KINGSTON, Jamaica - Trainer Gresford “Greasy” Smith is on the path of conditioning 400 winners after becoming a full-fledged licensed trainer in 1986.
Having grown up under the tutelage of his late trainer father G Ashley Smith, Gresford was infused with the minute details of his trade which have served him well during his career.
Question: (Q)
Gresford Smith (GS)
Q: Who is Gresford Smith?
GS: I was born in Kingston and grew up in the Stony Hill area of the parish and attended St George’s College and Calabar High School. My father was a trainer G Ashley Smith, and that being so, I came to the track from an early age to be among the horses, and I grew to love them. After leaving school, I was employed as a housing clerk, and in 1985 when I had to make the decision whether to remain in housing or come into racing. I chose racing as I was about to do an examination in the accounting field but at the same time, a horse racing seminar had come about and so I took it with both hands. I graduated from a batch that included among others Wayne Parchment, Everal Francis, TenSang Chung, and since then, I have been continuing with the trade for quite a long while.
Q: What influence did your father have on your career?
GS: My dad had quite an influence on me for I admired the way he handled and trained his horses and decided to see whether I could take up from where he left off, and try to do even better. A year ago, I reached 300 winners. It was a significant milestone for me and was a testament to the promising work that I had done over the years. Now, I hope to continue that hard work, with the aim of trying to train Classic winners, and of course, getting as many winners as I can. At present, I am trying to further lay the foundation for that to happen and I am hoping it will be soon.
Q: Your first winner?
GS: My first winner was Bourbon Street with Barrington Harvey in the saddle. It was shortly after I got my licence. That was a signal moment for me, as when you actually walk into the winners’ enclosure for the first time, it is really something special, and something to always remember. I will always always remember Bourbon Street.
Q: The best horse you have trained?
GS: The best horse that I have trained is Outstanding. I won, if memory serves me right, about six Graded Stakes with Outstanding races around the same time as Ahwhofah was racing. Putting it simply, Outstanding was an outstanding racehorse and she showed me what was possible and what to aim for in my career. It was a pleasure and a joy to train this outstanding race horse.
Q: In your opinion, the best horse you have seen race at Caymanas Park?
GS: One horse is difficult to name. So, the best horses that I have seen are Eros, and Legal Light, it’s a throw-up between the two. Both were outstanding, both carried weight, and both had that special touch about them, which made them different. Very hard to choose, but for me, those are the top two horses to grace our race track.
Q: Do you have interests outside of racing?
GS: Out of racing, no! But apart from training horses, I also breed horses and have bred a couple of horses. I now oversee a farm called the Rising Sun Farm, near to the race track. For me, it is a joy to see the young horses grow up, then get into the stables, then make their first tentative steps on the race track, and then race in competitive events. It is a real joy for me, and when they win, the joy is even more special.
Q: Any regrets?
GS: In general, in my racing career, no. I enjoy what I do, and in most instances, I have been able to put food on the table, which is always priority number one. At present, I have 13 horses on my shed row, two of which are two-year-olds. There is, however, one race that I remember, with some regret. My horse Aventura went by the winning post in first place in the prestigious 10-furlong Governor’s Cup but was later disqualified. That is racing, sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose…that is life.
