28 May 2024 | Ashleigh Paikos
Byford based Dot Schmidt has been quiet on the training front for the past couple of seasons but on Saturday night she had her first starter in quite some time, with Blackrock breaking through for his maiden win at just his second start.
“I bred Blackrock back in the east coast, during that period that I wasn’t training, and he was with a trainer over there and he didn’t show terribly much as a two-year-old, and then I brought him over here and he showed a little bit more,
“He had one race start at Pinjarra after he trialled nicely,
“The record shows he galloped but there was a little bit more to it, he had a problem with steering before then, which proved to be an abscess in his mouth.” Schmidt said
A serious of ‘mishaps’ saw his training go by the wayside, some hopple chafe, an allergic reaction to tru blue spray and a pulled shoe resulting in a little too much hoof coming away saw the now four-year-old spend more time on rest than he did in work, and with Schmidt then deciding it was time to geld the problematic horse, an infection in the sheath saw him heading back to surgery, but the patient trainer is hoping it’s all smooth sailing going forward.
Schmidt currently has just the two horses in work, Blackrock and an unraced three-year-old filly by the name of Sweet Diva who is still a little while away from racing.
“He seems to be a nice horse, but we will go through the country grade races he’s eligible for and work on improving his race experience and building his confidence and see where that takes us.”
With no plans set in stone, Schmidt is leaning towards heading back to Northam in a fortnights time.
Sharing her time between WA and the east coast, Schmidt is a self-confessed nomad who doesn’t like to stay in one place too long, and after eight years here in the west, she has confirmed she will be looking to head back east in the near future.
“I don’t think it will be long term, I’ve got family back east and I think it’s time to for me to downsize the property that I have here at Byford, it’s larger than I need for the horses that I have now, and I think that will then be the right time to head back to the east coast where I am from.”
Commencing her harness racing in career in Victoria, Schmidt officially gained her trainers licence during the 2000/2001 season and spent some time with Graham and Gavin Lang before work saw her move back to NSW, where she was situated in Bankstown, spending the next 15 years in NSW before making the move to WA, which is where the last eight years have been spent for the 60-year-old.
“I raced here for about the first four (years) and I’ll race through here,
“There’s nothing cast in concrete, but my views are that the time is getting close for another move.”
Schmidt still has the retired Last Sumurai, who is rising 23 this year and a couple of broodmares in her barn who she hopes to breed from in the coming years, including Blackrock’s full-sister Secret Identity and Venetian.
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