Run The Numbers – Kings of the road – Australia’s most travelled trainers  

The recently released Racing Australia Fact Book details that, as per the 2024/25 season, there are 111 active racetracks in NSW, 98 in Queensland, 70 in Victoria, 34 in Western Australia, 24 in South Australia, five in Tasmania, four in the Northern Territory and two in the ACT (although both are at the same location).

Australia has long had the most racetracks of any jurisdiction in the world. This is primarily due to traditional geographical barriers to travel.

Rural and regional areas were the heartland of thoroughbred racing, and each town would traditionally have its own track. It meant that at one point, there were over 500 thoroughbred racing tracks across the country.

Rationalisation has taken hold over the past century, as regulation of Australian racing has strengthened and wagering companies have demanded more consistent products for their customers to bet on.

By 2000, there were 379 active racetracks in Australia, with that number declining by an average of one per year over the 25 years since.

While picnic racing still exists at a niche level, and towns across outback Queensland still get their once-a-year race meetings, the professionalisation of the thoroughbred industry means meetings are streamlined.

That tyranny of distance, which allowed local trainers to dominate, has become much less of an issue as race meetings have become more consolidated around major population centres and larger stables have become more willing to travel.

We are long past the days when a stable only had a couple of floats to send their horses on the road each week. Now, the transport needs of the big stables, with multiple bases across the country, are more akin to the logistics of a major trucking company.

In the past four days alone, Ciaron Maher has had runners at 11 individual venues – Morphettville, Coffs Harbour, Cowra, Echuca, Canberra, Stony Creek, Flemington, Hawkesbury, Randwick, Eagle Farm and Edenhope.

Maher, with bases in Victoria and NSW, is by far Australia’s most travelled stable, having had runners at a remarkable 88 different racetracks this racing season.  

That is 21 more than the next most travelled stable and well over double the average of Australia’s current top 20 stables (37.6).

Maher has had runners at 47 different Victorian tracks, 26 in NSW, seven in Queensland, two in SA, Tasmania, South Australia and New Zealand and one in the ACT and WA.

Of Maher’s 1430 starters this season to date, 590, or 41.3 per cent, have been in provincial or country races.

In comparison, just 23.2 per cent of Chris Waller’s 1632 starters this racing season have been outside of metro class.

As a result, Waller’s runners have been represented at only 48 different tracks this season. His ratio of 2.98 per cent of tracks represented to overall starters is the lowest of any trainer inside the top 20.

It is an interesting difference of strategy between the two largest stables, but is also reflective of the stronger Victorian influence on Maher’s operation.

Because Victorian tracks tend to be closer together and because there is no differentiation between provincial and country tracks in that state, Victorian trainers tend to travel their horses to more tracks.

That is reflected in the fact that five of the top six trainers (of the top 20) when it comes to most tracks travelled to this season are primarily based in Victoria.

The exception is Annabel and Rob Archibald, whose main base is at Warwick Farm, but who also have stables at Flemington, Scone and Eagle Farm. The Archibalds have travelled runners to 67 different Australian tracks so far this Australian racing season.

Of those, 29 have been in NSW, 25 in Victoria, 11 in Queensland and one each in ACT and WA.

Archibald Racing’s ratio of tracks to starters is 7.4 per cent, higher than Maher’s, but only ranked ninth of the top 20 trainers.

As mentioned, Victorian-centred training operations tend to travel to more tracks. Mick Price and Michael Kent Jr, with bases at Cranbourne, Rosehill and Warrnambool, have raced their horses at 52 individual tracks.

Given they have only had 463 starters, their ratio of tracks to starters is 11.23 per cent.    

Lindsay Park, based at Euroa, Pakenham and Flemington, has had runners at 51 different tracks this season, while Anthony and Sam Freedman, with operations in Victoria and NSW, have had runners at 49 separate tracks.

Melbourne Cup-winning pair Tony and Calvin McEvoy travel to more tracks per runner than any other trainer inside the top 20 in Australia. From 286 starters this season, they have travelled to 48 different tracks. That’s a ratio of 16.78 per cent.

To give that further context, they have had starters at the same number of racetracks as Waller, despite having just 17.5 per cent of his number of starters.

It is interesting when you stand these stats up against perception. There is a view that Bjorn Baker travels his horses more than other Sydney trainers, but his horses have only run at 30 individual tracks this season. That is 10 fewer than Waterhouse/Bott, who have had fewer starters and, at 6.25 per cent, is a lower ratio than Michael Freedman and John O’Shea and Tom Charlton.

What is also clear from the data we have compiled is that while Queensland might have the most tracks per horse in Australia, its trainers tend to stay in their zone. Again, geographical factors play a major role here.

Tony Gollan, currently fourth on the national trainers premierships, has just 20 racetracks on his list this year from 759 starters.

Toowoomba-based Mark Currie, with 407 has been to just 14 tracks, while Chris and Corey Munce (17 from 345) and Corey and Kylie Geran (19 from 428), don’t travel near as much as their southern counterparts.

While no current WA trainers feature in the top 20 in Australia, it’s a similar story there, where premiership leader Michael Grantham has only visited 11 different tracks with his 231 runners. 

Top 20 stables in Australia – Different tracks this racing season

Trainer	Tracks	Starters	Ratio – Track/Runners
Chris Waller	48	1632	2.94%
Ciaron Maher	88	1430	6.15%
Annabel and Rob Archibald	67	905	7.40%
Tony Gollan	20	759	2.64%
Ben, Will and JD Hayes	51	966	5.28%
Matthew Dunn	17	401	4.24%
Mark Currie	14	407	3.44%
Bjorn Baker	30	480	6.25%
Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott	40	454	8.81%
Michael Freedman	27	392	6.89%
Kris Lees	42	588	7.14%
Anthony and Sam Freedman	49	445	11.01%
Mick Price and Michael Kent Jr	52	463	11.23%
Phillip Stokes	36	431	8.35%
Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman	35	464	7.54%
Chris and Corey Munce	17	345	4.93%
John O’Shea & Tom Charlton	27	355	7.61%
Peter Snowden	24	319	7.52%
Tony & Calvin McEvoy	48	286	16.78%
Corey & Kylie Geran	19	428	4.44%