Aussie chasing Roses glory
He's the Australian trying to win the Kentucky Derby on Sunday but still dreaming of winning the Melbourne Cup.
His name is Ian Wilkes, a 41-year-old who grew up on a dairy farm in northern NSW but on Sunday morning, could find himself celebrating victory at Churchill Downs in arguably the world's most famous horse race.
Wilkes is now a leading US trainer in his own right and an integral part of the great Carl Nafzger's attempt to win his second Kentucky Derby with Street Sense.
Wilkes had a solid grounding in Australian racing before he left for America. He worked at the Sydney stables of Paul Sutherland and then Vic Thompson Jr during the 1980s before spending two years with Colin Hayes at Lindsay Park.
During his time at the Hayes stable, he arranged through a mutual friend to take up a position working with US training legend Nafzger in Kentucky for two years in 1989.
By a stroke of good fortune, Wilkes became the regular track rider of Nafzger's champion colt Unbridled, winner of the 1990 Kentucky Derby and US Breeders Cup Classic.
"I used to gallop Unbridled,'' Wilkes told The Daily Telegraph, using the American terminology for trackwork rider. "He was a great horse.''
Wilkes returned to Australia for three years but felt his destiny was with American racing. He contacted Nafzger again and found himself back in Kentucky in 1993. He's been there ever since.
These days, Nafzger is winding down, training only for two long-time clients, while Wilkes prepares the majority of the team at their Churchill Downs base.
"In January last year, I took over most of Carl's horses. He wanted me to gain some recognition,'' Wilkes said.
"We don't have training partnerships in America but that is sort of what we do - Carl and I work very closely together. We are in the one barn and, during summer, we would have up to 60 in work.''
So, although Wilkes isn't the official trainer of Street Sense, he will share in the triumph if the striking colt can win the Kentucky Derby.
But Wilkes is the first to admit Street Sense has plenty against him on Sunday when he lines up against 19 opponents in front of a 150,000-strong crowd.
Street Sense was a runaway 10 lengths winner of the Breeders Cup Juvenile last year but no winner of that race has ever won the Kentucky Derby.
He also won the Eclipse Award as champion two-year-old but the last juvenile champion to return the following year and win the Kentucky Derby was Spectacular Bid in 1979.
And Street Sense must also try to defy convention by winning with just two lead-up races this year. The last horse to win the Derby on such a light three-year-old campaign was Sunny's Halo in 1983. Before that it was Jet Pilot in 1947.
"There are a few things against him but we do feel Street Sense is something special,'' Wilkes continued. Wilkes keeps a close eye on Australian racing and is a regular reader of the The Daily Telegraph's website.
"I like to keep up with the football (NRL) and the cricket - didn't the Aussies do well winning the World Cup in the West Indies - and, of course, the racing,'' he said.
Wilkes said he has taken careful note of his younger brother Wayne's success with the highly promising Soiled during the Sydney Autumn Carnival.
Wayne trains out of Port Macquarie and, in one preparation, took Soiled from a bush maiden to win at Randwick over the Easter Carnival and then run second to Beauty Watch in the Rowley Mile.
Soiled is now spelling and is a possible Epsom Handicap contender. Although Ian speaks with an American accent these days and his professional future is based in the US, his heart still obviously lies in Australia.
"I would love to one day bring a horse back home to Australia for the Cox Plate or the Melbourne Cup,'' he said. "That is my dream.''
He's the Australian trying to win the Kentucky Derby on Sunday but still dreaming of winning the Melbourne Cup.
His name is Ian Wilkes, a 41-year-old who grew up on a dairy farm in northern NSW but on Sunday morning, could find himself celebrating victory at Churchill Downs in arguably the world's most famous horse race.
Wilkes is now a leading US trainer in his own right and an integral part of the great Carl Nafzger's attempt to win his second Kentucky Derby with Street Sense.
Wilkes had a solid grounding in Australian racing before he left for America. He worked at the Sydney stables of Paul Sutherland and then Vic Thompson Jr during the 1980s before spending two years with Colin Hayes at Lindsay Park.
During his time at the Hayes stable, he arranged through a mutual friend to take up a position working with US training legend Nafzger in Kentucky for two years in 1989.
By a stroke of good fortune, Wilkes became the regular track rider of Nafzger's champion colt Unbridled, winner of the 1990 Kentucky Derby and US Breeders Cup Classic.
"I used to gallop Unbridled,'' Wilkes told The Daily Telegraph, using the American terminology for trackwork rider. "He was a great horse.''
Wilkes returned to Australia for three years but felt his destiny was with American racing. He contacted Nafzger again and found himself back in Kentucky in 1993. He's been there ever since.
These days, Nafzger is winding down, training only for two long-time clients, while Wilkes prepares the majority of the team at their Churchill Downs base.
"In January last year, I took over most of Carl's horses. He wanted me to gain some recognition,'' Wilkes said.
"We don't have training partnerships in America but that is sort of what we do - Carl and I work very closely together. We are in the one barn and, during summer, we would have up to 60 in work.''
So, although Wilkes isn't the official trainer of Street Sense, he will share in the triumph if the striking colt can win the Kentucky Derby.
But Wilkes is the first to admit Street Sense has plenty against him on Sunday when he lines up against 19 opponents in front of a 150,000-strong crowd.
Street Sense was a runaway 10 lengths winner of the Breeders Cup Juvenile last year but no winner of that race has ever won the Kentucky Derby.
He also won the Eclipse Award as champion two-year-old but the last juvenile champion to return the following year and win the Kentucky Derby was Spectacular Bid in 1979.
And Street Sense must also try to defy convention by winning with just two lead-up races this year. The last horse to win the Derby on such a light three-year-old campaign was Sunny's Halo in 1983. Before that it was Jet Pilot in 1947.
"There are a few things against him but we do feel Street Sense is something special,'' Wilkes continued. Wilkes keeps a close eye on Australian racing and is a regular reader of the The Daily Telegraph's website.
"I like to keep up with the football (NRL) and the cricket - didn't the Aussies do well winning the World Cup in the West Indies - and, of course, the racing,'' he said.
Wilkes said he has taken careful note of his younger brother Wayne's success with the highly promising Soiled during the Sydney Autumn Carnival.
Wayne trains out of Port Macquarie and, in one preparation, took Soiled from a bush maiden to win at Randwick over the Easter Carnival and then run second to Beauty Watch in the Rowley Mile.
Soiled is now spelling and is a possible Epsom Handicap contender. Although Ian speaks with an American accent these days and his professional future is based in the US, his heart still obviously lies in Australia.
"I would love to one day bring a horse back home to Australia for the Cox Plate or the Melbourne Cup,'' he said. "That is my dream.''
