When it comes to racehorses, Jacqui Sims does things differently. Her Thoroughbreds not only live out in the paddock with each other and spend more time training slow hill work than going flat chat on the track – they also moonlight as adult riding club horses. And Jacqui believes they are all the better for it.
Jacqui Sims has been around horses all her life. Growing up, she progressed through the Pony Club ranks and fell in love with eventing, and now as an adult she’s long been an enthusiastic Horse Riding Club Association of Victoria (HRCAV) member. However, while horses have always been a constant in her life, Jacqui’s more recent foray into training racehorses was quite serendipitous.
Working in the community development space running neighbourhood houses, Jacqui’s professional career came with considerable mental strain. Post the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009, she was involved in a lot of the disaster management – and that strain eventually took its toll. “After years and years, I was just really burnt out and I remember Mum saying to me ‘you need to take a gap year’,” she recalls.
Jacqui heeded that advice and headed off to work in a racing stable. “It was ‘all care, no responsibility’ for a year, just to give myself a break. I knew horses… I knew how to feed them and keep them happy, but I had never followed racing. I didn’t even know who Winx was!” she laughs.
Jacqui may not have known Winx, but she was no stranger to Thoroughbreds having always had off the track horses during her eventing days.
“When I started working in the racing industry, I thought, ‘wow, this is the direction I’m going from here on in’, and I’ve never turned back,” explains Jacqui. And so four years ago she obtained her trainer’s licence and began to build her own team of gallopers. Jacqui explains that due to personal tragedy, it’s been a disjointed four years in terms of racing, but she now has 10 horses with six in work – although she insists she still doesn’t really follow racing!
A DIFFERENT APPROACH
Jacqui doesn’t train horses for owners; instead, she leases them and holds the majority percentage share of that lease. “I take a bit longer to get them to the track and I don’t want the pressure of owners saying, ‘when are they racing?’ The owner retains 25% and I have 75%, which I then divvy out to my crew of family and friends to share.”
“People approach me because of the way that I manage and train horses. They might have horses that haven’t liked stable life. One of my current team, Minifinn (Mini), is an example of that; she used to super tricky and difficult, and now she’s just as happy as a clam.”
“I did buy one by mistake at Inglis Sales the other month though,” laughs Jacqui. “There are a few that I own outright.”
Working previously in large racing stables, Jacqui found that although the horses were well cared for, those environments could often be quite human-focused. “It’s a scale of economics; it’s convenient to do the stabling, but it’s not necessarily the best option from a horse welfare perspective in my opinion.
“The large racing stable environment can be quite ‘sanitised’. I’ve come at the racing very differently; I’m a very messy person, so my horses just cope with knocking a bucket or the tractors going around. I make sure I expose my horses to anything and everything. If there’s washing on the line, I’ll take them up to have a look. For me, it just makes more confident, happy horses who can cope in a wide range of different environments.”
Jacqui says her horse are all quite laid back and easy to handle. “A kindergarten kid could walk them around and strap them for the day. They’re just so casual. I had a bloke at my place recently putting in a ceiling… I use my carport to saddle up my horses, and he was there using power tools, and the horses were not even acknowledging him. He said, ‘aren’t they racehorses? I thought they were meant to be nuts!’ I explained that it’s not ‘the Thoroughbred’ or ‘the racehorse’ [that can be highly strung], it’s how they’re managed.
“My horses are all kept in paddocks with other horses; they’re just allowed to be horses,” continues Jacqui. And it’s not just their living arrangements that Jacqui does differently – she also takes an alternative approach to training.
CROSS TRAINING
“I know when I used to have eventers, to get them fit I did a lot of interval training and hill work. So now with my racehorses, in the early part of the prep it’s very much out on the hills, walking, trotting, and cantering for a good 40 minutes. You’re doing no more than 15-16 kilometres an hour, but their heart rate’s getting up there and so you’re getting the same anerobic and aerobic fitness without too much fast work that’s hard on their joints,” says Jacqui, explaining that she has access to 400 hilly acres that she makes use of.
Of course, some fast work is required, and for that Jacqui heads into the track at Seymour so they have a safe, even surface. Jacqui rides most of the fast work herself, but has jockey Alana in the saddle for jump-outs.
“I enjoy doing the fast work. I have no problems with that at all. And look, if push comes to shove, I have done some jump-outs, but I just would prefer to be able to watch and analyse if I can. Alana is very compassionate with her horses and so I really trust her and her opinion with how they feel.
Jacqui’s horses also jump and do dressage work, regularly heading to HRCAV rallies and even the odd competition. “They are effectively adult riding club horses that race,” explains Jacqui.
“Training the jumping is the same as doing a slow or medium work day with their heart rate and the cardiovascular aspects. I just think that mixing it up and doing something like a bit of jumping…. it’s heaps better for their musculoskeletal system plus their brain, compared to galloping all the time.”
In November last year, Jacqui’s horse Registry (Reg) stepped up and contested the HRCAV Top Teams Trophy Dressage at Benalla. “I hadn’t taken Reg out to any comps prior but one of our club teams had a scratching, so I entered. I’d run through the dressage test at home, but it was his first time in a proper dressage arena with the white rails and all. We came down the first centreline and he haled and went ‘what’s that over there’, so I just let him swing around and have a look, and then he was right to go,” laughs Jacqui.
“It was a big exposure for his first time out and to his credit, he did absolutely everything. He got the right leads, he did his transitions. I was thrilled.”
Jacqui doesn’t quite have time to fit eventing in the picture alongside racing, but she does have plans to get her horses out to some show jumping events in the near future – and she’s also taken them out for the odd cow horse day where they’ve participated in activities such as team penning. “The horses are happier living life like this… racing is actually just a small portion of their life.”
“Racing is actually just
a small portion of their life…”
RETHINKING RACING
“I believe there’s an opportunity for equestrian people to get into racing. They know horses; they know how to keep their horses happy, they know how to get their horses fit. It’s actually just the racing side of things, and what I’ve found the most difficult is the administrative side – actually obtaining your licence – not the actual horse side. Equestrians have an opportunity to really get in there and do it differently.”
“Equestrians have an
opportunity to really get
in there and do it differently.”
Jacqui’s team includes seven-year-old mare Minifinn (Mini); five-year-old mare Sugar For My Honey (Sugar); six-year-old gelding Ambalac (Hank); five-year-old gelding Gymkerrie (Cable); eight-year-old mare Betty’s Reward (Betty); six-year-old mare Our Marli Jay (Marli); and six-year-old gelding Registry (Reg).
To date Jacqui has had two wins and four places, but of course it’s not all about race results. “They’re my friends. I just feel really lucky to have them. They’ve all got their quirks and I just love the breed. I honestly don’t think you can get more adaptable, willing horses than the Thoroughbreds, they’re the best. They’re just gorgeous and I adore them.” EQ
READ MORE ABOUT OFF THE TRACK HORSES:
Rocket’s New Career Proves a Blast – Equestrian Life, May 2024
Reduction’s Expanding Eventing Career – Equestrian Life, January/February 2024
Age No Barrier to Roy’s Resurrection – Equestrian Life, November 2023
Rebecca & Zac, Powerful Partners – Equestrian Life, November 2023
Molly & Tadpole Thrive in the Big Pond – Equestrian Life, June 2023
Five Stars to Sophia Hill – Equestrian Life, May 2023
TBs Back in Vogue, Says Judge Susie – Equestrian Life, March 2023
Murray Makes Time for Thoroughbreds – Equestrian Life, December 2022
Astro, the Horse of Many Talents – Equestrian Life, November 2022
Thoroughbreds in Their Element – Equestrian Life, October 2022
Thoroughbreds Making Their Way to Melbourne – Equestrian Life, June 2022
Thoroughbreds Shine in the Ring – Equestrian Life, April 2022
A Grand New Career – Equestrian Life, February 2022
The Women Transforming Equine Welfare – Equestrian Life, December 2021
Clear Vision for a Better Future – Equestrian Life, October 2021
A Thorough Belief in Thoroughbreds – Equestrian Life, September 2021
General Ready To Conquer Again – Equestrian Life, June 2021
Sparks Fly When Cutting Meets Racing – Equestrian Life, May 2021
