Paech begins long, winding road to training glory

Fri, September 02 2011

Darwin's newest licensed trainer, Louis Paech, thought he’d try something novel to signal his official entry into the training ranks.

A trek 2300km south to Birdsville with two horses for tomorrow’s meeting seemed the perfect start.

Paech, 22, better known as the “unofficial” training partner to two-time Darwin Cup winning trainer Michael Hickmott, was handed his trainer’s license last week.

Then he set out on Tuesday morning for the three-day trip to Birdsville, on the Queensland-South Australian border, for the iconic two-day Bush fixture. He has taken two horses along for the ride – the inform Let Go Johnny, who will contest the $28,000 Birdsville Cup (1600m), and Alcarntspell, who will be up against just five rivals in the Landmark Class 4 Handicap over 1000m.

Stable jockey Carl Spry has accompanied Paech, who was born into a strong racing family – his late father Ray was a successful jockey (he rode an Alice Springs Cup winner in the 1950s) and trainer in the Territory and it Murray Bridge, while his mother Joanna rode in the first ever female jockeys’ race at Morphetville in the 1970s.

Paech has been a popular figure in Darwin racing circles since arriving with Hickmott in 2006.

The pair have formed a formidable partnership and been instrumental in introducing new racehorse owners to the NT racing industry.

Their crowning achievements on the track have been Darwin Cup wins with General Market (2007) and Activation (2009), while they prepared no less than seven winners during the recent Darwin Cup Carnival.

For such young men, their efforts since arriving in the Top End have been nothing short of astonishing.

Paech, who will combine a full-time job as commercial sales manager at Nortruss with his training venture, hopes to have 10-15 horses in work in the near future. And he will continue his close association with Hickmott.

“Michael is focusing on furthering his career in Adelaide, but will still be here (in Darwin) at Carnival time,” Paech said. “I am looking forward to the challenge and hope we can kick off on the right note at Birdsville.”

If hard work and dedication is anything to go by, we will be hearing a lot more of Louis Paech in the years to come.

Story courtesy of NT News