By David Nagel
Peter Moody maybe one of the most recognisable figures in Australian racing but the now Pakenham trainer has a well-oiled machine working beside him.
And at the top of that list is his assistant-trainer Katherine Coleman.
Originally from Western Australia, Coleman now lives and breathes Pakenham.
She lives in town and makes the short trip to Tynong each day to help the Moody team – stabled on-course at the track – run smoothly.
“We’ve got 45 horses in work here at Pakenham, and a usual morning for me is just trying to make Pete’s life as easy as possible, and make things run as smoothly as we can,” Coleman says with a smile, in her element at stable headquarters.
“I still ride track work in the mornings as well, which I really enjoy doing.
“Once we’ve got all the horses worked, it’s back into the stables and doing some admin work and planning ways to get the horses in the best physical order that we can.”
But her day, and that of the Moody team, doesn’t stop there.
Their schedule for November 23, 24, 25 highlights the demands of the racing industry.
“Depending what we’ve got on for the day it could be off to the races, and here in Victoria we race all over the state,” Coleman explained.
“We’ve got a couple heading off to Bendigo today (24th), we were at Sandown yesterday, Wodonga tomorrow, and then Cranbourne at night time.
“Having the Pakenham Cup here is going to be really good because we only have to walk them across the road and we’re there.
“We’ve got a couple running on Pakenham Cup Day, but nothing for the cup itself.”
Coleman is now living out her dream after crossing the Nullarbor roughly 10 years ago.
“I grew up with horses in Western Australia, but not necessarily in racing, my dad owned a few very slow race horses before I was born, but that was the extent of it,” she said.
“He got involved in another horse when I was 16, and that really sparked my interest in the industry.
“I started off working for a small stable over there, mostly pre-trainers and young horses, and then decided to move to Victoria and work for a big stable for a couple of months and go home.
“That was about 10 years ago (smiles).
“I’ve been incredibly lucky with the opportunities I’ve had over here, and especially now working alongside Pete, it’s a dream come true.”
Coleman needed little encouragement to join the Moody team when he ended his well-documented exodus from racing.
“I worked at Caulfield previously when Pete was training there and knew him from that time,” Coleman explained.
“At the time, when he decided he was coming back to training, I was working for Chris Waller at Flemington in a foreman role.
“Pete approached me at the races one day and said ‘you and I need to have a bit of a chat’.
“We did…and it was right place, right time sort of stuff and it’s all worked out pretty well.”
The once young kid from WA is set to further entrench herself in both Pakenham and Victorian racing.
“The plan is that Pete and I will go into a partnership in the next year or so, which will be an amazing opportunity for me…I’m really looking forward to it,” she said.
“Pete’s got great systems in place, so even when he’s not here, like today, I just follow on with what we normally do.
“We’ve got a great routine here and great staff that know what they’re doing, so I’m very lucky in that regard.
“I’ve got great support around me.”
Coleman is excited to be working at one of the most progressive training complexes in the state.
“We’ve got great facilities here at Pakenham, the club do a really good job of keeping things up to date and keeping things safe and giving us anything we want for,” she said.
“We’ve got the hill track going in shortly, which is very exciting, and a few other little things in the works as well.
“They’ve done a great job, even in the last few years, just developing the facilities and continuing to improve on what we already have.
“We’re very lucky in that regard, it’s a great place to train out of.”
