Episode 421: Tracey Bartley

Tracey is still punishing himself over a momentary lapse of concentration which could have cost him his life. The former jockey and multiple Gr 1 winning trainer committed the sin many horse people are guilty of when trying to cut corners. He got in the way of a cranky mare whose double barrelled kick missed another horse and connected with him. Eight weeks and five operations later Tracey is relieved to be back at work and making a good recovery. He’s the first to admit the accident shouldn’t have happened. Tracey says he learned what pain was all about in his riding days, and when he suffered a serious medical issue in 2006. He says the pain resulting from his recent accident was the worst he’s ever experienced. He shudders to think of the likely outcome had his wife not come to the rescue.  Tracey looks back on his tiny stature when he first became  apprenticed to the late Frank Penfold. He says he weighed 36 kgs when he rode his first winner. He says he wasn’t the first jockey in the family. Tracey pays a heartfelt tribute to the man who taught him the fundamentals of horse management. He now realises that he couldn’t have been with a better teacher. He says another Rosehill trainer provided his very first winner. The respected horseman looks back on his first metropolitan win on the Penfold trained Folkestone Bay. He says he was merely a passenger on the giant gelding. Tracey hasn’t forgotten the publicity sparked by the win and clearly remembers a Channel 9 News Story the following day. He talks of the transfer of his indentures to Kerry Walker when Frank Penfold relocated to Queensland. The Wyong trainer says the Walker trained Dinky Flyer was the best horse he’s ridden. He also won a race for Tommy Smith on Dinky Flyer’s full brother Rajahmah. He looks back on half a dozen rides on the notable stayer Lord Hybrow which included a win in the listed Stayer’s Cup at Rosehill. Tracey reflects on the thrill of riding two high profile horses in trackwork. He talks of the Narromine race fall that brought his riding career to an abrupt halt. His injury list was horrendous. Tracey says he was 42 and just beginning to gather momentum as a trainer, when stopped in his tracks by a cancer diagnosis. He won the battle and was enjoying good health until his recent setback. He says 2006 was a year of fluctuating fortunes. He was barely getting his life back on track after the cancer scare, when his once in a lifetime horse walked into his stables. Tracey fondly remembers the early career of Snipers Bullet and the gelding’s thrilling Stradbroke win as a three year old. He looks back on the remainder of the horse’s stellar career which featured two more Gr 1 victories. Bartley speaks highly of Slick Sniper with whom he won 13 races and posted 14 placings. He was Sniper’s Bullet’s full brother. With the two day Scone Carnival just over, Tracey recalls his trilogy of black type wins in 2018.  He looks back on the career of talented mare In Good Time whose best days came after a horror accident in the Wyong equine swimming pool. Tracey presents an insight into the career of Kiss Sum, winner of the inaugural Four Pillars in 2021. He’s looking forward to the gelding’s next preparation. The trainer brings us up to date with the progress of his brilliant apprentice Anna Roper who’s been on the sidelines since November with a complicated knee injury. It’s a laid back chat with a first class horseman and a first class bloke.