MEET THE TEAM
OUR STAFF
‘Success is a team effort’
We have a wonderful team of experienced and loyal staff who contribute to making Emsley Lodge a unique training facility.
Some of the staff have many years of experience in the industry while others are keen to learn and all play an important role in the care and development of our team of horses.
We value and appreciate their skill, their love of the thoroughbred and the hard work they do every day.
We would like to introduce them to you.
JAMIE EDWARDS
TRAINER
Jamie is your classic hands-on trainer who is passionate about his horses and achieving the best results for his owners.
Born into a Queensland racing family, Jamie has followed his dream and trained Group winners in the country surrounds of Emsley Lodge at Freshwater Creek, on the outskirts of Geelong.
His grand-fathers Bill Edwards and Charlie Bawden were both trainers in Townsville while his father Jimmy Edwards was a jockey in northern Queensland.
But it was his uncle, Ashley Bawden, a former leading Sydney apprentice, that taught him most about horses.
A day after his 15th birthday Jamie became apprenticed to Bawden and in three years rode 39 winners before he got too heavy and joined Keith Dryden’s Canberra stable as a foreman.
In 1991 Jamie moved to Melbourne and had two-year stints as the stable foreman with Rick Hore-Lacy and Mick Price before leasing a property at Mount Macedon where broke horses as well as pre-trained for Tony Vasil and Gerald Ryan.
Among his achievements was the design and development of Macedon Lodge which later became the home of several Lloyd Williams-owned Melbourne Cup winners.
In 1997 Jamie was granted a trainers licence and All The Difference was his first winner at Ballarat in June that year and Angel Love his first city success at Moonee Valley in February 1999.
Jamie has now trained more than 500 winners including a career-high 44 winners in the 2018-19 season.
Group 1 performer Sertorius won $1.28 million in prizemoney and finished 12th in the 2015 Melbourne Cup, in which he was the only Australian bred, owned and trained runner.
Among the son of Galileo’s achievements were wins in the Gr2 Zipping Classic, Gr3 Easter Cup, Listed Bendigo Cup, as well as placings in the Gr1 Futurity Stakes and Gr1 Sydney Cup.
Jamie is always searching for his next classic winner after success with SA Derby and VRC St Leger winner Lazer Sharp and SA Oaks winner Dream The Deam.
Among Jamie’s other notable city winners are Tarathea, Sand Belt, Straight Legs, Air Cooled and more recently Fill The Flute, Prince Ziggy, Macrobius, Minyinga and Little Miss Gutsaa..
In 2017, eldest son James joined the stable as the assistant trainer and another son Darby now helps out with general stable duties.
JANET EDWARDS
OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR
Janet is Jamie’s wife and is an integral part of the stables’ success.
Janet is always available to help with an account or ownership query….or to assist in drinking a glass of champagne in the owners winners circle.
Janet is also an organiser of the annual Pink Angel Race Day at Geelong in January which raises money for Geelong’s Breast Care Nurses.
James Edwards
ASSISTANT TRAINER
James completed VCE at St. Joseph’s College in Geelong in 2014.
As soon as he finished school he secured a job at Rosemont Stud in Ceres and enjoyed his full-time position there assisting with their yearling and weanling preparation.
In 2016 he started working with the stallions at Gnarwarre and divided his time between both the Rosemont establishments.
In February 2017 James joined his father Jamie and the team at Emsley Lodge as an assistant trainer. James work ethic coupled with his passion and commitment to the family business makes him a huge asset to Emsley Lodge.
James is also a great form expert so we rely on him for his input and opinion.
DARBY EDWARDS
FARM MAINTENANCE MANAGER/STABLEHAND
Darby has enthusiastically embraced his role at Emsley Lodge since joining the team as the Maintenance Manager in 2019.
The middle son of Jamie and Janet, he is a popular laid-back character.
Maintenance of the farm is on-going and at times challenging but if the job needs to be done, then Darby is your man.
He has dubbed himself “Big Jobs” and appears regularly on the stable’s weekly video report where he has built up a following highlighting his tasks around the stable.
TAHLIA ROBINSON
STABLEHAND/TRACK RIDER
Tahlia is destined to be an apprentice jockey.
She grew up on the family farm in Meredith where she has always had horses and competed in pony club before having a stint working the Malua Racing stables at Geelong.
She is only 16 but has already become an important track work rider since joining Emsley Lodge in June 2023.
A natural lightweight, she has great balance and seemingly has no fear when she is riding even the most difficult horse.
“Early on I looked up to (Melbourne Cup winning jockey) Michelle Payne so I’ve always wanted to be a jockey,” Tahlia said.
Hopefully she will soon get her chance to join the Racing Victoria (RV) Apprentice Jockey Training Program the Victorian apprentice jockey program.
KIMBERLY PORTER
STABLEHAND
Kimberly joined the team at Emsley Lodge in July 2021.
She was born in England where she grew up around work horses (Clydesdales and Cobs) and learned to ride and care for horses at a riding school in England before moving to Australia when 12 years old.
Kimberly gained experience working for local horse breakers/pre-trainers and deriving a lot of satisfaction watching the horses learn and develop and go on to win races.
Kimberly she has fitted extremely well as a valuable member of the team at Emsley Lodge and hopes one day to become a foreman or assistant trainer. .
ETHAN MOHR
STABLEHAND
Ethan joined the team in August 2022 as a stablehand and has a dual role assisting Darby Edwards with farm maintenance.
Ethan has a love of the outdoors and his work experience at Andrew Bobbins racing stables led him to Emsley Lodge.
Nicknamed “Anchor” he hopes to one day strap a winner, and is especially keen for it to be his favourite horse Reddivo. He also has a soft spot for pony-sized sprinter Tori’s Dee.
His life goal is to own a business, possibly as a farrier.
When he’s not at Emsley Lodge he is most likely playing footy or golf while he has aspirations to be the next Luke Littler throwing darts.
LIV LAKEY
STABLEHAND/TRACK RIDER
Liv has been working at Emsley Lodge since January 2024.
She joined the team after working for Malua Racing Racing Stables, and trainers Amy McDonald and Ben O’Farrell.
Liv’s has had a lifelong love for horses and it’s no surprise she has found her way to horse racing given her grandfather Douglas Lakey was a jockey.
In particular, she enjoys riding track work and hopes to get the opportunity to ride work overseas in places such as Dubai and Ireland.
While she is a talented track rider, she is even more proficient in the martial arts field with a black belt in Taekwondo and at one stage ranked number 3 in Australia.
KIM JOHNSON
STABLEHAND
Kim joined the Emsley Lodge team last spring (in 2023).
She has been around horses for more than 40 years and has passed on her love for them to her daughter and grand-daughter.
Among her most favourite periods was working part-time for Meggs and Bruce Elkington at Carawatha in the early 1990s when their horses included SA Derby runner-up Battle Hawk, Winter Championship winner Valdazair and the classy mare Mamzelle Perdu.
Kim has always had “three of four horses” and her most recent addition is a Gypsy Cob Clydesdale which has just been broken in.
BREE ANTONIO
STABLEHAND
Bree has been part of the Emsley Lodge team since August 2023.
She loves the outdoors and grew up on a farm with horses.
Breem who caught the racing bug after a six-month stint at Malua Racing in 2021, works three days a week at Emsley Lodge and is improving her qualifications with a Certificate III in Racing.
In her spare time, Bree loves camping, especially in Victoria’s High Country.
JASON WEBB
TRACK RIDER
Jason Webb has been a great pick-up for Emsley Lodge.
Now in his early 40s, Jason was a jockey in the late 1990s before weight got him and he retired from race riding in 2000.
For 16 years he worked in a Geelong carpet factory but was never really lost to racing as he kept involved as a track rider and helping break horses.
Late last year he embarked on a remarkable mission to make a comeback to race riding and after dropping from 78kg got his licence to ride at the picnics and is now close to regaining his professional licence.
Emsley Lodge is a beneficiary of his hard work and experience.
RICKY DEBONO
FARRIIER
Ricky Debono was formerly apprenticed to the stable and has returned as Emsley Lodge’s farrier.
Raised in Lara, Ricky had his first ride in 2002 and among his winners for the stable were Straight Legs, Future Perfect, and Red Hot Rancho.
In total, Ricky rode 121 winners before weight issues forced him to retire from senior riding ranks in 2010.
Ricky won races on every Victorian city track but arguably his biggest achievement was his comeback to riding in July 2023 after shedding 17 kilos.
Fittingly his comeback ride was for Emsley Lodge on Overthrow and after two more rides, including his 122nd winner, he retired again to concentrate on his trade as a farrier.
As a sidelight, Ricky is also a licensed standardbred hobby trainer and trained his first winner Ghostly Silence at Ballarat in April 2021.
ROB WINDMILL
MEDIA MANAGER
Rob Windmill brings more than 40 years of media experience to Emsley Lodge.
A former racing journalist at the Geelong Advertiser and Australian Associated Press (27 years), Rob has been looking after our media requirements for more than 10 years including the production of our weekly video report since November 2013.
He also produces our “Horses Available” videos and manages our website which includes post-race stories on every Emsley Lodge winner.
Phone Number
Office (Janet) | 0417 271 419
Jamie | 0419 356 165
Address
750 Dickins Rd Freshwater Creek VIC 3216 Australia
Emsley Lodge
Emsley Lodge