Episode 548: Cameron Crockett

Young trainer Cameron Crockett completely dominated the recent Dubbo Cup programme with three wins and one dead heat on the ten race programme- easily his best day since going solo as a trainer in 2011. To say he was born to be a trainer is probably a misnomer, because he showed little interest in horses until mid teens. Today he’s adamant that training racehorses is all he wants to do. Cameron begins our podcast by reviewing his red letter day at Dubbo. Ashley Morgan was the jockey to ride all of Cameron’s winners on the day. He pays tribute to the Welsh born horseman. The trainer is understandably chuffed with his current strike rate. He talks of his relocation from Mudgee to Scone in 2019. Cameron speaks glowingly of his current location at the former Clovelly Vet Centre in the heart of Scone. He looks back on early days when he learned the art of breaking-in from his father Max, a noted yearling educator.  Cameron looks back on his dad’s role as full time breaker at the famous Gooree Stud. Max’s assistant was another legendary horseman in Harry Meyer. Young Crockett looks back on a broken femur sustained when a yearling reared over and landed on top of him. By the time he was ready to return to work he’d lost the passion for the horse breaking business, and immediately changed direction. He acknowledges the horse to set him on the road as a trainer. Are You Sure was a quirky gelding who was shunned by other horsemen at the time. Cameron saw something in the horse and won 9 races with him. The trainer runs through a number of the horses who shaped his early training career with special mention of Ori On Fire.  Cameron recalls a rare word of praise from his father following a flurry of winners on western tracks. He’s never forgotten the moment. He looks back on his continued success in the TAB Highway series. Predictably Cam spends extra time in acknowledging the deeds of Commando Hunt, the horse he says is the best to come through his hands so far. The successful Scone trainer talks of his own particular slant on  the training business. Cameron talks of the five special kids shared by he and wife Elizabeth. His mother Cheryl also gets an honourable mention.  The trainer pays tribute to several jockeys who’ve contributed to his success in the training ranks. He makes special mention of Brooke Stower who’s currently absent from the riding ranks and working on a Queensland cattle station.