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By Ray Hickson

There’s a painting of the champion Sunline hanging above the desk in Jack Pilkington’s office – it’s the perfect blend of the young trainer’s two passions. Art and sport.

Racing is the 30-year-old Irishman’s favourite sport – though he has taken to playing AFL for the Hawkesbury Jets – but doesn’t hail from a “racing family’’, with his father an art historian and his mother a horticulturalist who used to run an art gallery.

Jack Pilkington has made the leap to trainer setting up stables at Hawkesbury (Pic: Bradley Photos).

They’ve always been racing fans, however, since his grandfather owned several horses in the UK, and Jack has spent most of his life on horseback in some form and the last third preparing to realise his ambition to step up and train.

Pilkington is no stranger to Sydney racing but it’s been largely in the background. Over the past few years he’s been foreman for Mark Newnham and racing manager for Chris Waller prior to opening and beginning to build his Hawkesbury stable.

“I just like getting involved, I love a team sport. I think racing can be a team sport,’’ Pilkington said.

“There’s a lot of camaraderie around it and everyone can share in the success. Part of why I joined the AFL team was the camaraderie.

“It’s more about getting involved than being brilliant at most sports but If I’m going to make a career of racing I want to be as good as I can at that.”

His first real taste of racing came through a chance encounter with legendary Irish trainer Tony Martin as a 12-year-old.

He loaned Martin a pony for one of his children to ride and as payment asked for the opportunity to get some experience riding horses. He rode his first racehorse that year.

As a teenager he had a dig at being a jockey but it was ultimately just as a means to an end – the next step toward training.

“I did get a winner one day but not enough early momentum to justify doing it for too long,’’ he said.

“I’m quite a tall bloke and that’s only sustainable for so many years. It was always going to come second.

“From when I stopped trying to be a jockey it’s been 10 years of trying to get all the experience I can to become a trainer and now the time has come.

“I quite deliberately, over the course of about six years, lived in nine countries, working with people in those countries, to see a bit of everything.

“It was my plan to go and work all around the world and it started with Australia. Of all the places I’ve been to I was quite happy to come back to Sydney.

“I loved it the first time around, it’s a great place for people to start training. The prizemoney is great and young trainers get a chance.”

Pilkington landed in Australia as a 22-year-old and rode work for a year in the stables of Chris Waller, David Hayes and Ciaron Maher.

That was followed by four months in South Africa, three months in the USA, a couple of months in Canada, a season in Dubai and a season in France. He would return to the UK and Ireland for short stints and after France finished his world tour in Japan.

The last 20 months of Pilkington’s learning curve was served back in the Waller machine.

“Working in a big system like his was completely invaluable. I thought that was the perfect springboard,’’ he said.

“He wasn’t particularly surprised when I told him I was leaving and he wished me the best of luck.”

Hawkesbury is now home to Pilkington’s small but growing stable, he found some boxes at the stables of past trainer Mitch Newman, and is expecting to have his first runners in the new season.

He purchased an $80,000 yearling by Alabama Express at the Magic Millions sales earlier this year, hoping he’s found a flagship horse for 2024, and plans to make the personal touch his point of difference.

“I’ve been building to it for so long. I felt ready. There wasn’t a huge amount more for me to learn, I’d succeeded at gathering all the knowledge I wanted to gather from that 10 years,’’ he said.

“I thought if I keep repeating it I’m only holding myself back.

“I’m not somebody who wants to be a massive trainer. The horsemanship is a big thing for me. That personal touch, hands on, with the horses is a big part of my brand going forward.

The Alabama Express colt, purchased by Jack Pilkington, in the sale ring (Pic: Magic Millions)

“Through the winter I’d like to grow to six or eight horses. I’ll look to get some tried horses, at the moment I’ve got a couple of yearlings. I’ll be looking towards making next season my first season.

“It’ll be about building gradually, I’d like to have a solid team of horses I know inside out that I can head into next season with.”

In the first year of his training venture, Pilkington has set out a goal to have a 12-horse stable with a mixture of two-year-olds and older horses stepping out under his name.

And, of course, a few winners.

That Alabama Express colt is an important part of his team, he represents a show of support in a young trainer and Pilkington wants to make the most of it.

“There were a few people who said they were willing to support me when I started out and I thought I’d like to get a nice horse to start with,’’ he said.

“He gives me signs that he’s a quality horse so I’m excited I’ve got him to start with. He’s an early foal but he‘s very big so I don’t want to push him too hard early but come the autumn he could be a nice autumn two-year-old, and I expect he will realise his full potential at three.

“I’m hoping he will be my flagship horse to begin with but hopefully a few more put their hands up.

“I want to feel confident I’ve got a solid team of horses, and owners, and feel confident in the direction the stable is going in. I didn’t want to set the sights too lofty to begin with because I want to do everything as properly as I can.

“It’s a no stone unturned, patient, approach to everything that yields best results.

“I probably spend more time with them than what they take normally because I’m probably obsessing but every bit of it is exciting.”

*This article originally appeared in the June 2023 edition of the Racing NSW magazine

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