IT doesn't take long for Shane Rose to spot the familiar horses.
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The thoroughbreds competing across the state that he played a crucial role in ensuring they made it on to the track.
As the owner of Bimbadeen Park, Rose is the man tasked with breaking in yearlings, teaching the juveniles how to be a racehorse.
"For us, it's about education," the former Berry equestrian rider said.
"I'm looking at them learning as much as they can, so when they get to the trainer, they can go and train the horse, they're not having to re-educate or teach it to steer.
"My first thought of what they're doing is education-wise.
"I don't really take too much notice of how good they're going to be as a racehorse until a bit later.
"Firstly, the horses have to be able to do everything the trainer wants.
"I let them see different things, expose them to different things, so when they get to the track hopefully there's nothing new that confronts them and the trainers can get on and do their job."
Rose, who's mother and sister live in Berry, breaks in the majority of Gwenda Markwell's young horses, while he also regularly works with Sydney's top trainers, including Gai Waterhouse and Chris Waller.
Among his greatest successes include Golden Slipper winners Capitalist and She WiIll Reign as well as Waller's star The Autumn Sun.
While Rose can quickly evaluate whether some horses will reach lofty heights, others are more difficult to assess.
"We have a system where we can have a guess at how they're going to go," he said.
"I've broken in a lot of very good horses that have given you a good feel from the start.
"The difference between a good horse and a great horse is how much desire they've got.
"When they're tired at the end of the race, that's the first time you know for sure."
Rose has worked with horses his whole life, joining pony club as a five-year-old before choosing to pursue a career in the equine industry after leaving school.
His work with racehorses, however, is more of a side hustle to fuel his true passion, equestrian.
A two-time Olympic medalist, the success of Bimbadeen Park allows Rose to dedicate time to training for competitions and, crucially, fund what is a very expensive sport to compete in.
The 47-year-old was on track to compete at his third Olympic Games this year, before they were rescheduled due to coronavirus.
Rose has qualified two of his horses for the competition, with the next task to secure one of Australia's three entries.
With another 12 months to work with his mounts, he's confident he will vie for a medal in Japan next year.
"I'm planning an all-out attack for Tokyo.
"It's one of my favourite countries, so I can't wait to hopefully compete there.
"I've got two really nice horses that I'm hoping would be in pretty strong contention for Tokyo."
Another 12 months will help one of those, she's quite young.
The other is quite experienced, but fortunately he'll still be in the prime of his life.
"Both horses have actually qualified, but Australia is one of the more competitive nations, so I still have to be selected," he said.
They only pick three athletes, in the past they've picked four or five, so it's getting tighter and tighter to get into that team."
While the racehorses and competition horses compete in vastly different events, the early stages of their five-week education follow the same process.
It's only once they've learnt the basic instructions that Rose, who recently purchased a share of Markwell-trained gelding Pioneer, introduces sport-specific skills to the horse.
"The first two to two-and-a-half weeks is exactly the same. It's only once the horse is a couple of weeks in that we start to veer off.
"With competition horses we don't do anything at the barriers, whereas we do a little bit more in the arena.
"Racehorses finish off a bit more at the barriers and have a bit more work with other hoses and working beside other horses."
While Rose sees numerous horses move through his Werombi property at the beginning of their careers, he's seeing an increasing number return at the conclusion of their time on the track.
With Racing NSW keen to ensure a home is found for all racehorses once they are retired, the educator is also tasked with retraining many thoroughbreds as competition horses.
It's an area both Markwell and Rose are passionate about, the trainer working hard to find suitable homes for her horses.
Three are currently back at Bimbadeen Park as they transition to equestrian and Rose expects to see more owners and trainers follow the same path in the coming years.
"I retrain a lot of racehorses. The thoroughbreds, they're amazingly trainable athletes, which is exactly what we want as competition horses.
"We have around 10 to 15 come through our yard each year to retrain, maybe even more.
"There's potential for more incentive and the fact Racing NSW doesn't want to see any former racehorse go to the meatworks, we'll have a lot more available for competition."
