By Edward Sadler &ndash; Racing.com Tom Sadler and Solar Coaster share a greater bond that goes beyond the typical horse and jockey relationship. Formerly trained by Henry Dwyer, Sadler first came across Solar Coaster as he was making the transition from being a flat jockey to a jumps jockey. &ldquo;I think I&rsquo;d done a little bit of schooling on him before I decided to have a crack over the jumps,&rdquo; Sadler recalled. &ldquo;He was just a real character and very, very good for a novice rider, so I always liked him.&rdquo; Sadler rode Solar Coaster ten times throughout his career and labelled his win on the grey gelding in a steeplechase at Pakenham as his favourite victory from his riding days, ahead of his G3 Easter Cup success in 2017 and his other metropolitan winners of significance. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s just a bit more of a connection with the jumpers because there&rsquo;s so many less races, you&rsquo;re riding the same horses a lot more often, so you have more time with the same horse,&rdquo; Sadler explained. &ldquo;He was a real character; he&rsquo;d almost talk to you when you were on him. It&rsquo;s a bit more like the association you have with your dog or cat more than just a certain horse in the stable that you have something to do with once every Tuesday.&rdquo; Solar Coaster retired from racing in 2021 and has become a key part of the next transition in Sadler&rsquo;s career in making the step from jockey to trainer. The now eleven-year-old resides at Henry Dwyer&rsquo;s training property at St Leonard&rsquo;s on the Bellarine Peninsula where Sadler trains from and is a stable favourite, particularly for his wife, Sarah. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s better than it is for most people,&rdquo; Sadler said of life these days for Solar Coaster. &ldquo;He lives out in the yard with another horse at the top with an ocean view. Sarah does a bit of jumping with him here and there. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s become a great pony, all the horses love him, he loves them, and he takes his job (as lead pony) very seriously. When horses haven&rsquo;t been to the beach before, he takes them into the water, so we lead the horses off him instead of going in with a rider and instead of being a bit dubious or a bit apprehensive about going in, they just trust him and follow him in. &ldquo;He&rsquo;d go to the beach pretty much every day, lives out in his yard, he&rsquo;s got a pretty great retirement to be honest.&rdquo;

Thomas Sadler Racing

Solar Coasting at St Leonards

Thomas Sadler

Learn more about Tom Sadler&rsquo;s racing journey as he chats with Terry Bailey on Racing.com&rsquo;s popular program, Tuesday&rsquo;s with Terry. <a href="https://www.prism.horse/portal/Learn%20more about Tom Sadler&rsquo;s racing journey as he chats with Terry Bailey on Racing.com&rsquo;s popular program, Tuesday&rsquo;s with Terry. http:/www.racing.com/videos?videoId=6365191877112" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://www.racing.com/videos?videoId=6365191877112</a>

Watch Tom Sadler on Tuesdays with Terry

By Michael Manley &ndash; Racing.com When Tom Sadler took up the option of training from St Leonards in late 2022, in reality it was akin to being given the keys to a car but only being able to start the engine. The fledgling horseman knew there would be a lot of trial and error involved. In his own words, the first period bordered on debacle as he discovered the vagaries of training for the first time from a rural seaside property. But now Sadler has his team humming and the results are showing on the racetrack as he understands what he is working with. He points to the 2024 calendar year as proof of his progress as he has had 28 starters for seven winners at a strike rate of 25 per cent, including two city wins with Commando Drift. "We haven't had a lot of runners, but it's been satisfying as we've been around the mark and horses are running well," Sadler said. "We really were starting from scratch with this property as I'd never trained off-course and I'd never seen any one train here, so for my first 60 to 70 runners I was getting the feel of the place and it didn't work out. Now I've got a lot more understanding of how to train from the property." Sadler said his horses are racing consistently and are being placed in their right grade. "They're staying sound because you know they're spending all their time down at the beach, at yards and on a natural sand track," he said. "I think we are showing what we can do but we need more numbers to be able to sort of advertise that on a larger scale. "There's no bells and whistles here but I think those sorts of things are lost on horses. They are happy in as natural an environment as possible when they are not working. Horses seem to thrive here." Sadler is confident he's on the way to making his mark as a trainer. "Naively, I think that if you're good enough and you have the right attitude, it will happen. The way we're going, I think we're on the right track and the boost in results will come," Sadler said. He cited the example of Ciaron Maher, who began his career with lower-class horses trained from a country stable and he wants to follow in his footsteps. "Ciaron was able to build his brand and name with horses that hadn't really achieved much or weren't regally bred. If I was given an expensive three-year-old to train you'd probably be more looked at upon someone that had been given a good opportunity rather than necessarily a good trainer," he said. The former jumps jockey is grateful he has the insights of his father, Melbourne Cup-winning trainer John, to call on every day. "If he had a much bigger team in work he wouldn't have the time to be as interested in anyone else's horses, whereas now he's at the right size where he can be vested in what I'm doing and we speak every day whether it's about the horses or whatever," Sadler said. John Sadler has sent Tom a galloper called Altai Ranger, who has had one start for him for a second placing at Geelong in a Benchmark 58. "He's been in the city environment for six years and has reasonable ability. We won't do anything special with him other than to use our property to our advantage," he said. But the star of Sadler's team is Commando Drift, who will have her next start at Rosehill next Saturday in a Benchmark 78. Commando Drift is owned by successful breeder and owner Trevor Delroy. "Trevor has been great to me. He likes to back in younger people," Sadler said.

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