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\u201cI\u2019ve had a few horses that I\u2019ve bought and sold on, but the training licence really opens up the doors and possibilities to officially race your horses and then maybe sell them on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the highest licence to have in the industry, so it\u2019s a good ticket to have.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut apart from the dry stuff, it\u2019s a great challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very competitive industry and increasingly hard to get a good result, even when everything does go your way, the competition and the challenge is something I welcome.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very lucky to have had the old man and a few of the people who grew up around racing to give me a good sounding board to ask questions and get their advice.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is so much to learn, and you\u2019ll never know it all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Donaldson-Aitken has so far relished the transition from pre-training and breaking in horses to full-on training.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith breaking in problem horses, you are really focusing on their mind a lot – as well as developing them physically – but it\u2019s all a very mental thing with you and the horse and understanding what it\u2019s thinking,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the training, it\u2019s a lot to do with physically having them 100 per cent right and being able to have the insight of working with horses mentally.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a big upside to be able to piece the mental side together with the physical side.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need to be on the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n
Welcometotheshow has quickly established himself as the pick of the stable\u2019s runners to date.<\/p>\n
Purchased by Donaldson-Aitken for $24,000 in 2023, the now four-year-old (he was a three-year-old when he won for the first time) had his first two starts for a pair of thirds for Kylie and Steven Vella in November last year.<\/p>\n
Back under Donaldson-Aitken\u2019s care, he put the writing on the wall with a second on the Ballarat synthetic in June and another second at Seymour, nine days before his Swan Hill breakthrough, where he was ridden by Ballarat jockey Will Gordon.<\/p>\n
The young trainer conceded he was cautiously optimistic Welcometotheshow would get the job done over the 1300m trip.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe opened up on the Tote at $1.85 favourite, so obviously people thought he was a great chance, and by the time we got him around behind the barriers, he was $1.35,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a situation where I\u2019m thinking I hope he wins, otherwise I am going to be scratching my head and copping some flak from sore-pocketed punters.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you take the ups when you can get them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Likely the most intriguing inclusion on Donaldson-Aitken\u2019s first-class resume was his participation in the 1000km Mongol Derby.<\/p>\n
The longest horse race in the world, the equestrian endurance event is modelled on the postal route established by Genghis Khan in 1224.<\/p>\n
Riders spend between 13 and 14 hours in the saddle over 10 days in what Donaldson-Aitken branded an ultra-gruelling experience of a lifetime.<\/p>\n
\u201cI signed up for it with friends during COVID and it was delayed a few years, but I was working flat out, so I didn\u2019t pay much attention to exactly what it was and what I had gotten myself into,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe warm-up was pretty blas\u00e9 but I ended up coming equal fourth with another guy from Australia that I met there.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not your a*** that gets sore, it\u2019s your knees because for most of it you are trotting your horses, a smaller Mongolian pony, over 12 hours a day.<\/p>\n
\u201cExtremely tough, but a remarkable experience. How you feel at the end of is priceless.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
RECORDS will forever show Welcometotheshow at Swan Hill as being Tyler Donaldson-Aitken\u2019s first ever winner as a trainer. And while it only took the astute Ballarat-based horseman six starters to tick off his maiden win early last week, he\u2019s definitely no newcomer to racing. In an industry where pedigree counts for plenty, Donaldson-Aitken\u2019s is blue […]<\/p>\n