Luke Morgan on Breaking In and Pre-Training Racehorses

0:00 Inside the breaking-in and pre-training farm

Steve 0:00 Great, episode 14 of Off N Racing and we're here with Luke Morgan at your breaking in and pre-training facility. Thanks for having us Luke. Yeah, thanks very much. And we've been here for about half an hour, you've taken us around. We'd love you to sort of talk us through the facility and everything that you've built here. Yeah, for sure. We purchased this property, my wife and I, it's probably coming up six years now. It was just sort of a house next to probably a

Luke Morgan 0:29 bare hundred acres and yeah, we've sort of built it to where it is now. Just a bit over 50 stables and put a half mile track in and got our own barriers, treadmill, arena, undercover round yards and different things that yeah, we, because we used to sort of go to town a lot, but now we've sort of got to a stage where we can do all our breaking in and pre-training on farm, which certainly was always our dream. So yeah, it's good to be able to do it all.

0:59 Growing up in rodeo

Steve 0:59 Brilliant. And away from horse racing, we're actually talking to rodeo royalty. A great family success and background in rodeo. So maybe you could introduce us to the family and also your personal success.

Luke Morgan 1:14 Yeah, thank you. It's probably something that I talk about a lot in my line of work sort of thing. I like to sort of keep it behind me. But yeah, obviously my parents were heavily in rodeo and that's what sort of has sort of given us the lifestyle and been around horses all our life. And my dad used to ride saddle bronx and so did Cody for a few years growing up and then yeah, I sort of did it for four or five years and had a bit of fun. But yeah, now it's sort of, it's all behind me as such. Yeah.

Sean 1:54 Were you still competing last year?

Steve 1:56 Yeah, so I actually

Sean 1:57 I was like, I only found out on the way up. Yeah. I said Luke doesn't even talk to me about it.

Luke Morgan 2:01 Nah, that's right. I was 2015 I stopped and that was sort of pretty much when our business started getting busier and so I sort of pulled up then and it was only last year a couple of boys that work for me. Obviously they're sort of 10, 12 years younger than me and they're into doing it at the moment and travelling over a weekend and they sort of egged me on and yeah, I hadn't been to one for seven or eight years and

Sean 2:31 So you just kicked their ass straight away?

Luke Morgan 2:34 Nah, that would give me a fair bit of grief so yeah, I had to sort of tag along with them for a few weekends and yeah, I had a bit of fun last year and but no, it's

Steve 2:45 Bit of success?

Luke Morgan 2:46 That was just a bit of a one off thing, yeah.

2:49 Notable clients, including Arrowfield

Steve 2:49 So we estimate you've had about 50 Kurrinda horses through the system. Yeah. Showing us around, you mentioned there was an Arrowfield horse there so we'd love to know some of the other notable clients that you have.

Luke Morgan 3:00 Yeah, yeah, I probably at the moment I've been breaking in and pre-training for Arrowfield for, I think that'd be probably coming up seven or eight years. I know this year we've had about 60 to 70 of theirs through the system. Coran Bean, the late George Aldermonte has been another one that's been with us for similar time and done some great horses for him over the years. But yeah, I do really enjoy breaking in and working with people that I have for a long period of time. I feel you really build a trust over the years. I think it's probably coming up, time gets away, it could be five years maybe.

Sean 3:53 Five or six years already, yeah.

3:55 Why some horses need longer

Luke Morgan 3:55 That I've had horses for Kurrinda and like you say, the amount of horses that come through the system. And when I say, I ring Sean up and I say, listen, this one needs a little bit longer. He knows that he's had 50 horses here before and he's like, right, if you say it needs longer, it needs longer and we'll talk to the trainers. Because at the end of the day, I just want the horse to have every opportunity to get to the trainer and be ready for everything that it's going to face. Because it's a big step for a horse, you know, like some people send them to the breakers for four weeks and some expect them the next day to be hacking around at Ramwick. And I feel like it's a kid going to daycare for a few weeks and then you drop him off to do his HSE. You know, like I think it needs to be a slower process. And I'm not saying that no different to humans, no horses, no two horses are the same. Some can handle it and some people can manage them really well. And other people, you know, just probably it might all be a bit too soon. But no, I certainly getting back to your original question, I do have some good studs that I work with and they trust me and it makes my process a lot easier.

5:17 How a four-week breaking-in works

Steve 5:17 And we love your video updates. Maybe you could talk us through some of the components of breaking in a horse.

Luke Morgan 5:23 Yeah, so I would say that 90% of the yearlings we break in now have all had a yearling prep, which is a good head start. Because I can assure you when I first started years ago, we quite often get a three or four year old that was unhandled and they might drop them off in a cattle truck. And I'm telling you, it's sort of, I'm lucky that, yeah, things have sort of looked up a bit since then. Because I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it, but there's certainly, if someone wanted to disagree with me, but there's a lot more work involved. You know, you get these horses, they come shod, they've been, you know, rugged and they're well handled. So they're certainly heading in the right direction and makes everyone's job a bit easier. But yeah, we like to work on a four week process. The first day we do a bit of lunging, put a roller on them and long rein them around and just start to introduce obviously the spearing side of things with the long reins. And yeah, and then we might use a pony horse that we, yeah, we ride an older one beside them and just get them used to something being up above them. And yeah, just little things like that. And then we try to hope that we're riding them within the four to five days sort of process. And obviously starting into the second week, we like to sort of be riding them in the arena. We set up little cavalettis and obstacles in our arena and yeah, sort of go from there. And I'm very fortunate. I've got about six riders at the moment. And I think that's a big key to breaking them in is to have them working around in groups and get them used to horses coming up behind them and beside them. And yeah, it certainly only helps the amount of horses and that they get used to a bit of traffic as such, you know.

7:23 Using the Tamworth racetrack

Steve 7:23 And you mentioned we're five minutes from the Tamworth race track. So each morning you take the horses down to have a look around.

Luke Morgan 7:28 Yeah, for sure. So we just sort of rotate them. And there's generally, there's always a different group that are closer to going home. So that those are the in their fourth week. We take them in for a morning and show them around in there. But yeah, we would probably do 99% of the work here on farm with them.

7:45 Kurrinda horses that stood out to Luke

Steve 7:45 Brilliant. Yeah. And of the various Kurrinda horses that you've had, does anyone come to mind, you know, historically that was interesting to deal with or?

Luke Morgan 7:55 Probably one of the toughest ones I'd have to say was Private Harry.

Steve 8:03 Oh yeah.

Luke Morgan 8:04 Yeah. I don't know. He just, he felt like he took a bit to accept it all. Probably favouritism wise. And it's funny, it's only over the last, excuse me, over the last couple of years that I've sort of fell more in love with the So You Thinks. But Queen's Rhapsody was probably my favourite a couple of years ago. And this year it's probably the So You Think Bellevue Girl. I quite like both of them. And then Peter O'Brien would love to hear that.

Sean 8:38 Yeah. It was his favourite of the year.

Steve 8:41 Really?

Sean 8:42 Yeah. He said, this is the best horse to come off our farm this year.

Steve 8:45 Yeah. Yeah.

Sean 8:46 That's a big, they sold ten one million dollar yearlings. So I hope he's bloody right.

Luke Morgan 8:49 Yeah. Yeah. No, I couldn't fault her at all. She just, she just, when you got up over her neck, she'd only had half a dozen rides. And I said to the boys when I was counting around, I said, this thing, feel it like, I know she's a fillet that's going to train on it and probably take a bit of time. But I was like, geez, I like the way this thing moves. She just, she glides across the ground, really good action, cleaning the wind. Yeah, she ticked a lot of boxes for me. And then it's funny, like, I sort of take a fair bit of pride in the boys that work for me. A couple of them have been with me for seven years. And so that, you know, they've seen all the horses come through and Jake, like, sort of an off-sider, he was mad and in love with Boston Rocks. And still is, you know. And then, and then I've got a girl that's been with us for, you know, four or five years. And she absolutely adores satin stiletto, you know. Everyone.

Sean 9:46 And they follow them then.

Luke Morgan 9:47 Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think everyone looks for something different.

Sean 9:51 The Bellevue go, I think it's going to be slow now. Everyone's just talking about her. She won't win a maiden now. Even, like, one of David's track work riders who's known to be one of the best in Sydney, hopped off and he goes, this thing's the best so you think I've sat on. I'm like, ***, this thing's not going to win a maiden. Everyone's talking it up. It's going to be the slowest horse.

Luke Morgan 10:12 Yeah, we might have went a bit early then.

10:14 The four horses in the yard now

Steve 10:14 So we've got four here at the moment. If we could touch on each of those. The ZooStar Savvy Coop. Yeah. I think he'd go down to Matthew Dale's in the next few days.

Sean 10:25 Yeah, Monday, I think, isn't it?

Luke Morgan 10:26 Yep. Yep. No, he's done a really good job. Obviously, this is his sort of last little pre-training prep. He's just been back in for a fortnight, just doing very slow work and been through the barriers, but couldn't fold him at all. Good attitude. Yeah, he feels really good. It might take a little bit of time, but, yeah, otherwise he should fit straight into the system down there. I think they'll have a bit of fun with him.

Steve 10:52 Great. There's the Tagaloa, who's soon off to Mitch Friedman.

Luke Morgan 10:55 Yep. Yeah, another nice filly. Yeah, I, she might be another one that takes a bit of time. She probably got a bit of furnishing to do.

Steve 11:05 Yeah.

11:06 Five years of change in Kurrinda's horses

Luke Morgan 11:06 But, on, on that, you know, I was only thinking this morning when our New Year's were coming. Over the last five years that I have been working with Kurrinda, I think there's been a massive, you know, all for the better, like a massive change in the, in the quality of horses over the five years.

Steve 11:26 Just a little bit.

Luke Morgan 11:27 And even, even the destinations that they're going to after they leave here, you know, like, it, it, it, it's, it's great to be involved with, you know, some of those really well-bred horses. They come here, broken in and head into town, you know, it's certainly, um, I, I enjoy it from a breaking in point of view, you know, sort of always hope to finish up on a Saturday morning and go inside and watch a two year old race, you know. Like, I, I, I get a big kick out of, you know, looking at the fields and seeing one or two there that I broke in. Um, and, and I feel like it won't be long and there'll be a few Kurrinda horses there.

12:06 The other two horses in the yard

Steve 12:06 And the other two? Yeah, there's. Star Turn.

Sean 12:09 Star Turn.

Luke Morgan 12:10 Um, yeah, he's, um, obviously this is, um, he, he, he's not up doing the sort of same work as, um, the others, he's probably a little, a little bit behind. But, um, yeah, happy with him, that's for sure. Um, he, he's probably gonna be big enough and strong enough. Um, I, I, yeah, I couldn't fold him to where he's at. It's a little bit hard, I find, um, like he's only not long been back in, so he's sort of just trotting again. It's just slow work, but I, I couldn't, couldn't fold him at all.

Sean 12:42 I think it's only his second, he's just been broken, he had a month off and now it's his second time. Yeah. So the zoo star's a prep ahead.

Steve 12:48 Yeah. Yeah. And the last one?

Luke Morgan 12:51 The Peres filly?

Sean 12:52 Yeah, the little Peres half crowns half sister.

Luke Morgan 12:54 So she's, she's only just finished the breaking in prep now. Um, but yeah, she's, she's done a really good job. She was, she was a little, little, um, edgy to start with. Um, just a bit unsure about it all, but, um, no. She's, she's another one that obviously she'll go for a break in the next few days and, and then, um, she'll be back in for a bit more work.

13:13 How the Kurrinda pathway works

Sean 13:13 And what we sort of do is, um, where Luke's great is we, um, they come in and get broken in, we give them a month off. All being equal, if they stay, stay healthy and sound, they come back, they do what, probably four to six weeks?

Steve 13:25 Yep.

Sean 13:26 They come back to our farm for probably four weeks, give or take, and then they come back for a fortnight and if Luke's happy with them, then they go off to their trainer. And, um, I don't know if Luke's happy with the system, but I find what we're doing, it really works well together I think, doesn't it?

Steve 13:39 Yeah, for sure.

Luke Morgan 13:40 Um, I, I think I'm speaking for all trainers, like, at, um, track work rod, finding good track work rod is probably getting harder and harder for a lot of trainers. Some are very fortunate, but, uh, the large, uh, portion of them are always sort of struggling. Um, so that, you know, they want educated horses in their system that, you know, they can be up doing a bit of pace work and, you know, probably looking for a jump out sort of thing. It's a bit hard to get them straight from the breakers and, and, um, yeah, take them through all that process. Uh, we're certainly more than happy to do it and, um, hopefully, um, the end result is to, to get them to a trainer where, you know, they're well educated and can handle everything they ask them.

14:21 Why travel makes horses adaptable

Sean 14:21 And I find they learn how to travel, like, we're three hours away, but by the time they get to the trainer, they've been on a truck for 30 hours. Yeah. Back and forward, back and forward, and then they stay the night at Wyong, at Donny Robbs or wherever and they're just so adaptable. Yeah. It makes them resilient. Yeah. So if we have one that's good enough to go in a state, Melbourne, Queensland, they just walk into a box. They just think it's another box.

Steve 14:43 Yeah.

Sean 14:44 There's nothing, it's, you know, they're used to going to different places and I think that helps us a lot too.

14:48 What is next for Luke

Steve 14:48 Yeah. Yeah. So apprentice Jockey at 15, you've just turned 35. What's the future for Luke Morgan?

Luke Morgan 14:56 Yeah, that, um, it's funny, um, sort of being in the industry for over 20 years, which sort of, doesn't seem like long time, you know, a huge amount of time, but when you sort of think back on it, um, yeah, time gets away. Um, very fortunate, my wife Jodie, she, she works harder than what I do. She's, she's up feeding them all and, and, um, sort of runs the rosters and, and sort of tries to, um, keep everyone as happy as possible. And, um, yeah, so, you know, I feel like we've got a good team. Um, but yeah, going forward, I, I, I, I probably don't want to grow in size. I just want to, um, um, continue to sort of break in nice horses for good clients and, and do the best job possible. Um, I've had plenty of horses through the system over the years that have won group twos and group threes, um, placed in group ones. But I've never had a group one winner. So that, that certainly is something that, um, that I'm striving for.

Steve 15:57 Yeah. Sounds great. Well, inevitably you'll get there. Yeah. And hopefully it's a Kurrinda horse. Yeah, for sure.

16:04 Booking a horse in

Sean 16:04 Yeah. Or hopefully one day. But, um, no, thanks for meeting up with us, mate. I know you're, I know you're busy. And, and for anyone, uh, that is looking at, um, sending your horse, what's the goal? Like, have you shut your books? Are you open to taking on new business or?

Luke Morgan 16:17 Um, I'm always, um, yeah, happy to talk. Um, you know, we, we have a busy period of time, I, I guess, around the, sort of, from February onwards after, um, it was a little bit of a slow start where you always get, get a few out of the magic mans. I find, I find a lot of people like to probably bite the magics and maybe put them in the paddock, um, just for a couple of weeks to give them a bit of a break. Um, so then by the time they have a break, classics come around, a few people start buying them from there. Mid, mid February to August, we're always full. Um, but like, I'm always happy to talk and, and, um, yeah, sort of off season, we certainly have, have room then. Um, but yeah. Um, yeah.

Sean 17:01 Not really then. Just give Luke a buzz if you're interested and, and speak to, speak to Luke. And, uh, I recommend it, uh, wholeheartedly. It works for us, all of our trainers. The feedback is always incredible. Uh, I send Luke a few updates here and there and, um, to keep him updated with the horses and the feedback's just always spot on. So, uh, I couldn't be happier and thanks for catching up.

Steve 17:25 Yep. Uh, thank you. Thanks a lot, Luke Morgan. Thank you.