By David Nagel
New Zealand siblings Craig and Tony Jamieson have crossed the Tasman and now call Cranbourne home as they excitedly chase their harness racing dreams.
The training partnership moved to Cranbourne in late May this year and has already set about building a strong platform that it expects to translate to future success.
The Jamiesons have 15 horses in work after making the bold decision to uproot their families and make the trip across the ditch.
“It was a tough decision but it’s not just about Tony and I, we have five children between us and they have more opportunities out here as well,” Craig explained.
“It’s not just about our dreams with the horses, it’s about better things for the whole family as well.”
The Jamiesons made the move to Australia after coming to the realisation that a career in harness racing was not so viable at home.
“It’s great for the established guys in New Zealand, but for younger guys like us it’s hard to purchase the properties that the older generation were fortunate enough to purchase…that’s it in a nutshell,” Craig said.
“We had our own businesses back home, I had mine and Tony has always been shoeing horses, but purchasing property in New Zealand was just getting further and further away…and there are no set ups like this (Cranbourne) back home.”
The Jamiesons felt limited at Cambridge Raceway in New Zealand, and after a week-long trip to Cranbourne decide it was time to make the move…with the full support of some key figures at Cranbourne behind them.
“The club flew us over and allowed us to go back home and make our minds up,” Craig said.
“We spent a week over here, so we weren’t going in blind, we knew what we were headed for.
“With Club 21, and other syndicates that the club runs, we’ve been very well supported and that’s huge when you’re making a fresh start.
“It helps kick you off, and I don’t think we’ve done too bad a job to begin with so hopefully it kicks on from here.”
The Jamiesons did have other options, but the warmth of the welcome and co-existence with the booming thoroughbred population at Cranbourne made the decision an easy choice.
“Shepparton is also up and running now, but we liked the fact that we could walk into Cranbourne and be accepted straight away,” Craig said.
“David Scott (CTC President) and the team at Cranbourne have accepted us with open arms.
“Another big part of coming to Cranbourne was the amount of thoroughbred numbers here as well.
“You don’t just walk into stables, but down the track hopefully Tony can get his name out there and get some work shoeing for the growing horse population in Cranbourne.
“He had a lot of contacts back home, and a good reputation, so I’m sure that side of things will develop over time.”
Surprisingly Jamieson explained that prizemoney in New Zealand is comparable to Victoria, but the opportunity to get your hands on it is challenging.
“I think it’s better over there, but the flipside is there’s no escaping the nice ones, where here there’s a race for everyone,” Craig said.
“The prizemoney is good in New Zealand, but it’s so competitive to win them, where here there’s the opportunity to place your horse in the right races.”
The Jamiesons, who have already tasted multiple successes since arriving, are keen to build strong momentum in 2023.
“The ones we brought over from New Zealand had a rough flight, so it took a while to get them going through no fault of ours,” Craig said.
“But we’re really excited by the new year, we’ve got a few nice yearlings and two-year-olds that are looking good for the future.”
Craig and Tony have been humbled by the support of local owners.
“Mike Grills, he didn’t know us from a bar of soap, but threw one our way, and David Scott and his associates have been huge for us as well,” he said.
“Duncan McPherson, Brian Trezise, we only met them when we came over for the week but they’ve all supported us and we’re greatly appreciative of that.
“We’re pretty lucky really.”
Scott said the story of the Jamieson’s rubber-stamped the philosophy of the Cranbourne Harness Training Centre.
“Providing these facilities avoids the need for capital expenditure on their part, to set up on their own, and provides a sustainable model for them to train and stable their horses,” Scott said.
“We started out with 45 boxes and we now have 70 boxes on site, we have three work barns, a four-horse wash, two horse-walkers, treadmill, pool…it has all the facilities that trainers need to have the best chance of training a winner.”
