Former race caller Jason Teaz has formed a successful career as a harness racing trainer, but it was in the thoroughbred code where he was able to fulfil a lifelong ambition at Matamata on Sunday.
Teaz, the son of former thoroughbred trainer Basil Teaz, was lining up his first thoroughbred in more than three years when Out Of Sight entered the starting gates in the Slattery Contracting 1200m on Sunday. The four-year-old mare made it a memorable occasion, storming home down the middle of the track to score by an improving 3-1/4 lengths in the hands of Kate Hercock.
It was the first thoroughbred training victory for Teaz, and he said it was very sentimental to bring up the win in the colours of his father.
“It (train a thoroughbred winner) has always been something I wanted to do, and to be able to do it is incredible,” Teaz said.
“My father trained for about 40 years and the ambition has always been there. Dad won the Matamata Cup there in 1990, so to do it there at the scene of one of his biggest wins was very sentimental.
“They are Dad’s colours. When I started training harness, I changed them slightly with an extra star and a couple of extra armbands, but those are his original colours that we used (on Sunday).
“I am hearing from people that we haven’t heard from in many years. Seeing the colours out there again brings people back.
“They are the last ones he ever got made, in about 1993, so they are very old colours. I always said that if I could train a winner in them as well, I would put them on the wall and get a new set made. On the way home yesterday, I ordered a new set of colours, so those will be going up on the wall.”
While Teaz grew up in a thoroughbred racing family, he developed a passion for harness racing when pursuing his dream of becoming a race caller, and he is thrilled to return to his roots and become a dual-code trainer.
“I was too tall and heavy to continue riding and I was into commentating,” he said. “I started commentating the harness trials on a Saturday at Cambridge and got the bug from there.
“I left the thoroughbreds behind and Mum and Dad were winding down anyway.
“I have always wanted to be in it (thoroughbred racing). When Dad passed away, he had one broodmare left, so we tried to breed from her, but we couldn’t get her in-foal, so that was one dream dashed.
“The only avenue we could down was buying them and see how we go. We tried a couple of others and had a placing with one and then had a three-year gap because I was just too busy with so many harness horses in work.
“This one came out of the blue through my association with Graeme Rogerson. He had her and I was breaking in so many of his harness horses.
“I had said to him that I wouldn’t mind getting a galloper again one day, and when you half mention something like that to Rogie he has always got a horse for you. He decided to put her on the float and sent her over and said I could have her.
“He did say she would win races on the wet. Even though she had a few starts, he said it wasn’t a true reflection of her ability, and he turned out to be correct.”
Teaz said Out Of Sight has thrived at his property and she has enjoyed working in amongst his harness horses.
“She is just a joy to work with,” he said. “I work her on the lead behind the trotters and she goes to the track a couple of times a week. She does a bit of everything, and it agrees with her.
“I gave her a trial about three weeks ago at Te Awamutu and her work had been great. That gave us the confidence to have a race.
“It was great to see her out there and race up to her work.”
Teaz shares in the ownership of Out Of Sight with his mother, Helen, and partner, Yvette Lawson, and he said all three of them are having a blast racing the mare.
“I gave Mum a share, and it is my partner Yvette’s first thoroughbred as well,” Teaz said. “One of her (Lawson’s) mates race quite a few horses with Te Akau, and Imperatriz was one of those. They had great fun following her around, they went to Moonee Valley and watched her race. For her first thoroughbred to be a winner, she is buzzing too.
“This is mum’s first thoroughbred since they gave up training and Dad died, so it keeps her involved. She rode a winner as an amateur rider, so she has been in it (thoroughbred racing) her whole life. Having her there yesterday was a real buzz.”
Out Of Sight is the only thoroughbred Teaz has in work, and while he would love to increase that number, he said it isn’t viable at this stage.
“We tend to keep it to one because I am working about 15 standardbreds all the time, which is pretty time consuming,” he said.
“I do enjoy it (thoroughbreds), but the thing is getting track riders and that can be a bit of a nightmare. At this stage, as long as I have got enough help, I will stick to a very small number, but I would love to have a few more.
“We bank on the theory that a change in scenery can help some of these thoroughbreds. If they get ridden every day, they can get a bit sour, so they come out to our place and it’s pretty quiet and we can work them off the trotters, and for some of them it does work.”
In the meantime, Teaz is looking forward to hanging up his newly-framed colours in the lounge and reflect on the memory of his father and fulfilling his goal of following in his footsteps.