PETER Moody's remarkable rise to become Melbourne's premier trainer has not come without a price.

"The sad thing for me is a lack of family life," Moody revealed in this article written by MATT STEWART in the MELBOURNE HERALD SUN.

"You see your wife and children in passing pretty much and, as anyone with kids knows, that is a sacrifice.

"You make it knowingly and, lucky for me, my wife (Sarah) and kids (three young daughters) are understanding. But in other parts of the world they ease up a bit. Here it's a constant merry-go-round."

Moody, who turns 41 next week, mentions another sacrifice and, again, he's not complaining but merely observing - a life in the spotlight requires adjustment.

"I can tell you one thing, life gets tougher when you get a bit of success, not easier," he said.

"The pressures certainly become more intense as the expectation increases.

"The key for me is to gain some sort of life balance."

For that, Moody turns to the small community of Belgrave South, where he and his family have lived for about six years.

"I love the local footy club, mixing with the local blokes," he said. "(Essendon great) Simon Madden was making a speech at the club the other day.

"He said something about 'famous racehorse trainer Peter Moody being here' and quickly added: 'He's not bloody famous here'.

"That's the sort of thing I'm talking about - keeping your feet on the ground."

Moody's runaway win in the Melbourne trainers' premiership is impressive on face value, remarkable when scrutinised.

There is no more competitive training centre than Melbourne anywhere in the world.

The established order since 1976, with the Hayes dynasty and Lee Freedman dominating, with a gap to the rest, has been rattled. Moody, Mick Price, Mark Kavanagh, Michael Kent and others are now elbowing David Hayes and Freedman for slices of the pie.

Greats such as Moody's former boss Bill Mitchell and Brian Mayfield-Smith hoisted white flags as rivals grew in number and clients thinned out.

But the Moody machine has grown and grown, not necessarily in numbers - he trains no more than Hayes or Kavanagh - but in muscle.

The names heading into spring include Typhoon Tracy, Black Caviar, Reward For Effort, Headway, Tickets, Master Harry and Doubtful Jack.

They are merely the shop window for a stable with a fearsome armoury.

Horses we've never heard of will have joined the A-list come November.

Moody horses travel to far-flung parts of Victoria and cross borders as regularly as they cross town.

Nowhere is safe.

The Charleville-raised bushie said there was no single reason for his remarkable season, that it had been a sum of its parts.

He also offered a modest take on his slaying of the giants.

"I think both those stables are in some sort of transition. David (Hayes) is changing things a bit (setting up Euroa) and maybe Lee is changing focus a bit towards those European horses being aimed at Cups. You'd have to ask him," he said.

"Team" is a word Moody emphasised when explaining his success.

"We've assembled a very good team of owners, a very good team of horses and a terrific staff, led by my stable manager Jeff O'Connor and (yard foreman) Tony Haydon," he said.

"We've got a great team of rising three and four-year-olds and you'd hope a nice team of rising two-year-olds."

Moody said his highlights this season were Typhoon Tracy's Group 1 picket fence and Reward For Effort's comeback from injury. Lowlights were the "what-ifs?".

"I'm a bit down on myself for running Typhoon Tracy in the Doncaster," he said. "We had a virus sweep through our Sydney team in the autumn, and she was one of them.

''She copped some interference in the run but it was a combination of a couple of things. It was a shame to see her round off on a poor note."

Moody said he did not set goals "because you only end up disappointed" and did not aspire to out-do himself next season.

But he does not want to ease up either, which suggests we may well have a new order, a new era.

 

STORY COURTESY OF MATT STEWART, NEWS LTD & MELBOURNE HERALD SUN