Humble Nolan remains grounded despite playing the fame game

Image: Basil Nolan, Credit Supplied

Having been recognised for six decades of service to the breeding sector with his induction to the Queensland Racing Hall of Fame, Basil Nolan is better placed than most to assess the current health of the industry and while he may no longer be the man to help shape its future, the Raheen Stud owner is adamant the resilience and advocacy of his peers will ensure its continued prosperity.   

Through his long-term tenure on the committees of both the Thoroughbred Breeders Queensland Association (TBQA) and Thoroughbred Breeders Australia (TBA), Nolan has been a passionate and occasionally loud voice for the industry at state and national level; but after recently turning 81, he readily acknowledges that it is high time he passed on the proverbial baton and spent more time with his wife Diane and their 20 grandchildren.

Almost the entire tribe made it to Queensland racing’s night of nights last Sunday to see Nolan join veteran jockey Jim Byrne, former trainer Jack Booth and champion racehorse Planet Ruler (Kaoru Star) as the Sunshine State’s latest Hall of Fame entrants.

No doubt Nolan’s innate humility led to a bout of impostor syndrome as he took to the stage to receive the award but, given the immense popularity and respect he has garnered since joining his parents on the family farm in the early 1960s, there would be very few, if indeed any dissenting voices in the room.       

“I certainly don’t expect those sorts of accolades, so it was very humbling,” Nolan told ANZ News.

“A lot of people have helped me along the journey, and I probably missed a few of them in my speech but hopefully they’ll forgive me. We had a big group of friends and family there to celebrate with us, I think there were 26 or 27 in total so we struggled to fit into the photos. But it was a lovely day, and it obviously meant a lot to me.”

Even before he was informed of his impending elevation at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale in January, Nolan had already made his mind up that this would be his last year at the helm of TBA, with Widden Stud proprietor Antony Thompson taking the reins as the organisation’s president in May.

Having been part of the TBQA furniture since 1969, Nolan will also relinquish his presidential role with his home state’s peak body at the next annual general meeting.      

Despite his modesty, Nolan is justifiably proud of his many achievements on both boards but if he could pinpoint one area in which the breeding industry has made the most significant strides, it would be in the advocacy sphere.  

“Breeders now have a much stronger voice than they did before, which is the way it should be,” he told ANZ News.

“You only have to look into the recent parliament inquiry into wagering, you had all the PRAs there and TBA was also represented [by CEO Andrew Hore-Lacy]. That’s so important, and as an industry we’ve definitely improved in that area because until fairly recently, maybe our voices hadn’t been heard enough.

“Early in my chairmanship of TBQA, I had an experience where I went to meet a politician from the state government and he asked how many members we had in the organisation. I think at that point we had about 130 members, so he gave me a bit of a brush-off because he didn’t think I was worth his time. We then decided to make it free for people to join, and now we have more than 1,200 members. So when you speak to politicians these days, they tend to sit up and take a bit more notice of you.”

Despite the progress made in many areas, Nolan is not blind to the fact that he and his fellow breeders still face significant hurdles, sometimes just in a bid just to make ends meet and put food on the table.

While the recent exodus from the industry is mercifully more akin to a trickle than a flood, Nolan believes it wouldn’t take too big an increase in the everyday financial pressures for many breeders to turn to other professions for their primary source of income.     

“A lot of the problems we face in the industry are associated with the cost of running a farm these days, the price of everything is rising which is why a lot of people are leaving the industry,” said Nolan.

“Vet costs, feed costs and wages are all incredibly expensive, so unless you have a good sales season it’s hard to stay afloat. The foal crop decline is also pretty alarming, that reduction is also linked to cost but it’s happening all over the world, so it’s certainly not unique to Australia.  

“We also have to be honest and say that the long hours are a big deterrent for a lot of people, you have to get out of bed early and it can be a 24/7 job, especially at this time of year with foals being born and mares being covered. You have to be realistic with people so it can be a tough sell. A lot of young people these days don’t want to start at the bottom and work their way up.

“They want your job, but they don’t have the experience. Like any industry, there are a lot of menial tasks that need to be done on a day-to-day business to keep a business going, but some young people think that’s beneath them.”

If his last point makes Nolan sound like a grumpy old man howling at the wind, that is certainly not his intention and in any case, his occasional complaints are more than counterbalanced by a healthy dose of optimism.    

With 11 foals on the ground at Raheen – including some sired by the farm’s late stallion Top Ranked (Dark Angel), who served 18 broodmares before his untimely demise last year – the circle of life goes on in Queensland’s fertile Gladfield Valley.

As he reflects on his extended tenure on the family farm, which he insists won’t be sold at any price, Nolan has no doubts that the good times have far outweighed the bad.

“It’s a wonderful industry, and I wouldn’t have chosen any other way to make a living,” said Nolan, who cites Hong Kong Group 1 winner Seasons Bloom (Captain Sonador) as the best horse he bred.

“It’s a bit of a cliché but I’ve loved every minute of it – or almost every minute of it anyway. Like anything there’s been plenty of ups and downs, but overall I’ve really enjoyed my time. There are so many great people in the racing and breeding industries, I’ve made lifelong friends and few enemies,” Nolan said.

“Racing is a wonderful sport, but it’s also a great leveller because you can be a prince one minute and a pauper the next. I think the real beauty of racing lies in its glorious uncertainty, you just never know where your next good horse is going to come from. You only have to look at Sheza Alibi for proof of that.

“Back when the Inghams were flying, I remember once saying to Trevor Lobb that they’d end up with every good horse in the country. He told me that couldn’t possibly happen, because a good horse can come from anywhere. It’s very true and I’ve never forgotten it, and it’s probably what’s kept me going all these years – the hope that your next good horse is just round the corner.”