Billy Healey Racing

As Friday night races at the Sunshine Coast Turf Club comes to an end we are grateful to take out the premiership for the first time.&nbsp; The team attained 8 Winners for the Night racing season. &nbsp;We are extremely proud of our horses and the whole team for their efforts to make it happen.&nbsp; Thank you to our owners for their ongoing support. Bring on more winners! &nbsp;

Friday Night Premiership Winners

Billy Healey

King Yoshi has done it again on his home track at the Sunshine Coast.&nbsp; He began well and sat outside the leader and then put a gap in it to win by an impressive 2.37 Lengths.&nbsp; That's 8 wins now for him all at the Sunshine Coast and 7 of them with his favourite jockey Angela Jones.&nbsp; He's now racked up over $220 000 in prize money and has been in the top 4 finishes 15 times from 18 starts.&nbsp; He's ever consistent and an absolute stable favourite! Congratulations to his connections and the team that look after this special boy.&nbsp;

The King of the Coast

The stable will saddle 2 runners at the Magic Millions Raceday tomorrow.&nbsp; Cascading will line up in the MM 2YO Debut. Drawn barrier 5 and Angela Jones on board.&nbsp; She&rsquo;s a filly we purchased in Adelaide last March for $55 000 by Headwater out of a Swiss Ace mare. She&rsquo;s a beautiful progressive type with natural ability who will improve immensely in her next preparation.&nbsp; If the rain comes as predicated we think she&rsquo;ll handle a wet track with ease.&nbsp; Bright Blonde also resumes in the MM Fillies and Mares. She is by Written By and was a March QTIS purchase. Drawn barrier 9 with Cejay Graham on board who has won previously on her. Tougher grade for her tomorrow but expect a strong run late if conditions suit.&nbsp; We wish all our connections the very best of luck and have fun!

Magic Millions Runners

King Yoshi has made it a Hat-rick winning his last 3 starts all at the Sunshine Coast under Angela Jones.&nbsp; The pair have now partnered up for 5 of his 6 wins including the latest Provincial Sprinters Final. Many doubted the horses ability to run out the 1200m but Billy felt at this point in his preparation it would be no problem.&nbsp; "The horse just loves the way Ang rides him. She dares him and uses his speed to his advantage. He's a very fast horse and can overcome bad barriers with his electric gate speed. &nbsp;He loves to be ridden that way and as they say "Let Fast horses Be Fast" said Billy Healey.&nbsp; Yoshi was a $75 000 yearling purchase and is a half brother to stable star Benzou who also ran 3rd with a marvellous run down the outside on Saturday.&nbsp; "Benzou has a really promising future ahead of him. We definitely haven't seen the best of him yet. I think he could be the best horse i've ever had." said Billy.&nbsp;

YOSHI wins the Provincial Sprinters Final

For Sunshine Coast-based trainer Billy Healey, the victory of rising stable star Cosmic Fire (Cosmic Force) in the Listed Queensland Day Stakes on Saturday came as a &ldquo;relief&rdquo; more than anything else. The proof is in the pudding that the young trainer&rsquo;s stable has been on an upward trajectory over the last 12 months, and the best is yet to come.
&ldquo;We've felt like over the last 12 months that we've had a couple of horses that are probably up to stakes level, including, obviously, this fella, and we just felt like things needed to go our way,&rdquo; Healey said. &ldquo;And it probably didn't feel that way on Wednesday when we drew (barrier) 15. However, he obviously overcame that and got a great ride, and the rest is history. So it's a good feeling, that's for sure.&rdquo;
The win was Healey&rsquo;s first at stakes level across 10 years with a training licence, having first partnered with his father Dale Healey when he turned 18, before going out on his own in 2018 after his father&rsquo;s passing.
There have been a couple of close calls - including training the great Alligator Blood (All Too Hard) to fourth in the Listed Goldmarket Quality, during the spring of 2021 before the galloper transferred to Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott - but Healey believed from the beginning that Cosmic Fire had the ability to go all the way.
<h3 class="SlateElement">A horse on fire</h3>
Thoroughbreds have always been a part of Healey&rsquo;s life. A champion young rider in the showjumping ring, he learned his craft under the tutelage of trainers like Jason McLachlan and Natalie McCall.
&ldquo;I grew up around thoroughbreds, obviously. I always wanted to be in the industry in some way - I was going to be too big to be a jockey, that was my first thought, and that obviously got crushed pretty quickly!&rdquo;
The 2023 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale was his first time buying at the January sale as a solo trainer. An $80,000 purchase from Sullival Bloodstock, Healey signed for the now gelded son of Cosmic Force in partnership with Furlong Bloodstock and On Fire Racing.
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&ldquo;I remember him pretty clearly as a yearling,&rdquo; Healey recalled. &ldquo;Probably more than the others. He just had an unbelievable physical, I felt. I thought he was just a very good looking horse.
&ldquo;I remember thinking, &lsquo;oh, I won't be able to buy this horse. He'll make too much money&rsquo;. So I was pleasantly surprised when he got in the ring and we got him for what we did, because I would have gone a little bit further because I really did like him. There was plenty there that we couldn&rsquo;t afford, so it was great to secure him.&rdquo;
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<blockquote>"I was pleasantly surprised when he (Cosmic Fire) got in the ring and we got him for what we did, because I would have gone a little bit further." - Billy Healey</blockquote>
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Cosmic Fire was one of three yearlings Healey bought in 2023 for a total spend of $240,000; along with Benzou (Zousain), a full brother to Listed Lonhro Plate winner Bellazaine, and Rosie Cheeks (Dubious), the trio have earned nearly $500,000 in prize money to date. But Cosmic Fire has always been the standout performer, earning his shot at the big time this preparation.
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&ldquo;He&rsquo;s been ultra consistent this preparation and over the last few preparations of his career,&rdquo; Healey said. &ldquo;He demolished them in his maiden (last May), and then was thrown pretty well in the deep end in the Sires&rsquo; Produce against a horse like Broadsiding. He was probably nowhere near ready for that.&rdquo;
Cosmic Fire had just missed out on a run the week before in the $1 million Magic Millions National 2YO Classic, which Healey believed much more suitable. After leading the whole way, the then 2-year-old found the extra furlong too big of an ask.
&ldquo;He had to go to the 1400 metres a week later instead, and it was probably a bridge too far.
&ldquo;But he came back last prep and had three good runs. Arguably he ran into a very good filly in Tony and Calvin McEvoy&rsquo;s filly (Arabian Summer) on the Gold Coast, where he drew completely off the track and he was four or five wide the whole way and flew home.
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Cosmic Fire winning the Listed Queensland Day Stakes | Image courtesy of Trackside Photography
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&ldquo;That probably cemented to me that he could chase one of these black-type races throughout our winter.&rdquo;
The win on Saturday made Cosmic Fire the fourth individual stakeswinner for Cosmic Force, who has become a favourite of Healey&rsquo;s. He teamed up with Furlong Bloodstock to purchase another son at this year&rsquo;s Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale for $15,000 from Mogumber Park.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a good stallion,&rdquo; Healey said of the Newgate Farm resident. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve also got a couple in the stable that I really like, that haven&rsquo;t gotten to the best of their abilities yet, but they will in time.
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&ldquo;I loved his father as a sire as well. They're just unbelievable horses and beautiful animals. They've got really good attitudes, which makes them really trainable. I think that's a big thing. It's hard to get horses that are trainable and have minds like they do, but his progeny have really impressed me, and I think he's a stallion that will only continue to go from strength to strength.&rdquo;
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<blockquote>&ldquo;They've (Cosmic Forces) got really good attitudes, which makes them really trainable.&rdquo; - Billy Healey</blockquote>
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<h3 class="SlateElement">A shrinking racing world</h3>
Healey&rsquo;s operation, based in the Glasshouse Mountains, currently numbers 40 horses in work, and Healey has a keen eye for the yearling sales ring and for tried horses on Inglis Digital to constantly improve upon the stable&rsquo;s quality.
&ldquo;I try and buy as many yearlings as I can every year, but I&rsquo;m quite picky,&rdquo; Healey said. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have a big budget and we buy every horse on spec, so we don&rsquo;t have anything sold before we buy. It&rsquo;s a little daunting, it&rsquo;s a bit of a tougher cast. You&rsquo;ve got to buy these horses and hope they can run, because you&rsquo;re stuck with them in the end if you can&rsquo;t sell them.&rdquo;
The economic downturn has sent seismic waves through the lower half of the yearling market, particularly over the past sales season, and Healey has not been ignorant of the shifts where he is shopping.
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&ldquo;It&rsquo;s obviously been a lot tougher selling them this year,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I think the people in the market area that I try to shop in have been really affected by the economy. People with a lot of money, they generate their own wealth, don't they? The high price yearlings will always find a home. That's no problem.
&ldquo;But I think there's a little bit of a hole there in that middle market. You can find really good value, but at the same time, for us, I guess it's not about just finding the value, it's about finding the owner for them going forward. And that's been easier said than done this year.
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<blockquote>&ldquo;It's not about just finding the value, it's about finding the owner for them going forward.&rdquo; - Billy Healey</blockquote>
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&ldquo;COVID was a funny thing. We&rsquo;ve never sold so many shares as in COVID. Our business just grew and grew and grew. I think we bought 13 yearlings or something for the year. We sold every one of them. We've been very fortunate that we've had a very good last six months training, but just because yearlings are cheap, it doesn't mean you can sell them right now.&rdquo;
The world of racing has also shrunk significantly with many of the country&rsquo;s major trainers setting up satellite stables in Queensland. Healey has felt the squeeze in the region&rsquo;s racing.
&ldquo;I think it's getting very much more competitive here,&rdquo; Healey said. &ldquo;It's hard to win a race anywhere now. It's not like it was five and six years ago, now Queensland is very strong.
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<blockquote>&ldquo;It's hard to win a race anywhere now. It's not like it was five and six years ago, now Queensland is very strong.&rdquo; - Billy Healey</blockquote>
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&ldquo;It&rsquo;s made it a lot tougher. Those horses would have come to the likes of us as their next port of call before. The owner might have said, &lsquo;oh, it's better suited to Queensland&rsquo;, and put it on a truck, and you might have been in with a chance of landing it if you're going well at the time and they pulled up the premiership, or were watching the races on a Sunday or a Saturday.
&ldquo;Now with the satellite stables, you're not probably as much of a chance of that. Ballina and Grafton used to be out of their reach. You pull up at Lismore races now and the two trucks either side of you are Kris Lees and Annabel Archibald. The highways are better too, so they can just put them on a truck and send them.&rdquo;
The pinch is felt on the owners&rsquo; end as well, and Healey suggested that Racing Queensland could look to the Racing Victoria model of free nominations in an attempt to entice more owners to join and stay in the industry.
&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re having to nominate three or four times a weekend (to try and secure a start) then it becomes very expensive. It&rsquo;s all added to , I think. If owners have to keep dipping into their pockets, it makes it hard to get the results, they&rsquo;ve got to be worth it.&rdquo;
<h3 class="SlateElement">Strong relationships</h3>
On Fire Racing have certainly seen the worth in continuing to associate with Healey, and have been one of his biggest backers over the last five years.
&ldquo;They normally buy into one or two every year,&rdquo; Healey said. &ldquo;This year, they&rsquo;ve gone into two that we have purchased. We&rsquo;ll buy a horse and either they will approach us, if they like it, or we will approach them with one we think they might be interested in. They don't always go out and buy their own, and then try to send them to trainers. They're happy to team up with a trainer where they can.
&ldquo;They're a great bunch of blokes that are just really easy to train for. They're terrific. I haven't trained for a better crew than them.&rdquo;
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Healey&rsquo;s relationship with On Fire Racing came courtesy of Shane Mills Bloodstock&rsquo;s Rochelle Adams, who facilitated the connection when the syndicate purchased Rising Fire (Headwater) for $40,000 from A List Stud at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Horses In Training sale in late 2020. Intent on sending the horse north to race in Darwin, the syndicate needed a trainer to kickstart the gelding&rsquo;s career - and Healey delivered.
&ldquo;We had the pleasure of being able to educate him and we ended up with quite a handy horse,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;He won on debut very well, so I got him ready and took him up to Darwin, and then I ran him in the Darwin Guineas (for second) and the Darwin Derby (for third).
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s where it all started. He was their first horse with me, and it&rsquo;s slowly built from there to another one, then another one, then another one. And then we ended up with Cosmic Fire.&rdquo;
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<blockquote>&ldquo;He (Rising Fire) was their first horse with me, and it&rsquo;s slowly built from there to another one, then another one. And then we ended up with Cosmic Fire.&rdquo; - Billy Healey</blockquote>
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Healey will be patient to see how the gelding pulls up after his run, but he&rsquo;s not calling it quits on this campaign just yet.
&ldquo;We'll be a little bit determined by how far he goes up in the ratings, and then we&rsquo;ll go from there. We&rsquo;ll just see what happens.&rdquo;
For now, he can enjoy yesterday&rsquo;s win, and not just for the feeling of relief it brings.
&ldquo;We live by our motto - we try to place everything where we think they&rsquo;re going to be competitive. It's not always days like yesterday, that's for sure. There's long hours and long days and long nights, and it can be quite tough from time to time. But when you get a day like yesterday, like I said, it's a relief more than anything, but it's rewarding at the same time.&rdquo;
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<blockquote>&ldquo;When you get a day like yesterday, it's a relief more than anything, but it's rewarding at the same time.&rdquo; - Billy Healey</blockquote>
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Healey credits the support of his wife Kelly Slater and the team at home for bringing the best out of his horses.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s very hard to do without them. They&rsquo;re the backbone of the operation. I&rsquo;m obviously the face of it, but without them, it wouldn&rsquo;t be where it is today.&rdquo; Story Credit - The Thoroughbred Report.&nbsp;

A STAKES WIN for Cosmic Fire

Please join us for our Annual Open Day. We would love to show you our new farm and what we have been working on for the past 12 months.&nbsp; Farm Open day is the 30 March. 11:00 AM&nbsp;Kick off with a farm tour, a yearling parade and cuddles with your horses. 12:00 PM We will provide a BBQ lunch and entertainment. &nbsp;Including a couple of jockey running races that you can punt on. Followed by a relaxing arvo mingling and meeting new friends.&nbsp; Bring the kids there will be a jumping castle for their entertainment! If you can't make this date the Sunshine Coast Turf Club is also running an open day at the track with the leading Sunshine Coast trainers.&nbsp; Our barn will be open to walk through and chat with the team.&nbsp; SCTC OPEN DAY 6th April. 10:00 AM &ndash; 11:00 AM | Stable Tours &amp; Ownership Showcase.
<div>10:30 AM &ndash; 11:30 AM | Yearling Parade Watch a parade of yearlings available for sale and connect with experts about ownership opportunities.</div>
<div>Free BBQ &amp; Coffee Vans (10:00 AM &ndash; 11:30 AM) Enjoy a complimentary BBQ breakfast and grab a coffee while soaking in the morning atmosphere.</div>
<div>FREE Entry to Races + Upgrade Options All Stable Open Day attendees receive FREE entry to the day&rsquo;s Race Meeting.</div>
 Please RSVP to me by 17th March - <a href="mailto:kelly@healeyracing.com.au" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">kelly@healeyracing.com.au</a> or 0412 422 310. Everyone is welcome so please bring your friends.&nbsp; Can't wait to see you all there! Cheers

Join Us for our Annual OPEN DAY

Well last week started with a bang! Tuesday saw the team head to Gatton with Benfica Lass who stormed home in the 1400m to break her maiden nicely under Cejay Graham.&nbsp; On Friday we were back at Headquarters at Sunshine Coast with Riviera Blue taking out the last race in fine style for Hobartville Stud.&nbsp; It was a patient ride from apprentice Jace McMurray who steered him home from last to win by 1.8L in the 1600m BM62. This horse just loves a freshen up at our farm and thrives on a month between runs.&nbsp; Sunday saw 1/2 our team head to Murwillumbah where Rustic Tzar went back to back with Andrew Mallyon aboard. Well done to his connections who just adore this little horse by Russian Revolution.&nbsp; The other 1/2 the team stayed at Headquarters and once again won the last race with Central Park.&nbsp; Another patient perfect ride from Cejay Graham saw him overcome barrier 14 and win by almost a length. Congratulations to his connections who have been battling floods in Townsville.&nbsp; A week of 4 winners has now bought our season total to 23 wins, 19 seconds and 10 thirds which is more than last years total season still with 6 months to go.&nbsp;

4 winners in a week!

It was a great day had by all at the Sunshine Coast on Saturday. The Magic Millions meeting was transferred to our home track from Gold Coast following a track poisoning incident. Cosmic Fire took out race 10 the Magic Millions Sunlight Consolation race with his partner in crime Andrew Mallyon giving him a 10/10 steer for On Fire Racing.&nbsp; He was all but beat when Bjorn Bakers horse "Hezdarnhottoo" headed him but he fought back hard and got his nose down where it counted most.&nbsp; We are so proud of this horse and all he has achieved.&nbsp; Purchased by us in conjunction with On Fire Racing in 2023 at Magic Millions sale for just $80 000. &nbsp;The son of Cosmic Force is proving to be a lot of fun for his ownership group.&nbsp; This week will be dedicated to seeing how well he pulls up out of that run and whether he backs up into the Magic Millions 3yo Guineas on Saturday 11th. Track is still to be confirmed.&nbsp; If you're looking to get involved in racing ownership please don't hesitate to contact us.&nbsp;

Cosmic Fire wins the MM Sunlight Consolation

2025 started with a bang on New Years Day at the Sunshine Coast with King Yoshi winning his 3rd career start for SJC Thoroughbreds.&nbsp; Perfectly piloted by Angela Jones he bounced out of the gates to lead and win by almost 4 Lengths very impressively! The future is bright for this son of SUPIDO. He comes from a good NOT A SINGLE DOUBT mare. &nbsp;We have raced 3 out of the mare and have all been talented horses including his full older brother Chikara and his younger 1/2 brother Benzou who broke his maiden in style last year winning the Inglis Bonus race at Hawkesbury.&nbsp; We now look to the Gold Coast on Saturday for the Magic Millions Sunlight Consolation with Cosmic Fire. Good luck to connections!

Starting 2025 with a bang!

Looking back on 2024 has made us proud.&nbsp; Its been a big year moving farms and setting up a new property. 90% finished now and we are beyond happy with how its turned out. Its a peaceful place for horses to thrive, and thrive we have seen them do in the last few months.&nbsp; Since the start of the season we have had 15 winners and 25 placegetters which is already a 50% increase on this time last year.&nbsp; Our latest winner being Trapedo on Boxing Day at Sunshine Coast under Cejay Graham who has partnered her for 7 of her 8 starts. She is a filly with a very bright future who trains out of the farm environment. Her owners have been very patient and its really paid off now. We would love to see her in some classy Saturday races next preparation.&nbsp; We also have a very exciting young galloper in Cosmic Fire who heads to the Syndicate race on 4th January at Gold Coast. If he goes well in that he is a chance to back up in the 3yo MM Guineas.&nbsp; He's a horse we are very proud of. Purchased by us in conjunction with On Fire Racing at MM for $80 000. &nbsp;He has an explosive turn of foot and is such a pleasure to train. Looking forward to seeing how far he can go for his owners.&nbsp; Lastly just like to mention another highlight in Benzou who took out the Inglis Maiden $100 000 Bonus race at Hawkesbury at just his second ever start. He was a horse we also purchased in conjunction with SJC Thoroughbreds from Inglis for $90 000 and we are really excited for his future.&nbsp; We wish you all a safe and Merry holiday and look forward to catching up in 2025 in the winners room.&nbsp;

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Friday Night Premiership Winners

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