Graeme Sanders Reflects On Training Career

Graeme Sanders was just 21 when he joined his father, Bill, in a training partnership, in 1970 and the powerful combinations won the trainers’ premiership on five occasions during that decade.

“Dad was a top trainer of his era and believed in racing his horses often,” Graeme said.

Graeme’s first training success came with Spray Doone in the 1970 Grand National Steeplechase at Riccarton. That magnificent win in one of the country’s premier jumping events came on Graeme’s first day of training which provided him with a major thrill.

Lunar Probe was one of the training combination’s star performers in the 1976/77 season. He won the Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes as well as the Wakefield Challenge Stakes in a stellar two-year-old season. The partnership trained 493 winners.

In the 1978/79 season Graeme Sanders started training on his own account.

Career highlights include winning two Auckland Cups with Prize Lady, Group 1 Easter Handicaps with Pasta Post and Magic Winner, the Group 1 New Zealand Derby with Fairview Lad (when it was run at Riccarton), Group 1 Avondale Cup with Beowulf, $500,000 Mercedes Classique with Lady Dehere and claiming the Wellington Derby with Lovelace Watkins in 1980, a galloper he part-owned and sold on the night of the race to South African buyer Cyril Herbert for $100,000 at a cocktail function.

Sanders took a break from training for 10 years before returning to racing and in more recent times he has trained in partnership with his daughter, Debbie, and latterly with his son, Mark.

Among his other major career highlights are Mr Hickeys’ two Great Northern Hurdle wins, multiple Australian successes with the likes of Beowulf (Geelong Derby), Rural Prince (Grafton Cup) and Anne Carina (Eagle Farm Stakes), Red For Go (Five Star Stud Stakes), Mr Hickey (Crisp Steeplechase) and the performances of former star two-year-old Ballroom Babe, who won both the Group 1 Sires’ Produce Stakes races at Ellerslie and Awapuni as well as a Group 1 Captain Cook Stakes for good measure.

Another overseas highlight came when Sanders became the first New Zealand trainer to saddle up a horse at the Royal Ascot carnival. That achievement was with the outstanding racemare, Seachange, who finished a solid fourth in the Group One Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket.

Elevenses was another outstanding performer throughout her career and performed exceptionally well at the highest level. Her wins included the Group 1 One Thousand Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton.

Graeme Sanders has had a lot of success at carefully selecting yearlings from the National Yearling Sales series and turning them into well-performed racehorses. A classic example of his ability in this area was his purchase of champion galloper Ballroom Babe, Rural Prince and Open Terrain and many other good horses. He has also bought and on-sold a number of high-class gallopers including Marju Snip and Able One.

Sanders purchased Ballroom Babe for $4250 from the sales ring and she became a triple Group 1 winner, topweight on the 1995 Free Handicap for two-year-olds and the winner of more than $300,000 in stakes.

Sanders has won a number of Group 1 or key races on more than one occasion notably the Sires Produce Stakes (three times), Easter Handicap (twice), Auckland Cup (twice), Great Northern Hurdles (three), Captain Cook Stakes (twice), One Thousand Guineas (twice), Matamata Breeders Stakes (twice).

Sanders brought up 1000 training successes in January, 3, 2006 with Belthazar’s win at Tauranga and by the end of the 2010/11 season his total number of wins had surpassed 1100.

Sanders has also experienced the role of an administrator in New Zealand racing. He spent four years on the Board Of New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing and is also a long-time committee member of the Waipa Racing Club.

Sanders is very thankful to the support he has received from his wife, Gael, and his family.

“Gael has been the backbone of the whole operation and having the whole family involved makes it very special for me,” says Graeme.