It took Michael Craig just six starts to score his first win as a trainer but getting to this point has been a long time in the making.
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Craig's horse racing journey started some 20 years ago when brother Joseph started his jockey apprenticeship with Peter Cleal.
That led Craig to buy a racehorse with friends and family which in turn inspired father Arthur, then a greyhound trainer, to get his horse trainer's licence.
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Craig was his dad's strapper and then Joseph's when he started training.
Then one day, Craig had a thought.
"I'm doing all this hard work, maybe it's time for me to do it for myself," he said.
The Gunnedah trainer said boredom was part of the reason he got his licence about six months ago.
His children, who used to do pony club, are grown up now which gives Craig more free time but training is also another way for him to bond with his family.
"I'm not in it for the dollars. I just love me horses and it's a family thing for us," he said.
His kids all had a share in the first horse he bought before he went 50-50 in another horse with son Steven.
That horse, Time To Dazzle, gave Craig his maiden win as a trainer a fortnight ago in Tamworth.
The mare was bought for $2500 and Time To Dazzle has already paid for herself - and some.
"She's paid for herself three times over. Everything now is just cream, isn't it," the hobby trainer said.
"She's gonna win a couple more. She's not going to be a world beater or anything but I think I could get another two or three [wins].
"It's not going to happen overnight but she's going to pay her way."
The win was just as important to track rider Raymond Dries.
"He does just as much work as I do. I do all the ground work and he's gotta go out there in the minus two degrees and ride work," Craig said.
Time To Dazzle will have a chance to register win number two when she returns to Tamworth on Friday for the TAB.com.au Benchmark 66 Handicap (1600m).
One thing Craig knows for sure is Time To Dazzle will give 100 per cent on Friday.
"She's just got a heart. She's not real big but she just puts everything in," he said.
And if he likes the look of the run, he has another race in mind already.
"If she gets through Friday safe and sound... them I'm looking toward Narromine Cup in a fortnight," he said.
"She loves the wet. While it's wet, take advantage of it because it could dry up and we don't know when we're going to get our next wet tracks but I think she'll be just as competitive on dry tracks."
The Tamworth track looks to have a bit of give in it, too. It was rated a Soft 7 on Thursday afternoon with some rain predicted on Friday. The first race at the Tamworth Jockey Club jumps at 12.35pm.
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