By Duane Ranger (courtesy of Redcliffe Paceway)
Fairney View horseman, Ian Gurney, has taken blow-after-blow in life, yet the 61-year-old has still managed to overcome his major financial and health obstacles to become a champion multiple Group and listed-winning harness racing trainer.
Six years ago, Gurney’s family and earth-moving business were torn to shreds with the biggest private financial fraud in Queensland’s history. More than $38 million was swindled in gambling debts in 12 years by a man he termed the ‘sixth Gurney brother’.
Read more about Paul Montgomery, the convicted fraudster, who was later nick-named ‘The Golden Goose’, in the link at the bottom of this story.
“I not only lost everything that we worked hard to build up over a life-time, but I no longer have contact with the majority of my immediate family. What that thief did was horrendous. He first started with us 22 years ago, and then blew millions on the punt via both racing and sports betting. It took a brutal toll on my health as well, but I carried on. Despite my lack of trust in people, I had no other option, but to move on and hope karma would deal its hand.
“I’ve never been so low, but through it all I never contemplated suicide, because I believed in what goes around-comes-around, and at the end of the day I knew I would be right if I could still carry on with my beloved horses, and my own earth-moving work. But I was out of work for 11 months and it took years for me to rebound.
“I built my 70-acre farm up from nothing when we moved here (Fairney View – 3.7km from Fernvale) from Park Ridge three years ago, and am proud to say my property now boasts all the modern amenities you could ask for in a training facility and home – including a very good 900-metre track, 16 day-yards, bounce-back fencing, a swimming pool, treadmill area, and 20-bay barn and many large paddocks. All the infrastructure to make it a nice home for our horses,” Gurney said.
“It was bloody sad, and devastating, because my late father (Colin) built the family earth-moving business from scratch before I was born. I love animals more than I love people these days. You can trust animals. They don’t prey on the good-hearted. That’s why I’m still training and working with standardbreds as both a trainer and ‘speller’ of young and 3&4-year-olds for others. Horses keep me sane. My wife, Angela has been my rock and much-needed mentor and confidante. Without her life would have been very tough,” he added.
If that wasn’t atrocious enough, Gurney could have died several times before being ripped off by his now-jailed criminal financial advisor/accountant – who was in fact related to the Gurney family through marriage.
“I suffered a heart-attack 18 months ago, which required surgery, and I was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. Surgery is booked and the diagnosis looks very good. I’ve broken my back. I’ve been kicked in the head by a horse, and when I was 25, I suffered from Guillain-Barré Syndrome, which saw me hospitalised for six months, and then off work for 15 months. It’s a rare neurological disorder characterized by weakness and/or tingling in the legs and sometimes in the arms and upper body.
“It is potentially life-threatening because the body’s immune system attacks part of the nervous system. It can also cause weakness, numbness or paralysis – so I was very lucky to escape that one as well.”
However, the close step-father-of-two to Olivia and Emily and step-grandfather to Charlotte, did receive some consolation in race four at Redcliffe Paceway on Thursday (October 10), when a pacer with severe quarter-cracks in both of his front feet won at microscopic $1.33-win odds.
Six-year-old Somebeachsomewhere gelding, Alta Sensation, drew three, and then led all the way in the Stevie redback Pest Control Up-to-7- NR Pace.
It was Alta Sensation’s ninth win in 58 starts. He has also placed 10 times and banked $79,168 in stakes since making his winning Australian debut at Albion Park on September 7, 2021. The bay had previously won four of his 21 races ($36,965) in both islands of New Zealand before crossing the Tasman on July 16, 2021.
It was also Alta Sensation’s third win in 17 starts this season. He paced the 1,780m mobile in 2:12.2, which equated to a 1:59.5 mile-rate – 7.3 seconds slower than his personal best of 1:52.2 when triumphant at “The Creek’ on August 15 last year.
Driver, Adam Sanderson, got him home by 1.3 metres. He is owned by the brother-sister combo of Chris and Renee Gurney, who are Gurney’s cousins.
“Their Dad was my Uncle, Brian, who was one of my favourite relations, but sadly passed a few years ago. He owned Smooth Showgirl with me. Chris and Renee have several shares with us, and they support our breeding and racing operations. They own and operate U Win Car Yards.”
Gurney said Alta sensation still had some way to go to reach full fitness.
“He was only 85 per cent right on Thursday. Because of his dubious feet we have only been able to start him four races at a time, but I think my farrier, Matty Learoyd, is starting to get on top of his problems. I think he’s got exactly the right shoes on him now (see photo).
“In saying that though, the horse only has half a hoof on each foot. If the punters knew that they might have been reluctant to back him into those tight odds, but in saying that he is a nice horse when he can pace freely,” Gurney said.
He said Alta Sensation had just two starts since resuming from a spell in August. He ran second on his resumption at Albion Park on October 1.
Gurney has trained 295 winners ($3.1m) since the 2005, 2006 season. His best year was in 2019-2020, when he triumphed 42 times and banked $431,732 in stake money.
“Alta Sensation is one of seven I’m working at home, but his issues have meant he’s not my best. I quite like our Sweet Lou 4-year-old, Throwyaarmsaroundme gelding (1:55.3). He’s won five races, including a nice second in the city earlier this month. Lanai (nine wins) and Copperfield (12 wins) go all right as well.
“Throwyaarmsaroundme around me, which is our four-year-old sweet Lou was recommended to us from Nathan Purdon. Nathan is like a son to me, and is part of our family. We have a fantastic relationship and talk every week. We are actually going to New Zealand in a few weeks for the New Zealand Cup for the first time as well,” Gurney said.
But no matter how promising Gurney’s current crop might be, he said they are certainly nowhere near the best horse he has trained – a $20,000 claimer named Avonnova (1:51.3), who won 55 races and $967,164, including the Group One 2015 Sunshine Sprint, the Group Two 2014 Newcastle Mile, the Group Two 2014 Gold Coast Cup, as well as three Group Three races.
“I even had to bring ‘Nova’ out of retirement because of what that thief did to us. I had to make a buck. The conman also had shares in other good horses like my other Group One winner, Our Hi Jinx (10 wins and $405,801), Mach Alert (26 wins and $654,801), and Smooth Showgirl (14 wins and $373,786). That put a real sour on things to think he also got stake-money out of me as well,” said Gurney.
“Nova’ was my soul-mate and is retired on our property with Mach Alert. They do whatever they want and are very happy together,” he added.
Avonnova also finished second behind I’m Themightyquinn in the 2014 Blacks A Fake.
“His Group wins were special, but my greatest memory in the sport so far was when Avonnova ran fourth in the $1.3 million Inter Dominion Final at Gloucester Park (2015). I personally thought that was Shane Graham’s best ever drive for me.
“Avonnova finished runner up twice in the heats that campaign – something we will never forget. ’Nova’ was also Queensland Horse-of-the-Year three years running and finished up in the Hall of Fame,” Gurney said.
“He was a ‘a horse of a lifetime’,” he added.
Born in Dalby and educated at Woodridge State High School, Gurney is the middle child in a family of five brothers. He was the only sibling to venture into standardbred training.
His father Colin trained gallopers, and had a top thoroughbred named Deep Trench.
“Dad actually trained at the same time as the thief’s father – John Montgomery, and that’s how the association with his family started. When I left school I would be up at 4am to work the horses and then just after six I’d go and work for our family’s earth-moving business in Brisbane.
“After five years my brothers and I took over the family business and turned it into a $86 million -a-year company, employing 200 staff. We were all people of the land and needed someone we could trust to man the office and the accounts. Twenty-years ago we made the worst decision of our life.
“Employing that shark also split our family tearing it to shreds,” Gurney said.
But Gurney is the first to admit he would never have entered the harness racing game had it not been for his former childhood neighbour, Peter Donahue.
Donahue gave Gurney his start as a 14-year-old boy teaching him the intricacies of standardbreds. Eventually he learnt to drive track-work, and then ultimately, train pacers and trotters.
He said this opened a door for him to start training with his first wife Anna Woodmansey, while also working in the family business.
“I started to get really serious with the horses about 17 years ago. He said his mates in the harness industry really helped at the time. These included top horsemen,
Luke McCarthy, Jack Butler, and Wayne and Shane Graham.
It was the Graham father-son duo and Mach Alert that provided Gurney with his first Group One win as an owner. Shane then became Gurney’s leading driver on many of his champions. They often travelled throughout Australia together.
“This story would be very different if it wasn’t for Shane. He is one horseman I admire a lot. Shane and Jack Butler would be the people I speak to the most outside of my stable, Jack, Shane and Wayne are very astute and very sharp horsemen,” Gurney said.
Gurney said despite his rollercoaster life, he said he still considered himself fortunate to be where he was now.
“Ange has been my rock and helped me turn my life around. I now look forward and to be honest I don’t like to dwell on the past. At the end of the day karma always does its thing and the conman who dwindled us for millions is still inside.
“Life got pretty low there at one stage, but I am happy now and just keep to myself. Like I said earlier I still have a lot of trouble trusting humanity,” Gurney said.
Paul Montgomery, the fraudster, aka ‘The Golden Goose’, who ruined Ian Gurney’s life – https://apple.news/AT-f_obR4RRWI7c04zfMN3g
The health demise of a criminal. Look what guilt can do to you – even before a 10-year prison sentence.
Ian Gurney’s karma below:
