Kayla-Jane Coleman All Heart When It Comes To Greyhound Racing
Sydney-based trainer Kayla-Jane Coleman is renowned for her catchy greyhound names, with a majority of them resembling different associations of the heart, including her star chaser Tachycardic and outstanding producer Cardiology. On this past Thursday night at Dapto, Coleman was looking to secure her first winning treble as a trainer, however due to inclement weather, unfortunately the meeting was abandoned after she saluted in race four with Forever Thankful.
Coleman scored a race-to-race double with Heart Lines successful in the event prior from box eight in 30.39, showing great strength to overcome her rivals in the home straight by three quarters of a length.
Despite her youthfulness, Coleman has a wealth of knowledge and experience in the racing industry, thanks to a successful eight year stint working with Steve White while he resided in NSW and her association with Hall of Fame inductee Paua To Burn. Upon watching the replay of arguably one of the greatest Group One Golden Easter Egg wins of all-time in 2005, you can see her jumping excitedly at the catching pen as they turned into the back straight, with tears aplenty of that memorable victory over the great Eiffella. She was born into the industry with her grandparents training their own chasers, while her nan and mum Debbie, who's a star trainer in her own right with a constant array of winners in Victoria, worked at the Nowra Club.
Once she was old enough to get her catcher's licence, Coleman became a regular at the Nowra race meetings and her love of the sport and her yearn to become more involved grew from that moment on.
She did pay tribute to Glenn and Karen Midson who she says were a “massive input and their place was my second home.” Coleman slept most nights at their place, just to wake up and help them with their dogs and it was their influence that helped steer her into the successful stint she had with White.
While she said it's hard to select just one favourite, the first greyhound she trained solo being Amnesia holds a special place in her heart.
“She had a massive motor down the back straights and unfortunately injury made us not see the best of her.”
The daughter of Bombastic Shiraz and Forgetful Lucy, who Coleman helped co-train, was a winner of seven races and placed in fifty-four percent of her thirty-seven race starts.
She did add she “couldn't go past Cardiology and Where Art Thou and I literally get goosebumps and emotional everytime I watch their replays.”
Cardiology was known for her incredible finishing burst and was a star chaser, winning twenty career races, including a majority over the testing staying distances.
Coleman said the best thing about being a trainer is “the love she has for these magnificent creatures to do their thing, having fun and running fast.”
“There is no better feeling than seeing them come back to me from the catching pen and you can actually see how happy they are with themselves.”
She wears many hats in the racing industry and doesn't just exude her skills as a trainer, but also is a successful breeder and educator.
“As a breeder and trainer, seeing years of hard work come to fruition is the best feeling. When you're starting with them from the ground up and seeing my babies all grown up and doing their thing is the best.”
While a typical day for Coleman includes dogs, dogs and more dogs, along with mowing at their large properly, known as ‘The Oaks', she also juggles motherhood duties with her four-year old son and no doubt has the opportunity to daydream about winning a G1 Golden Easter Egg or Million Dollar Chase herself, which she described as two races she'd love to win.
Her advice for any prospective trainer is to “help or work for a successful trainer, or someone who has years of experience, if you can. It's a great stepping stone to be a sponge and learn as much as you can.”
“Ask plenty of questions and if they have been around for a while they're probably made mistakes and you can learn from them what works and what doesn't, so you can do it better next time.”
She reiterated the importance of picking the brains of other trainers and voicing your concerns with them as they may have experience in what you're looking to fix or improve on or you may have just forgotten.
Her most valuable piece of advice, which should resonate with anyone whether new or experienced in the industry, is to”be patient and be humble.”