MATT LAURIE (MORNINGTON)

Matt has been involved with horses from a very young age. After progressing through the grades as a young rider in the sport of Eventing, it became apparent that a career involving the horse was on the cards.

Matt initially spent a lot of time in Broadford at the Australian Equine Behavioural Centre (AEBC) under the tutelage of Andrew & Manuela McLean. They instilled a great foundation in him which led to the breaking in of many horses of all types and breeds. Upon leaving, Matt headed to the Mornington Peninsula where he joined the team at the Freedman Brothers. It was here that the bright lights of horse racing caught his eye, especially after watching young horses progress through to being stars of the turf.

Matt has an outstanding training setup in Moorooduc which is continually being improved and developed. It was from this property that Matt trained his first winner and has subsequently continued on to win over 560 races and amass 23 million dollars in prizemoney.

KIRSTEN MOONEY (SOUTH AUSTRALIA)

Kirsten was born into racing, being the daughter of a prominent Adelaide vet and horse trainer.

From an early age she rode ponies, which evolved into hunting and showjumping. She then started riding track work from the age of 12 for various trainers.

This love of horses ended up in her gaining her trainers licence in her 20s.

Kirsten has always thrived with a hands-on approach to her small team and rides all her horses’ trackwork, adding an extra dimension for a trainer in understanding their horse.

This one-on-one approach with her horses results in an excellent strike rate when obtaining second hand horses and enjoying success with them.

Training from her own property at Oakbank at the foot of the beautiful Adelaide Hills, Kirsten and her husband Michael, a farrier, pride themselves on attention to detail and have a profound love of each of their horses.