Andrew Forsman joined an exclusive club at Matamata last Friday when Berry Brown recorded his 1,000th New Zealand training success when victorious in the GCM Feeds 1600.
The Cambridge horseman was proud to reach the milestone and said it was fitting it was achieved with a horse carrying the familiar green silks of long-time stable supporters Jomara Bloodstock.
“It is a nice milestone to reach,” he said. “It’s a number, but a very special one to get to and I am happy to have got there.
“That (bringing up the milestone with a Jomara horse) was very rewarding. They have obviously been very solid supporters of mine right the way through, so it was very fitting.”
Many of those 1,000 wins were recorded when training in partnership with his mentor Murray Baker, and Forsman said he owes much of his success to the legendary horseman.
“I wouldn’t be anywhere near 1,000 without him,” he said. “A lot of it is his hard work and what he had built toward. Of all the people to end up training in partnership with, I was very thankful it was him.”
Initially intent on a career in broadcasting, Forsman didn’t begin working with horses until he started assisting in Baker’s barn 20 years ago to supplement his income as a camera operator for Trackside. His love for the horse began to grow and following seven years with the stable he was rewarded when taken into a training partnership by Baker.
“I graduated film and television school and my first job was a camera operator for Trackside,” Forsman said. “I needed more money and extra hours, so I approached Murray to do some work for him in the mornings, and it grew from there.
“I did both jobs for a fair while, it worked out quite well because they complemented each other. I could get a fair bit of work done in the morning with the horses and then go off during the day to work in the television side.
“Having experience in both facets of the industry did help me and that was a good grounding to have.
“My passion for the game took over and when Bjorn (Baker) came back from Europe he was training in partnership with Murray and I was foreman, working under them at the time.
“Bjorn didn’t hang around too long in New Zealand, he took the opportunity to take the punt and have a go in Sydney. When he left, he pushed my case to Murray to put me into partnership and the rest is history.”
The pair enjoyed a lucrative 10 years before Baker retired in 2022, with the partnership having won four New Zealand Trainers’ Premierships, 24 Group One victories, with Dundeel and Mongolian Khan being two of their highest profile representatives.
Forsman has enjoyed training in a solo capacity over the last three years, where he has continued to expand his business, including setting up a permanent base at Flemington racecourse in Melbourne.
“The first spring when I was training in my own right we had a very good season,” Forsman said. “Mr Maestro strung together a few black-type races in a row and ran a game fourth in the (VRC) Derby (Gr.1, 2500m).
“That particular spring we had some good results, and I think that was really good for my profile heading forward and it gives you the confidence that you can compete against the best trainers in Melbourne.
“Chloe (Cumming) is the full-time assistant trainer there (Flemington) and she is doing a brilliant job. From a financial point of view, we really need to build the stable to a bigger number to make it worthwhile, which is something we are striving toward at the moment.”
Looking back on his 1,000 wins in New Zealand, Forsman said there are several highlights, but one race stands out above the rest.
“Of the New Zealand winners, Aegon winning the Karaka Million three-year-old mile was one of the standouts,” Forsman said. “It was a pretty cool night.
“He was unbeaten going into it. The horse he was and the way we had to manage him right the way through, he was a very special horse, and it was a great race – him and Amarelinha going head-to-head and it was great to come out on top.”
Forsman purchased Aegon for $150,000 out of Waikato Stud’s 2019 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft and raced him with the Zame Partnership, with the now retired gelding going on to win six races, including the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m), and he competed in Australia, Hong Kong and New Zealand, and earned more than $2 million in prizemoney.
Forsman said searching for his next star helps him get up in the morning, and he is hoping they are among his latest batch of youngsters at his Cambridge barn.
“You are always looking for that next good horse, they are hard to find and you take it for granted when you have got them,” he said.
“We have got a lot of nice young horses in the stable, in New Zealand in particular, and you just never know where they come from.
“That is the exciting part of it, waking up in the morning and working toward finding that next good one.”