Macedon Racing

Macedon Lodge Aerial 1

Macedon Racing’s Girl With A Pearl will target Group 1 races in Sydney and Brisbane in 2027 following the three-year-old filly’s bold second in Saturday’s G2 Wakeful Stakes. The daughter of Johannes Vermeer relished the step up the Flemington 2000 metres at just her fourth career start, having tackled the Group 2 assignment off the back of a runner-up finish in a Warrnambool maiden over 1700 metres. Ridden by Jett Stanley, Girl With A Pearl stayed on strongly in the straight to finish an eye-catching second, taking significant ground off winner De Armas late.&nbsp; <iframe frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1244019635" width="640" height="360"></iframe> Macedon Racing's head trainer Sara Ryan said Girl With A Pearl would be spelled to allow for her to embark upon a deeper autumn and winter campaign in 2027 for owner Peter Marshall of Marshall Thoroughbreds. “We think Girl With A Pearl can really benefit from a break now,” Ryan said. “We’re confident she’ll come back a much stronger filly, and will be better equipped to stretch out in distance to 2400 metres next preparation. “We’re absolutely thrilled with her performance on Saturday. We’ve been playing ‘catch up’ a bit with her, she had some setbacks in her previous preparation which absolutely adds more merit to her performance.” Ryan said that the G1 Vinery Stakes, the G1 ATC Oaks and the G1 Queensland Oaks will be the primary targets for Girl With A Pearl.&nbsp;

Group 1 autumn targets for Girl With A Pearl

Speed wins races, but for Sara Ryan it is only part of the equation. Two months into her role as Macedon Racing’s head trainer, Ryan is staying true to the approach that brought her success in New South Wales: developing athletes that are as balanced and sound as they are fast.“Training isn’t simply about making a horse gallop faster,” Ryan says. “It’s about creating an athlete that is strong, confident and capable of sustaining its performance throughout a racing preparation and, ultimately, its career.”Ryan’s thinking is derived from a background in showjumping and eventing, disciplines in which balance and the way a horse carries and engages its body are fundamental. She believes a horse’s physical and mental education is as important as its cardiovascular fitness.<img data-mce-id="__mcenew" src="https://www.prism.horse/api/public/image/1f5f703b78cc4d5ba12a54b30a1c98b6.jpg" alt=""> Ryan rides her own horses every day, and considers it one of the most insightful elements of her approach to training.“There is an enormous amount you can learn about a horse by actually sitting on its back,” she says. “You can feel things that aren’t always obvious from the ground, whether that’s how a horse is moving, how it responds to pressure, its balance, its confidence or simply how it’s feeling on a particular day.”That daily contact informs almost every decision she makes, and allows Ryan to construct a mental profile of each horse’s personality, temperament, strengths and weaknesses.“I don’t believe in fighting against a horse’s natural tendencies or trying to force every horse to do things the same way,” she says. “The small details make an enormous difference, and being so involved in their day-to-day work allows me to pick up on those things early.”Ryan is also a strong advocate for variety in training, arguing that horses are intelligent animals that respond best when they are challenged in different ways, and that a mix of schooling, different surfaces, hill work and changes of environment develops them physically, while keeping them mentally fresh and engaged.Ryan’s base at 300-acre Macedon Lodge allows her to apply that approach “without compromise”, she says. Its range of facilities means each horse’s workload can be tailored, rather than fitted to a conventional program. The hill tracks build strength and cardiovascular fitness, the different surfaces allow her to vary the load placed on a horse’s body, and the equine pool, water walker, spas and treadmills provide additional options for conditioning and recovery. <img data-mce-id="__mcenew" src="https://www.prism.horse/api/public/image/260da5545eaf4b72a06e3d4ab0f79dee.jpg" alt=""> The grass arena and schooling facilities are of particular interest to Ryan, allowing her to bring elements of her equestrian training into the horses’ everyday routine.With paddocks and recovery facilities on site, horses can be given a change of environment - and time to recover properly - without leaving a training setting.&nbsp;“I don’t believe that more work always produces a better racehorse,” she says. “Sometimes the key is finding a smarter way to achieve the same result.“Some horses need more strength, others need more speed, some need confidence, and others simply need time,” Ryan says. “Having so many different tools available means I can make those decisions based on the horse standing in front of me, rather than being limited by the facilities around me.”

Built to last: inside Sara Ryan’s training philosophy

Chloe Versteegen built one of Australia’s most decorated junior show jumping careers. Now, she’s traded Grand Prix fences for the stamina-building hills of Macedon Lodge.Originally from Perth, the 22-year-old joins Macedon Racing as a track rider and brings with her an international equestrian pedigree. She was the 2017 Australian Children’s Champion, leading junior rider in Western Australia four years running, and leading junior rider at the 2021 Sydney Royal. She is a three-time WA State Champion and the youngest rider ever to win WA’s Patron Cup Grand Prix. A reserve rider for the Youth Olympic Games, Chloe then spent three to four years campaigning in North America and Europe, winning classes in the US and an FEI class in Spain.<img data-mce-id="__mcenew" src="https://www.prism.horse/api/public/image/15988e3a089843c8a36205ef7641e7fb.png" alt="" width="510" data-align="center" style="text-align: center;"> Horses run in the family. Her mother, Melissa Versteegen, was an apprentice jockey in Tasmania, and it was her mother who first sat Chloe on a pony as a toddler. Racing came later. Five years ago in Perth she began riding trackwork for trainer Trevor Andrews, and her very first ride was an imposing gelding named Pencil. “He was huge,” she says. “More like a warmblood than a racehorse.” She has since ridden work for some of Australian racing’s leading trainers: Simon Miller in Western Australia, Richard Litt in New South Wales, and Peter Moody and Tony and Calvin McEvoy in Victoria. While competing in America, she also rode at Florida’s Gulfstream training facility for trainers Ron Falcone Jr and Carlos David.&nbsp;The move to Macedon came through a familiar face. Chloe had known head trainer Sara Ryan from the showjumping circuit, and when the two crossed paths at Melbourne’s Caulfield Guineas meeting, the conversation quickly turned to a new opportunity.<img data-mce-id="__mcenew" src="https://www.prism.horse/api/public/image/270d7b8381634dcfabec13e592061046.png" alt="" width="698"> Riding work for a trainer who rides every horse herself has made an immediate difference. “She has an understanding of what we’re feeling,” Chloe says. “When we explain something, or how a horse is moving, she just instinctively gets it.” Sara’s own equestrian background means the two share a language. “There’s a lot of trust there, and respect.”After only a week in the saddle, Chloe says the expansive Macedon Lodge facility has already made a lasting impression. “It’s just such a beautiful and peaceful environment. The horses love it, they’re so relaxed.”<img data-mce-id="__mcenew" src="https://www.prism.horse/api/public/image/0f66507533fd4f7b836019ff9b91a2bf.png" alt="" width="709" data-align="center" style="text-align: center;"> She nominates the straight hill track and the sand track that winds its way up into the Macedon bush as standout features that keep the horses mentally fresh and engaged. “You’re not just going around in a circle all the time. It gives the horses something different to look at, and they genuinely enjoy it.”Chloe has swiftly formed warm connections with several horses in the stable, singling out three-year-old filly Girl With A Pearl and an unraced Diatonic colt for their personalities and temperaments. Underpinning it all is the principle that has stayed with her since childhood: “Always put the horse first.”

From Grand Prix to the gallops: Chloe Versteegen joins Macedon Racing

It's 3am in Newmarket, an alarm is going off. It's dark, it's raining, it's Tuesday.At Macedon Racing we also have Tuesdays, but trackwork starts at a far more civilised and sun-drenched 6.30am.We're looking for experienced trackwork riders to join our team, from now through the Aussie summer.Whether you live locally or abroad, we need people who can ride a young horse with confidence and give it an education. You'll need to be competent riding gallops, not just general trackwork.Event riders, we especially want to hear from you. If you're a competent eventer with no racing background, apply anyway. If you can ride a cross-country course, we can teach you the rest.Melbourne is 45 minutes away. Castlemaine and Daylesford are about the same, which means Love Shack pints, Daylesford Hotel lunches, Bar Merenda knock-offs etc etc.THE JOBWorking closely with Macedon Racing's head trainer Sara Ryan, your days will include:• 6.30am starts (yep, really) • Living on site in a stunning bush setting brimming with wildlife • Riding work over 15km of rolling hillside track, including fast work on the gallops • Teaching young horses their ABCs and to "please stop looking at that gorgeous white-faced heron" • Giving honest feedback on how each horse went • Helping out around the stable when the riding's done • Drinking (lots of!) (Melbourne!) coffee • Working with a team that actually enjoys coming to workOUR STORYWe are based out of Macedon Lodge, an elite 300-acre private training facility in Victoria's Macedon Ranges with a proud Melbourne Cup history.Leading our stable is newly appointed head trainer Sara Ryan, one of the most talented young trainers in Australian racing.Sara's attention to detail starts in the saddle. She rides every horse in her care, giving her firsthand knowledge of each horse's temperament, fitness and potential.OVERSEAS APPLICANTSComing from England, Ireland or France? You'll most likely be on a Working Holiday visa (subclass 417), which is open to passport holders aged 18 to 35 from all three countries.• Irish and French riders: time with us counts toward your 88 days of specified work, so a summer here can earn you a second year in Australia. • UK riders: you no longer need the 88 days. Second and third years are available without it, so you can simply come and ride. • Everyone: Working Holiday visas generally cap you at six months with one employer, which fits a summer with us nicely. • Please note we don't offer sponsorship.Please send CVs to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="mailto:careers@macedonracing.com.au">careers@macedonracing.com.au</a>

Trackwork rider positions available at Macedon Racing

Macedon Racing are delighted to announce the appointment of highly talented young horsewoman Sara Ryan, who will commence her role as the operation's head trainer from 1 September, 2026.Located just 45 minutes from Melbourne at Mount Macedon, Victoria, Sara viewed the historic Macedon Lodge facility as the ideal property to expand her capacity to produce top line performers.“The chance to train at Macedon Lodge was something I just couldn’t pass up. It gives me an incredible opportunity to grow the stable and continue developing horses at the highest level,” said Sara.“I’m excited to continue to build my young stable with the support of Macedon Lodge, my existing New South Wales owners and new clients in Victoria.”Sara was identified following an extensive search for a young trainer to drive forward the legacy of Macedon Lodge, a property which has produced no less than six Melbourne Cup winners since its initial development in 2000.Sara will continue to operate her existing New South Wales stable at Wyong alongside her new Victorian training base at Macedon Lodge.At just 31 years of age, Sara has quickly established herself as one of the most talented young trainers in Australia in recent years.Training primarily from the private training facility of former employer Domeland on the New South Wales Central Coast, Sara has demonstrated her extensive skills as an impressive young trainer both in and out of the saddle.Sara shot to prominence as a fledgling trainer by quickly scooping Randwick feature wins in both the $3m Big Dance and the $1m Provincial Championship.Her breakthrough at the topline came with the former Peter Moody prepared galloper Attractable winning the lucrative Big Dance in 2023.Following on from that was Matcha Latte’s win in the 2025 Provincial/Midway Championship. Matcha Latte was previously trained by Mark Newnham, prior to his departure to Hong Kong.Both Attractable and Matcha Latte were also broken in and educated by Sara, adding further merit to her resume.“Sara ticked every box for us when we went looking for a young trainer to take Macedon Lodge into the future,” said Macedon Racing’s Michael Dixon.“We are delighted to have her on board and look forward to her writing another chapter in the rich history of the property.”

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Group 1 autumn targets for Girl With A Pearl