratbags.”

Burges is based at Bulahdelah which is south of Taree, with his wife Emma who is a nurse in Taree, and is still an equine dentist but has less time to devote to the craft he learned partly out of the frustration of not being able to get a horse dentist when he trained campdrafters.

As Markwell Dreamer is on the cusp of taking Burges back to Randwick to contest a $500,000 race on Day 1 of The Star Championships, if he can finish in the top two on Sunday, he’s finding the whole journey both exciting and stressful.

That’s because when the gelding won a Highway at Randwick first-up from a spell in January, the day before his 36th birthday, the trainer was beside himself with what he’d just experienced.

“To win a Highway was incredible. It was something I thought I’d do in 20 years time and now we’re heading into the Country Champs it’s all a bit surreal,’’ he said.

“I was as excited about his run a fortnight later as I was about the win.

“Going down there everyone was talking how strong it was and we’d get a good idea of whereabouts this horse falls in the whole thing.”

The winner of that Highway on February 5 was Testator Silens and Markwell Dreamer finished two lengths from that horse, who then went to Nowra last weekend and won the South East Country Championships.

Testator Silens is now second favourite to win the Final while Markwell Dreamer is on the $51 line.

He found himself four back on the fence and had to wait to get some momentum going but worked home into sixth running 11.63 for his last 200m, 0.05 outside the race’s best, in the 1200m race.

“He will be a 1400m horse in time but he does have a bit of brilliance,’’ Burges said.

“As he showed in Sydney he can still sprint over the shorter trips.

“He didn’t get that nice relaxed run he had in the first Highway, it was nice to see what I was confident was there was starting to come out.”

Markwell Dreamer runs sixth at Randwick on February 5

While that 1400m box is one that’s yet to be ticked, Burges said he’s taken confidence from the fact that Testator Silens has proven the form and even the runner-up out of Markwell Dreamer’s Highway, Fangela, has been a subsequent winner.

Ashley Morgan, who won the Northern Rivers Country Championships last weekend on Far Too Easy, rides on Sunday and Burges said he’s had the preparation needed to have every chance from barrier two.

“The form has definitely stacked up but we always knew we had a good horse it was just a matter of him doing everything right,’’ he said.

“He’s coming out of the gates like a horse that’s more willing to settle. He’s never run over 1400m so he’s still got to run it.

“I’m confident if he produces his best he’ll be right there but he’s got to go out and do it.”

All the fields, form and replays for Sunday's Country Championships meeting at Taree