Episode 459: Nathan Doyle

Nathan Doyle places his horses judiciously, and is rewarded with a consistent win rate. In this current season he’s sitting in tenth spot on the NSW premiership ladder. Here is a young man born and reared in the Hunter Valley who was destined for a future with horses. After several years in the employ of top trainers, Nathan kicked off at Newcastle in 2018. He begins by talking about his current number of horses. He says he tried to get started at Scone but couldn’t find enough boxes. The trainer expresses delight with his current season statistics. Nathan says more young horses are now coming into his stables. He looks back on a childhood practice of drawing horse figures on paper- an early pointer to his subsequent career. Nathan says there was no connection with racing in the family background, but his father’s best friend was a trainer. He acknowledges behind-the-scenes assistance from his only sibling, sister Hayley. Doyle looks back on his apprenticeship as a budding boilermaker, mainly to appease his parents. He was surprised to gain a trainer’s licence with a minimum of fuss. He looks back on his first venture into training, and a Narromine win with a cheap mare. Nathan recalls his commitment to learning from the best teachers. He was 24 when a job came up with Team Snowden. He looks back on a rewarding two years as Mark Newnham’s Warwick Farm stable manager. The trainer remembers the highlight of his time at Randwick- the beginning of a relationship with long time partner Melina Gissing who was on the Gai Waterhouse team. Nathan says Mel actually owned his first winner as a trainer this time around. They found the right race at Dubbo, and almost snagged a double on the day. He pays tribute to his great mate and “go-to” jockey Koby Jennings. He talks about the veteran galloper who came out of nowhere to Give him a win in his hometown Cup. Nathan outlines the reasons a mare called Strawb was potentially the best horse he’s ever trained. He has some nice things to say about the massively talented mare Norwegian Bliss. Nathan acknowledges several horses who’ve helped to establish him as a serious commercial trainer.  He admits to being a bad sleeper, and says many of his solutions to problems are sorted out in the middle of the night. A laid back chat with a young trainer whose reputation precedes him.