By CASEY NEILL
THE horse bug bit Colin Alderson early and the “disease” has paid off in spades.
A Medal of the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List on Monday 13 June recognised Colin’s instrumental role in establishing the Cranbourne Training Centre and his dedication to supporting fellow trainers that’s spanned more than three decades.
“You don’t go into things like trainers’ associations or racing expecting to get awards – you do it for the benefit of racing and trainers,” he said.
Colin has been a licensed horse trainer since 1966 and owns Alderson Racing which is based at his Bayles home Freedom Fields.
He officially retired from training earlier this year and his daughter Cindy took over the business.
“She’s trying to manage a stable of 35 horses on her own,” he said.
His son Steven was to join her but tragedy struck in January.
“He was up in Brisbane at the Magic Millions sales,” he said.
“He didn’t wake up one morning. He just had a heart attack and died.”
Colin’s dad was a trainer.
“I grew up in that environment and then I, as I got older, I took up riding and rode as a picnic jokey for a while,” he said.
“You can see by my size it didn’t last long!”
He met his wife Lyn through breaking in a horse for her family when they were 16.
“My father-in-law was the first instigator of me taking out a trainer’s licence,” he said.
“He made the suggestion that perhaps I should get a horse to train and he’d finance me.”
Colin worked up to three jobs at times during his journey, including a milk round with a horse and cart.
He counts 1999 Caulfield Cup winner Sky Heights as his most successful horse.
Among his greatest achievements is the Cranbourne Training Centre, where about 150 trainers work with up to 800 horses.
He worked with Tommy Harrison to secure finance and design the facility.
Colin has been the ATA president since 1997 and was the Victorian branch president from 1992 to 2012.
“We’ve just got the racing industry to come on board to help with the collection of bad debts where owners will be banned from racing if they don’t meet their bad debts,” he said.
“I think that’s probably the biggest thing we’ve done in my time in the training association, to give them some security.”
Cranbourne Racing Centre will host a lunch to celebrate Colin’s career on Friday 24 June.
“It’s a passion. It’s a disease, in one way, to be a horse person,” he said.
“It’s like alcohol – you’re not an alcoholic until you have a drink.
“Once you’ve had it you won’t walk away from it.”
