Inglis proudly bring you:
Nick Olive – A “Single Gaze” Was Sufficient
By John Curtis
IT took nothing more than a single gaze for NICK OLIVE to make up his mind what career he wanted to embark on.
The leading Canberra trainer, in the process of switching camp to Queanbeyan amid real fears for the future of racing in his home city, wasn’t borne out of a racing family as such.
But regular visits to local race meetings quickly sowed the seeds for wanting to become involved in the industry.
“Dad always enjoyed going to the races, and my brother and I used to go to most of the Canberra meetings with him,” Olive said.
“I loved it and was hooked.
“I remember telling my parents when I was eight years of age that I wanted to be a trainer.
“That didn’t change. I never wanted to do anything else.
“But I had to learn a bit before I could realise my ambition.”
Olive successfully undertook a horse management course at Orange Agricultural College before he began learning the ropes by devoting his time to lengthy stints with two of the ACT’s experienced and respected trainers.
Initially, he joined Ken Callaghan, who was then based at the well-appointed Capricorn Park property.
He spent five years with Callaghan before joining the stable of Canberra racing’s first lady Barbara Joseph.
“They were both great experiences, and I learnt a lot,” Olive said.
“I was with Barb for around 10 years, and during my time there also took out my own licence.”
That was in 2000, when he kicked off with only two or three horses in his name.
Olive’s initial runner was a former Joseph horse, the cleverly-named Success Express gelding Sir Chambray (out of The Denim Look), at Queanbeyan on May 14 that year.
He started a $4.25 favorite in a Class 3 Handicap (1450m), but beat only three runners home in a field of 10.
An auspicious debut it wasn’t, but Olive didn’t take long to break the ice – and with the same horse.
A couple of runs later and with then claiming apprentice Scott Pollard on board, Sir Chambray easily landed a Class 3 Plate (1600m) at Canberra on June 25, at $16.
Sir Chambray showed that win was no fluke by dead-heating with Kingston Shores at his home track three weeks later in a Class 6 Plate, this time at $9 and again with Pollard in the saddle and over the same 1600m course.
Olive set up his own stabling operation and went it alone in 2005, and quickly set about making a success of the business.
Canberra trainer Nick Olive.
He won the NSW country trainers premiership in 2009-10, and clinched his first two important victories with the nippy grey Zaratone at Rosehill Gardens – both at 1100m – during the 2011-12 season.
The Starlight Stakes on August 11 at the beginning of that season was followed by Olive’s first Group victory in the Group 3 Sebring Stakes there the following April.
“Zaratone was a terrific horse, and gave us a great profile.” Olive said. “Every stable would like a horse like him.
“He scored at Canberra at his second start in January, 2009 and his 15 wins for us included five in town, four of them at Rosehill.”
Kathy O’Hara rode Zaratone in his Starlight and Sebring triumphs – and significantly it led to an even bigger association with Single Gaze, the best horse Olive has trained.
The plucky mare won five races and was placed 12 times, earning $2.36m for her owners, which included her trainer.
Single Gaze put a stakes trilogy on Olive’s plate, capturing the Group 3 Kembla Grange Classic (1600m) and Group 1 Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill in March, 2016, and the Group 2 O’Shea Stakes (2200m) at Doomben in June the following year.
Yet with an ounce of luck, her record could have been so much more impressive.
Single Gaze was runner-up in Group 1 and 2 contests on no less than six occasions, including the 2017 Caulfield Cup (2400m).
A $31 outsider and always in the firing line up front, she was her usual gallant self in going under to another roughie, $51 chance Boom Time.
Such was O’Hara’s close rapport with Single Gaze that she rode the chestnut in all but four of her 35 career starts.
Whilst there were triumphs, there was also despair when she fell on Single Gaze in the 2016 Group 1 ATC Oaks (2400m) at Royal Randwick.
Both jockey and horse took quite a while to recover.
O’Hara sustained a punctured lung along with a broken collarbone and ribs, and whilst Single Gaze fortunately didn’t have any fractures, she had really deep bruising.
“I brought Single Gaze back into work after a break but wasn’t happy with her and put her back out,” Olive said. “It was nearly 12 months before she raced again.”
Olive paid $70,000 for the Not A Single Doubt mare as a yearling, and got an unexpected early return when, as the $81 rank outsider, she beat six two-year-old rivals on debut at Rosehill on November 1, 2014.
“There was no other suitable race at the time, and whilst I knew she had ability I didn’t go there that day expecting her to win,” Olive admitted.
“Single Gaze was so tough and had the heart of a lion. She gave 100 per cent every time, and I was always very proud of her.”
Connections parted company with the mare in April, 2018 when made an offer too good to refuse from Japanese interests.
“It was time to retire her,” Olive said. “Reports are she is doing well in Japan and her first foal at Northern Farm was a colt sired by Lord Kanaloa.
“Single Gaze is being given every opportunity to succeed as a broodmare as she is going to the top stallions.”
Olive’s boyhood dreams have clearly materialised. Keeping on average 20-25 horses in work, he has prepared more than 670 winners (328 in the last nine seasons) to date, and has been Canberra’s leading trainer seven times.
But change is well and truly in the wind.
Tired of the ACT Government’s apparent lack of interest in Canberra racing and burgeoning workers’ compensation costs, Olive has made the decision to up stumps and train out of nearby Queanbeyan.
“I’ve been able to secure stables on course, and also lease an adjoining 13-acre property,” he said.
“There is definitely potential to increase the size of my team.
“I’m waiting for a walking machine to be installed, and I should be moving in pretty soon.
“Obviously, I’m disappointed to have to stop training at Canberra, where I was born, but at the same time looking forward to a new chapter in my career.
“There will be differences as I will now be able to train horses out of a paddock, and there are advantages in doing that.
“Because Canberra trainers go to the bottom of ballots for TAB Highways in Sydney, I won’t have to worry about that any more.
“And who wouldn’t be excited about being part of the NSW racing industry with such magnificent prizemoney continuing to increase?”
