Latest News

By Greg Prichard

Port Macquarie trainer Paul Shailer has had his hands full recently, as the new father of twin boys and with a big stable move coming up, and at Taree races on Thursday he’s got two terrific chances with Narnia ($4.20 on TAB) and Passionate Rebel ($4.40).

Shailer, clearly the leading Mid North Coast-based trainer this season with 32 winners, is aiming to rack up as many more victories as he can before relocating his stable to new premises at Gold Coast in November.

Trainer Paul Shailer. Image by Port Macquarie News

And both Narnia, in the XXXX Gold Class 1 And Maiden Plate over 1614m, and Passionate Rebel, in the Jim’s Building Inspections Taree Benchmark 58 Handicap over the same distance, are well placed to help with that aim.

“Narnia looks really well placed for the first time in a long time,” Shailer said.

"He gets in really well under the plate conditions, with a big drop in weight from his last start.

“You could argue that if he’d drawn a decent barrier at his last start we could’ve been more positive on him and he probably would’ve won.

"But we were forced to go back from his draw and he made up a lot of ground in the straight.

“He’s racing well and he jumps from a good gate at Taree. The distance suits and the weight drop helps a lot, so he’ll be really competitive.”

Shailer was referring to Narnia’s one-length second to Star Of Yamba in a Benchmark 58 over 1412m at Taree on June 27, after being 10th on the home turn.

Shailer said Passionate Rebel should again be prominent in the run after leading all the way to win a Maiden over 1500m at Port Macquarie at his last start on June 18.

“The rail is out four metres at Taree and he’s drawn a good gate (five) with a good jockey (Aaron Bullock) on-board,” he said.

“He was dominant at Port and I think he’s improved again leading into this race, so he’ll jump out with intent and put himself on the speed and make his own luck.

“Judging from his trackwork and the way he looks, I think he’s gained a fair bit of confidence from his win at Port and he’ll be hard to beat again.”

Shailer will relocate his stable to the Gold Coast in November and will be heading there with a young family after his partner, Michele, recently presented him with twin boys – Hunter and Hudson.

“The boys were born a month early, at John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle, so we had to spend a week there before they were transferred to hospital in Port for a couple of days,” he said.

“Now they’ve been home for a week and they’re going great. They’re our first kids and Michele has done a fantastic job. We couldn’t be happier.

“When we move to the Gold Coast I’ll have 40 boxes at the new complex, which is very exciting. It’s an opportunity for us to take the business to another level and we’re really looking forward to it.

“But there’s still plenty of work to be done and opportunities to be had at Port yet and I’m really looking forward to seeing what these two horses can do at Taree.”

*Gates open at 11.30am. First race 12.35pm. Admission $10. Full bar, bistro, TAB and bookmaker facilities. Lunch bookings available at $60 per person.

Visit facebook page Facebook.com/ManningValleyRaceClub for more information.

View the final fields with full form & race replays for Taree here