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Nestled on the banks of the Goulburn River in Victoria, the 1700 acre Noorilim Park is considered to be one of Australia’s leading agistment and spelling parks.
Owned by Peter and Glen Carrick, the picturesque property is also making a name in the breeding industry with its quality yearling drafts.
In an exclusive interview with Everest Diaries, Glen Carrick discusses his ambition to see Noorilim Park as one of Australia’s leading breeding and agistment farms, their clients, and services as well as his journey into the racing & breeding industry.
Q: In numerous interviews over the years, you have stated your desire to see Noorilim Park grow from a boutique business to one of the major breeders in Victorian. What would it mean to put a horse from your farm on the world stage?
A: To be able to breed a horse that is racing on the world stage would mean so much for our farm. It would give us great exposure and open up many opportunities down the track. It would also give buyers great confidence to buy from us in the future knowing quality horses can be bred and raised at Noorilim Park. It would give the current staff at Noorilim a great thrill to be able to watch one of the foals that they have put so much time and care into succeeding on the racetrack.
We currently have Crystal Bound who we bred, sold and retained a share in heading into the spring representing our farm, so we hope she can do us proud and win at the highest level.
Q: Please tell us more about your clients, your facilities and your services?
A: We have some very loyal clients at Noorilim who have been with us from the beginning, and we have also acquired a lot of new clients since Chris Kent (Operations Manager) took over in June this year. Chris has done a great job since settling in and I can only see this farm going from strength to strength.
Our facilities have grown over the last few years with many upgrades to the farm. We started with 300 acres of barren land to now 1700 acres of which 1200 is for our cropping and cattle, and 500 acres is quality horse land with irrigated paddocks, a top class 20 horse barn with a horse walker and round yard. Nice size foaling down paddocks and larger paddocks for our weanlings and broodmares to thrive in. We are currently designing a new 12 horse barn, horse walker and round yard for the new part of the farm which will be finished in 2022.
We provide services from walking mares into stallions, foaling down and weaning, sales preparation for weanlings, yearlings and broodmares and take on spellers from top trainers in Victoria. We are currently foaling down 80 mares for the season. We are also happy to help clients with their mating’s and stallion bookings.
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Q: The Noorlim Park team is said to be one of the best in the region. Please tell us more about your team.
A: We are very grateful for the team we have at Noorilim, as one of the hardest things to find in this industry is good staff and we feel we have the right people for the right job. We currently have eight full-time staff on the farm with a couple of part-timers. As mentioned earlier we just acquired Chris Kent as our operations manager, who came from 8 years in the same role at Blue Gum Farm who has been at the top in Victoria for many years now.
Brenna Murphy and Kim Redhouse have been with us for a while now and are an integral part of our team. Dave Miller is our property manager who looks after our cropping, cattle and maintains all of our paddocks so they are always in great shape. We also have a full-time gardener, who keeps our property looking second to none.
Q: What makes Noorilim perfect for walking mares to stallions and for breeding the top quality racehorses.
A: Noorilim Park is located in Central Victoria just north of Nagambie, at the heartland of the Victorian thoroughbred industry. We are very close to Darley, Swettenham, Yulong and Widden Victoria. We also provide the option to walk your mare into the Hunter Valley at a very reasonable price.
We believe our larger paddocks and pastures are ideal for raising young stock that should lead to success in the sales ring and at the racetrack.
Q: Which is your favourite racehorse and favourite day on a racecourse? If yes, why?
A: I have many favourites, I would say my top five are Might and Power, Exceed and Excel, Black Caviar, So You Think and Winx are my favourite racehorses. I would have to say Winx was the best of them, as she raced off pace where all the others raced on pace. It is very hard to do what she did without dictating the pace. Also, I did have a soft spot for So You Think, he was great to watch.
My favourite raceday would have to be Derby Day at Flemington, as it usually provides the best race card on the calendar year. Let us hope we can get the crowds back to where they once were.
Q: Initially, you started your career in the plumbing industry alongside your father until the racing bug bit. What has kept you in the game since getting involved?
A: I would not say I was alongside him in the plumbing industry, as I may have stayed a plumber if I was earning as much as he does. I was out in the field doing the hard yards for six years and thought the racing industry looked a lot more exciting than digging a trench in the middle of a Melbourne winter.
I am continually intrigued and passionate about the racing industry. I hope that in the near future we can breed or be involved in the breeding of a Golden Slipper or Everest winner. Our eventual goal is to breed or raise to sell million-dollar yearlings and I would like to see our farm be seen as one of the leading breeders in Australia. None of these may happen immediately, but each year I feel we are getting closer to doing so. It isn’t an easy industry to succeed in but with a touch of luck, good things can happen.
Q: Is there a stallion that you consider to be under the radar? If yes, why so? And which stallion, ever, do you think was the best type?
A: Not many have gone under the radar looking at the service fee prices this year but I would say Shamus Award is doing a great job at stud. I think you will find his service fee will continue to rise.
So You Think would have to be one of the “best types’’ I have seen but Australia attracts the more precocious types in the sale ring, which means some of his progeny don’t make the same sort of money that a sprinting type would.
Q: If you were an Everest slot holder, who would you pick?
A: Crystal Bound without a doubt.
No, I’d probably lean towards Classique Legend to win again depending on how he has come back from Hong Kong. I would also like to see how these 3yo’s have come back especially Stay Inside and Anamoe.