Craig Carmody, a trainer who enjoyed some of his most memorable moments as a jockey at Randwick, has successfully applied those skills to his current profession, guiding the promising sprinter Sir Les to a significant win at the track.
Carmody is best known for being the regular rider of the multiple Group 1 winner Intergaze, a horse he partnered to famously spoil Octagonal’s farewell in the 1997 Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick. He continues to ride his own track work, and Sir Les has been his latest project.
After winning his initial two starts at provincial meetings, the three-year-old proved his own worst enemy at Rosehill in May, becoming overly keen and going down as the favourite. This setback prompted Carmody to return to the drawing board.
The trainer opted to give the horse a spell and focus on teaching him to manage his speed more effectively. The results of this patient approach were evident on Saturday, as Sir Les ($4.40) recorded an emphatic 3-1/4 length victory over Benevac ($2.40 favourite) in the Sydney Roosters Partners Handicap (1100m).
“He’s a bit aggressive, so I’ve spent a lot of time on his slower work,” Carmody said. “When he’d try to get ahead of me, I’d get him back to virtually a trot and slow canter, and eventually he would give to me.”
“Repetition, day after day, got it through his head that you don’t have to run through the bridle.”
Having spent two decades in the saddle, Carmody was granted a trainer’s licence in 2005, and has since achieved stakes race success with horses like Single and Everage.
Everage is the dam of Sir Les, and the colt’s name is also inspired by the characters Sir Les Patterson and Dame Edna Everage, created by the famous comedian Barry Humphries.
Carmody expressed his satisfaction with Sir Les’s return to form, drawing a tongue-in-cheek comparison to Intergaze.
“It was great to see. Like Intergaze,” he quipped. “I’m being very kind to Sir Les. He is nothing like Intergaze yet. But he gives me a great turn of foot, so that’s something to work on.”
Sir Les will now be spelled with a view to contesting sprint races during the summer and early autumn.
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