Ash Maley: Self-taught and successful
Ash Maley: Self-taught and successful
9 January, 2019
Thoroughbred
T
THOROUGHBRED
Lancelin trainer Ashley Maley is a popular figure among the WA racing industry and withholds a marvellous story about how he found himself immersed in the sport he now loves.
Born in the wheatbelt town of Kondinin, a three-hour drive east of Perth, the 50-year-old country lad’s characteristics resemble those of the ‘stereotypical’ Aussie bloke.
A knockabout type who loves having a good time with his mates, Maley is a self-taught racehorse trainer whose knack of preparing winners at long odds has made him a favourite of many punters across the state, especially the regular patrons of his ‘local’, the Endeavour Tavern in Lancelin.
Maley spent most of his early years growing up in Moora, a further 90-minute drive from the place he now calls home, and took a liking to horse riding from a young age.
“I used to do a lot of riding when I was a kid,” he said.
“My parents weren’t really involved in the horses, it was just something that I did.
“All the way through my school I used to go to an old lady’s place and ride horses.
“I probably got my first horse when I was eight or nine years old.
“It was an Arab and it was mad!”
As the son of a Wesfarmers manager, it was only natural Maley later followed his father into a similar career path.
“I used to be a Territory Manager for Wesfarmers,” Maley said.
“Before that, I was a livestock buyer for Metro Meats based down in Albany.”
After working in the livestock industry for the majority of his adult life, Maley felt in need of a change and, in a move which summarises his personality, decided to make a plunge.
“I wanted to do something different, so I got out of being a Territory Manager,” he said.
“There was a hardware shop for sale in Lancelin, so I bought it.”
A keen bush-race rider and polocrosse competitor, Maley always possessed the adrenalin-pumping nature that mirrors that of thoroughbred racing.
However, it wasn’t until his move to Lancelin that he toyed with the idea of getting into an industry he knew virtually nothing about.
“I used to do bush races with mates and I loved it,” Maley said.
“We’d just run around for some cash and a bit of fun.
“I used to do a lot of polocrosse, too, and that’s how I came into racehorses.
“When I bought the hardware shop, I couldn’t have any weekends off anymore, so it was too hard to go away on the weekend and all of the polocrosse games are always on a Saturday and Sunday.
“I decided to get a couple of horses to ride before work every morning, so I got racehorses!”
Maley took out his trainer’s licence towards the end of 2010, whilst also juggling the management of his hardware store, and kicked off his newfound hobby by purchasing two cheap thoroughbreds.
He trained his first winner, a Stormy’s Son gelding named Thinking Thunder, in October 2011 before preparing his second victor, Megg’s Currency, the following month.
“I had Thinking Thunder by myself and I got Megg’s Currency at the same time,” Maley said.
“We bought her for $1,000 and I got a couple mates in on that one and those boys, Matty and Simon, are still with me today.”
Megg’s Currency, an unwanted Courvoisier yearling, won five races and $83,390 for Maley and her connections, including a Metropolitan Saturday victory at Ascot at a tote price of $41.70.
Asked where he learnt his craft, Maley’s answer is astonishing.
“I’m pretty much self-taught,” he said.
“I used to break-in racehorses many, many years ago, but I had never been into a racing stable before.”
Conceding that he struggled his way through the early stages of his training career before learning from his mistakes, Maley believes throwing himself in the deep end was a winning move.
“I had to pay more attention to certain details, I suppose,” he said.
“I also didn’t pick up anyone else’s bad habits that way.
“It’s been good and I’ve had a good run.”
After selling his hardware business a few years ago, Maley decided to tackle another new career path; full-time racehorse training.
With the nearest racetrack situated 140 kilometres from his coastal Lancelin stable base, he admits he was forced to learn to be creative with his training methods.
“The main thing is I’ve got to keep my horses happy and I’ve got to get them a bit fitter than everyone else, I think, because I’m away from the track,” Maley said.
“They’ve got to have a lot of leg miles.
“My horses wouldn’t do any more than one gallop a week, and that’d mainly be at the beach or out the bush.”
Maley now has 18 horses in work at any given time, however, it doesn’t stop him from riding each of them.
“I ride all of my horses,” he said.
“I’ve got workers riding for me, but I still like to ride all of my horses at least once a week so I can get a feel of how they are.”
Considering his lack of racing experience prior to trying his hand at the training caper, his success over the past seven years is quite remarkable.
Maley’s winner at Saturday’s Perth Cup meeting at Ascot, Double Digit, is just one example of his achievements.
The Demerit five-year-old chalked up his ninth win from 31 career starts when victorious in the Mumm Champagne Handicap (1600m) at a tote price of $15, taking his total earnings to in excess of $250,000.
Double Digit was sold for just $10,000 at the 2015 Perth Magic Millions Yearling Sale.
“We picked him out on breeding and I wasn’t able to get down to the sale in time for that horse, so I told Matty to go and have a look at him and make sure he had straight legs,” Maley said.
“He rang me and told me that we got him, and I asked if he had straight legs and he said ‘I don’t know, I bought him from the bar’.
“We got him home and had a look at him and he had terrible legs!
“I said ‘they’re bent, mate!’”
After producing three wins, three minor placings and a fourth from seven starts in his mid-2017 campaign, connections were very excited about what the future held for the up-and-coming Double Digit.
However, Maley was at a loss after the gelding failed to finish in the first five placings at his first six starts back in 2018.
“All of his bloods and everything were good,” Maley said.
“I was struggling to get him to want to try.
“I think a lot of it is in his head.
“He’s a real problem child and I have to ride him all the time.
“I do all of his work on him, because he’s a difficult horse, and he’s very, very busy in the head.
“He’s just flat out with everything.”
Following a good spell, Double Digit returned to racing in September and has won four of his nine races since, including three at Metropolitan Saturday level.
“He’s going really well now,” Maley said.
“He’s back to being Double Digit again, mad and crazy!”
Among Maley’s other astute purchases include stable stalwarts, Red Publisher and Push To Pass.
Bought for $30,000 at the 2014 Gold Coast Ready-To-Run Sale as a two-year-old, Red Publisher has since acquired $395,950 in stake earnings.
The Publishing gelding has won eight races and placed a further 25 times, including a third in last month’s $250,000 Group Three AJ Scahill Stakes (1400m) at Ascot.
“He’s just a beautiful horse and he’s done a really good job,” Maley said.
Maley’s favourite horse, however, is his grey gelding, Push To Pass.
The unfashionably-bred Courvoisier eight-year-old has won 12 races and more than $360,000, including the 2018 Albany Cup, and holds sentimental value for Maley.
“We bought him as a weanling when he was three days off his Mum,” Maley said.
“He was a fluffy, ugly-looking thing, but he was the half-brother to Benny’s Halo.
“Benny’s Halo won his first two starts as a two-year-old and ran second in the Perth Stakes and Karrakatta Plate.”
Maley is now eager for the completion of his new training complex near Gingin, 50 kilometres from his Lancelin stable, which has been under construction for the past two months.
“I’m in the process of building stables and it should be ready in about six weeks,” he said.
“I’ve put in a 2500m working track and an 1100m straight uphill gallop track.
“The property is 56 acres and it’s got a big water licence for the reticulation.
“I’ll keep the Lancelin place, as well, so when the beach is good I can use it.”
Asked how he handles the long drives he regularly endures, which has included trips from Lancelin to provincial tracks such as Kalgoorlie and Esperance, Maley appears unfazed.
“I do a lot of driving, but it doesn’t bother me,” he said.
“I just try to race the horses where I think they can win.
“I always did a lot of driving when I was a livestock buyer and a stock agent, so this is nothing for me in comparison for what I used to have to do!”
MICHAEL HEATON