Luke Fernie making moves – on and off the racetrack

The symmetry between Western Australia’s richest race and an emerging force in Perth’s training circles is impossible to ignore ahead of the $5 million The Quokka.

While The Quokka has instantly gained traction as a slot race of national appeal, the career of Luke Fernie is taking off at much the same rate.

The Quokka will be run for the second time on Saturday in unison with Fernie trying to confirm he is one of WA’s brightest young talents as he sends out two runners in the sprint.

Fernie is a fourth-generation horseman who made his way from Kalgoorlie four years after ditching his trade as an electrician and establishing a stable with “five or six” horses at Ascot with nothing more than an open mind.

“It’s turned out well so far. I’ve got a lot of horses, I’ve got good clients, the horses are racing well so I’m hoping the wheels don’t fall off anytime soon,” Fernie told The Straight.

“We had a lot of babies (in Kalgoorlie) and there’s more opportunities from here (in Perth) and I thought bugger it, I’ll have a throw at the stumps and see it pans out.”

Fernie now has 110 horses on his books in an ever-expanding stable that includes two Quokka runners – Ripcord and Wild Belle.

The 29-year-old’s rise through the Perth ranks has him placed inside the top 10 on the metropolitan premiership and if his recent yearling sales forays are a reflection of his ambition, it might not be too long before he is challenging for more than just training titles.

Fernie has been among the most active WA buyers of yearlings on Australia’s east coast this year.

Magic Millions and Premier sale purchases have been topped up with two Australian Easter Yearling Sale graduates that underline recent success and a willingness to back himself.

“I have been getting to alot of sales and I’m lucky I’ve got the support to give me that chance,” he said.

“It’s a bit scary. The easy part is buying them, you’ve just got to be able to pay for them. That’s the tricky part.

“But like I said I’ve got good people behind me and supporting me and we’ve had a fair bit of success so hopefully we can sort of keep rolling that way.”

Working with his major client Kim Doak, Fernie left the Sydney Easter Sale with two horses – a filly by Savabeel and a colt by Too Darn Hot.

One represents a bold new era and the other is a reminder of how he has always trusted his eye to find a decent horse.

The Savabeel filly from the Waikato Stud draft cost $380,000 and put Fernie well and truly out of a financial comfort zone – in a self-deprecating way.

“It’s the most I’ve ever spent on a horse and I don’t know if I ever want to do it again … I was getting a sweat up that’s for sure,” he said.

“The easy part is buying them, you’ve just got to be able to pay for them. That’s the tricky part.” – Luke Fernie

By contrast, his Too Darn Hot acquisition is more of a nod to the skills passed on through the family line from his father Peter, his grandfather John and great grandfather Robert – all successful Kalgoorlie trainers.

“I don’t ever look at a book before I go to the sales … you just trick yourself when you see how well-bred one is and you think ‘geez that one has to come home’,” Fernie said.’

“I go and look at the horse for what they are and make my decisions from there.

“At Easter I wasn’t planning on buying a colt there. A Too Darn Hot walked past and his page compared to everything else at the sale was rubbish because there were no Group 1 winners on it.

“But the moment I looked at him I thought ‘no no, you’ve got to come home with me because you are a very, very nice horse’.

“I saw him walk past me one day and I thought ‘I’ve got to go back and have a look at him’.

“When I went back … you have horses that catch your eye and he was one of them. Fingers crossed I’ve got a nice one.

“We’ve gone out a bit and spent a little bit more than we normally do, just trying to put some nicer horses in the stable, better bred.”

An increased investment in yearlings hasn’t been Fernie’s only bloodstock commitment in 2024.

His name figured as the online buyer of Queensland-based stallion Winning Rupert in a moment where a hint of remorse soon gave way to a sense of opportunity.

Fernie and two partners paid $80,000 for the Group Two-winning juvenile, a son of champion sire Written Tycoon who has been relocated to Geisel Park Stud in WA.

Retired after just six starts for leading Sydney trainer Bjorn Baker, Winning Rupert has sired 108 winners and the recent autumn carnival deeds of Group 1-placed Semana have been timely for his new owners.

“I don’t know why I did that but he was too cheap to pass up,” Fernie said.

“But I thought, ‘you know what, if you follow everybody else you are going to end up in the same spot’.

“You’ve got to deviate and make your own path. It might work or it might not. It’s not as if I broke the bank.

“If you can get a Westspeed horse that is fast and wants to run you are a chance of making a good quid. That’s what he throws, he throws fast horses so I’m hoping that’s the case here.”

The countdown to The Quokka coincides with an introduction to stable life for the first bunch of yearlings Fernie bought in 2024.

They represent a new phase for Fernie as he tries to capitalise on the experience he gained from campaigning a small team in Victoria last year.

“The first lot of expensive colts coming into the stable after being broken-in … it’s enjoyable to have the young ones come through. It’s a good challenge to see where they can get to,” he said.

“It tests everybody’s patience but seeing them build and become racehorses is the exciting part.

“You always want to better yourself so with a couple of those nicer bred horses we’ve gone out and sourced hopefully we can get them to the east coast at some stage and be competitive in some races.

“It’s something that everybody wants to do but you’ve got to give yourself a chance … to get those horses as well.

“There are plenty of things I can still achieve in life. I just don’t want to rest on winning races in WA.”

And with that appetite for success, it seems only appropriate Fernie has linked with two Quokka slotholders who have left an indelible mark on WA racing.

Placid Ark Stakes winner Ripcord will run in decorated owner Bob Peters’ slot and talented mare Wild Belle has Victorian-domiciled trainer Lindsey Smith in her corner.

It’s a sign of how far Fernie has come – and where his training career might take him.