Raising the standard
Not often given the same share of the OTT spotlight as Thoroughbreds, it’s time we celebrated the truly outstanding Standardbred, writes AMANDA MAC.
When you’ve found your heart horse, there’s no denying it – and for Amy Kennedy, there’s not a shred of doubt in her mind. Partnered for the past five years by Standardbred off the track Goandcullect (Ajay, to his friends), Amy says he’s that very special, one in a million horse. “He’s definitely my soul horse and I just I can’t give him sufficient credit. He’s amazing.”
And it’s not as though she hasn’t ridden enough horses over the years that she wouldn’t recognise The One when they come along!
Western Australian born and bred, Amy comes from a 50/50 horsey family: her mother loves everything about them, her father wasn’t quite so much of a fan. After first learning to ride when she was around eight, Amy then decided to follow in her car-loving dad’s footsteps and for a few years switched to racing cars as her sport of choice before returning full-time to her first love by her mid-teens.
A member of both the Albany and King River Pony Clubs, she tried out all the disciplines, rode in the odd show or two, but didn’t begin competing in earnest until she had her driver’s licence and could get herself and her horse to and from shows.
Over this period of time, Amy had been working at a racing stable, and to date has also rehomed just over 20 off the track Thoroughbreds. But a change of pace was beginning to appeal. “Although Thoroughbreds are amazing horses, they can be quite hot,” Amy explains, “and I wanted something of my own that I could just enjoy.”
Deciding that a Standardbred might fit the bill quite nicely, she went along to the trots one night and began asking some of the trainers if they knew of a quiet horse who was looking for an off the track home. “I was pointed in the direction of Ian Mulchay, Ajay’s trainer. Ian told me that Ajay was being retired in around two weeks, so I said I’d take him.”
Over his five-year track career, Goandcullect (by Gotta Go Cullect from the Parsons Den USA mare Keroshelle) had 66 starts with four wins, two seconds and three thirds, earning $26,065 by the time he retired in March 2019 as a nine-year-old.
There to watch Ajay’s final race, Amy took him home the next day and began the journey of retraining the previously unbacked horse. “I broke him to saddle and he was super, he made it really easy. He paced but he soon came around to learning how to trot and canter. He was just so willing to learn.”
Given her considerable experience with Thoroughbreds (she retrained her first when she was just 15 and is currently the foreman at Rebecca Bayless Racing), I’m interested to know if Amy noticed any real difference while working with Standardbred Ajay. “He had a better mind,” she tells me, “but he took a while to get the hang of things, only because he had to work really hard to learn to canter as obviously he wasn’t bred for that. But he was more than willing to learn, I think he just wanted to please me.”
Since those early days, Amy and Ajay have enjoyed considerable success: finishing on their dressage score at the 2020 Wooroloo CCN, they placed sixth out of 34 in an Off the Track WA sponsored EvA 80 class, and, just 18 months after Ajay had retired from racing, they won the 80cm open class at the 2020 Dryandra ODE. The following year the pair debuted in the show ring, competing in the Standardbred Pleasure & Performance Horse Association of WA’s (SPPHAWA) Dual Code Spectacular and State Championships, where they earned the 2020-21 Rising Star Award.
Last year, Amy and Ajay were selected as the SPPHAWA’s sponsored combination, proving their value in promoting the breed when in November they took on their biggest challenge to date by entering what is probably the premier event on WA’s equestrian calendar: the prestigious and hotly contested Equestrian In The Park.
Held at Perth’s magnificent Burswood Park, Ajay was the lone Standardbred among a field of quality entrants. But the 23 obstacle course, a mix of 1.05m fixed jumps and 1.25m brush fences, did nothing to deter Amy and Ajay, who finished 12th in the Diamond Class, taking out the Rookie Award in the process. A result that brought a tear to Amy’s eye and one that was not at all shabby for a previously unbacked Standardbred only five years off the track!
Ajay is such a well-mannered gentleman that he has also successfully partnered with a much younger rider, the talented 15-year-old Mackenzie Wallrodt. The pair compete up to 90cm and have placed at every event they’ve entered.
Amy credits much of her own success to Les Bunning, her mentor and supporter of many years: “He’s been a massive, massive help to me,” she says. But she also has a keen eye for detail. “I love watching equestrian events at the Olympics, and all the show jumping on TV. I think you can pick up a lot by watching how other people ride, by noticing their technique and then working out what might be a fit for you. I also do a lot of research, I still ask questions, and I did get a lot of help in our Pony Club too,” she adds.
Of course, the other secret of Amy’s success is Ajay: “He is honestly the best horse I’ve ever owned. He loves people, and you can take him anywhere; how he behaves at home is exactly how he behaves at a show. Nothing fazes him.”
And as for Standardbreds in general, Amy believes they’re a much-underrated breed: “Their work ethic and the way they want to please is just next to none. I think if you give them a chance, you might find a little bit of a diamond in the rough like I did with Ajay.”
