Cover image courtesy of Racing Photos
Some two years ago, Andrew Bobbin was fresh to the training game. The man they call ‘Bobbo’, who’d had a career in rugby league and another in television, had taken out a trainer’s ticket and he was in it for the long run.
He established Grampians Racing at the foot of the Grampians Mountains, a short throw from Stawell Racecourse, and from a handful of horses, mostly second-hand, he built a dream and a business.
Lately, both have blossomed with some good returns. Last weekend, Bobbin had two winners at Warrnambool, including the 7-year-old gelding Mighty Oasis (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), who has been with the stable from the beginning and who chugged through a Heavy 10 on Saturday for a feature chase win.
It meant the world to the stable, which cheered hard and long in the race’s aftermath, and, for Bobbin, it was a good reminder of why he toughs out the hard stuff. The trainer has posted 86 wins since sending out his first runner in November 2020, and the stats are climbing season-on-season.
“I got a huge adrenaline rush from that win on the weekend,” Bobbin said, speaking to TDN AusNZ. “The thrill is something that sport really provides. It’s one of those feelings that you’d hope most people in the world would be able to experience at some point, and this game, it gives you those unbelievable highs. Sometimes they can compensate for those lows you inevitably go through.”
“It’s (winning) one of those feelings that you’d hope most people in the world would be able to experience at some point, and this game, it gives you those unbelievable highs. Sometimes they can compensate for those lows you inevitably go through.” - Andrew Bobbin
When first we caught up with Bobbin in July 2020, he was only a few months into things. He’d been an assistant trainer for Gai Waterhouse and then Matt Cumani, and before that a cameraman for CNN. Briefly, he was a first-grade player for St George, but clocked up over 100 reserve-grade games for that club.
It’s been a rich and varied life. He’s lived in Sydney, Wollongong, London and now Stawell. He’s worked in 50 countries covering war, ballet and horse racing, but he handed it all over for winters in the driving rain of Victoria and the mud, blood and beers of training winners.
“There are so many times I wish I’d come to this game earlier,” Bobbin said. “Now, starting out on my own as a mature adult, as opposed to what I was when I was a bit younger, all of those life experiences have been put to good use for what I’m doing now. I’m still making plenty of mistakes, but I fall back on different experiences from my other careers. I’m constantly trying to tie them into what I’m doing here with the racing operation.”
“There are so many times I wish I’d come to this game earlier. Now, starting out on my own as a mature adult, as opposed to what I was when I was a bit younger, all of those life experiences have been put to good use for what I’m doing now.” - Andrew Bobbin
Grampians Racing is based at Lake Fyans along Pomonal Road. It’s a pretty spot, with the mountains a constant canvas and plenty of trees, water and sand to mix up the daily routines. Bobbin’s numbers have swelled from 30 in 2021 to 65 right now, which is about where he should be in the timeline.
“We’ve got a staff of about 30 people in different capacities, and 65 horses in work here at the farm,” the trainer said. “We’re 10 minutes away from Stawell Racecourse and we get on the grass all year round there, which has been really great.
“Just to bolster numbers and cash flow, I took in quite a lot of pre-trainers from other stables, and that was great for the business because some of those horses went on to win some pretty nice races, so it was great for the brand.”
Grampians Racing's base at Lake Fyans | Image courtesy of Grampians Racing
The tried-horse arena has been a good one for Bobbin. He’s won races at Caulfield, Flemington and Moonee Valley with such horses, and he’s been a relatively new addition to the jumping ranks.
“Saturdays in Adelaide has been fruitful for us, the majority of times with horses that have been sacked from the bigger stables,” Bobbin said. “We’ll take them all on and give them their chance, hopefully providing their owners with a good experience.”
Yulong Patrol (Ire) (Society Rock {Ire}) was one such horse. The black gelding arrived to Bobbin from the Maher-Eustace operation in early 2021, and he won three races with a further six seconds. His final win was the $250,000 Country Mile Series Final when he fended off Grahame Begg’s British Columbia (Vancouver) at Moonee Valley.
Yulong Patrol (Ire) | Image courtesy of Racing Photos
He has also trained Ocean Beyond (NZ) (Ocean Park {NZ}), whom he inherited in May last year and who won the Listed Straight Six at Flemington the same month.
“The horses seem to thrive in the farm environment,” Bobbin said. “We take on horses, thinking we can get them back to their best, and they have great exposure to so many things here, from the bush tracks to the sand gallops and water. It seems to bring out the best in them.”
Finding the edge
Bobbin has learned many things in the last two years, things that he wouldn’t have been exposed to as an assistant trainer.
The long days and early starts weren’t a shock, but the sheer responsibility of the business might have been. It is 24 hours a day, seven days a week through weekends, public holidays and everything in between. It’s unforgiving on a personal life, but Bobbin has been gifted with talented, loyal staff in a catchment that is brim-full of horsey people.
Andrew Bobbin and Tom Ryan after winning the Thackeray Steeplechase with Mighty Oasis | Image courtesy of Racing Photos
One of the things he has eased away from is taking horses to town too early. In the first year or so of training, he was quick to bring the ownership experience to the metro tracks.
“When you first start, you’re always eager to get your horses into town to see where they fit in,” he said. “Nowadays, I’m more inclined to take horses where they can win. I’ve fallen in the trap plenty of times of going to the city to give the owners a day out at Flemington or Caulfield, which they thoroughly deserve, but the horses haven’t been up to the mark.
“Now, we’re all about placing them where they’ve the best chance. But if they’re capable of winning in the city, it’s great exposure for our brand, isn’t it?”
“When you first start, you’re always eager to get your horses into town to see where they fit in. Nowadays, I’m more inclined to take horses where they can win.” - Andew Bobbin
City exposure, according to Bobbin, will probably have to come through an investment in yearlings, and in the last two years, he’s had a buying presence on Inglis Digital, at the Magic Millions Adelaide and Tasmanian sales, and an occasional pop-up at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
His heaviest splurge was in Adelaide last year when he went to $100,000 for a Showtime yearling out of Lady Einstein (Magic Albert). The chestnut colt was sold by Little Hills Pastoral Co. and he was a half-brother to the last year’s G3 Sir John Monash S. winner, Mileva (Headwater).
The Showtime x Lady Einstein (colt) Andrew Bobbin purchased at last year's Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale for $100,000 | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“Going into the new season, we’ll have 25 2-year-olds on the books,” Bobbin said. “If you want to subject yourself to the possibility of winning races in the city, you do need to go to the sales to find those unexposed types. I’ve been active at most of the sales this year, buying up to that $150,000 category.”
At Grampians Racing, the farm is perfectly suited to open days in glorious sunshine with the Grampians a romantic backdrop. It can make for an easier sell when pitching yearlings to new and existing clients.
“The yearling sales are great fun, especially when you get your eye on one and you’re in the market to buy it,” Bobbin said. “But I am very cautious that they have to be sold. I think that’s the best way to go broke, to have too many in your own name.”
“The yearling sales are great fun, especially when you get your eye on one and you’re in the market to buy it. But I am very cautious that they have to be sold. I think that’s the best way to go broke, to have too many in your own name.” - Andrew Bobbin
Bobbin is also concentrating much of his buying presence on the distance horses. Like many country trainers, he’s noticed that the top metro trainers, with their expensive, well-bred stock, are travelling to country meetings for the good purses.
“It’s not unusual to see the leading stables taking out the country maidens, and usually over the sprint distances,” he said. “So my strategy is to buy horses that might be better over a mile plus because in the 1600-metre maidens, I can usually start with horses in the market.”
Edging closer to town
Bobbin’s initial five-year plan, which he instigated when he went out on his own, is just about half-way through. This week, he’s uptaking a dozen new boxes at Stawell Racecourse.
As things progress, he is keen to have stables a bit closer to Melbourne. Lake Fyans is just short of three hours from Flemington, which is manageable, but something closer to the metro tracks would be ideal.
“The new stables at Stawell are the next stage, but part of the five-year plan is to get somewhere a little closer to town,” Bobbin said. “It’s manageable where we are right now, but if the business heads in the direction that I’m forecasting it to, there will be another facility somewhere, someday.
“There’s a lot of hard work before that and it all comes back to training winners. At the moment, with the horses we’ve got, we’ve really got to place them in the right company and people will talk about you when you’re training winners, not when you’ve got the prettiest stable.”
