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A training career spanning 50 years will come to an end for Coffs Harbour stalwart Trevor Hardy at his home track cup meeting on Friday.

Hardy, who will be 84 in December, has the only horse in his stable, Aheadofhistime, set to contest the FM Glenn Constructions Daniel Baker Showcase Sprint (1200m).

Trevor Hardy & partner Wendy Howe after winning the 2023 Kempsey Cup with Aheadofhistime. Image by Trackside Photography

Aheadofhistime has been Hardy’s lone runner for the past three years with the trainer saying he may well have called time on his own career had he not been given the horse.

The seven-year-old galloper has won 8 races and been placed in a further 11 races from 64 starts, and amassed a tick over $250,000 in prizemoney.

“I was set to give things away but Darren Wilson, one of Aheadofhistime’s owners, said to me ‘you’ve got to do something’,” said Hardy.

“So, he said he’d find a horse to send to me and this was the one. He’d done pretty well before I got him, having won four races, and since then he’s been a good money spinner and has kept me busy.”

Hardy said he gained his trainers’ licence in the mid-1970s having been involved with horse for a number of years before that via pony club and a “couple of uncles that trained”.

“I’ve enjoyed every bit of it,” he said. “I’ve been lucky enough to always have had a decent horse in the stable, and the best thing is we never spent too much money on them.

"I think the most we bought a horse for was $30,000, so if we were going to end up behind it wasn’t going to be much.”

Hardy rates 13-time winner Elite Ted as the best horse he has trained and laments an injury mishap that hindered his career.

“I was getting him ready for the Up And Coming Stakes and he had a bad accident that set him back,” said Hardy. “He was never the same horse after that but he still managed to earn more than $350,000 and compete in good company.”

Elite Score is another that Hardy said had shown his share of ability: “He actually started favourite in his first start as a two-year-old and was beaten by Guineas in Brisbane,” Hardy said.

“Guineas went on to win the [1997] Golden Slipper that season. I took Elite Score to Randwick at his fourth start and Darren Beadman won on him.”

While Beadman had success with Hardy, the trainer recalls two jockeys he had great associations with when they were apprenticed to him.

“I had Glen Colless with me and he went on to be a Group 1 winning jockey. He was a very good rider and I was so happy to see what he achieved,” said Hardy.

And there was also Zac Purton, who, maybe surprisingly from what he showed at the start of his career, has gone on to become one of the world’s leading jockeys and the dominant rider in Hong Kong.

“When Zac came to me, he sort of struggled to ride,” said Hardy. “But he always had good balance. That is a great attribute to have and has really helped him achieve the heights that he has, along with his natural ability.

“For him to do what he did in Australia was great to see and to see him go to Hong Kong and win so many premierships has also been fantastic. We still keep in touch and I’ve been over there to see him in action.”

Hardy said he had five other apprentices over the years that came from Hong Kong to ply their trade for 12 months at a time before returning to ride for the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

“They used to come over and my wife would look after them as far as rides went and they’d stay with us, but when she passed away I couldn’t do it by myself anymore,” said Hardy.

“I’m proud to have watched them all kick on when they went back to Hong Kong in one form or another as either riders or trainers or working in stables.”

On reflection, Hardy said the key to his career was a trainer was being lucky enough at times to have had “horses that were better than others” which enabled him to be able to be “winning races everywhere”.

“I’m quite happy with what I’ve done,” said Hardy. “I’ve enjoyed doing it. It’s been good.”

He has no regrets, but said he “would’ve loved to have trained a Group 1 winner”: “That would have been great, but they are so hard to win,” he said.

“Any Group race would have been good to win and the closest we went was a third with Johann Lover in a [Group 3] Courier Mail Classic.”

Hardy said he will still maintain an interest in racing, but after Friday he plans to do some new things.

“Just a few trips around,” he said of his plans. “Have a bit of a break and do a few trips to places we’ve never been to while we still can. And I’ll just enjoy myself.”

Everyone in racing offers Trevor a big thank you and congratulations and wishes him all the best as he waves goodbye on Friday for a job done to perfection.

- Courtesy NSW Trainers Association