Dan grew up on a dairy farm in Glenormiston, near Terang in the Western district of Victoria, but he always much preferred horses.

Taking care of his uncle’s injured race horse at the age of 12 saw his passion turn to after-school and weekend jobs in racing stables and eventually leaving his family and school to work with race horses full time.

For the next 20 years Dan learned his craft under the watchful eyes of legendary mentors John Sadler and Jim Moloney and played an integral role in multiple Group 1 wins as a stable hand, horse breaker then track rider and foreman.

Dan moved to South Australia in August 1998 to begin his training career and within a month trained his first winner, Perak Gold at Morphettville – 10 months later he won the Group 3 Dermody Stakes with She’s Discreet. The winners came in droves for the next few years, including many in Melbourne, so in 2002 he made the big move to Victoria.

Based in Ballarat since 2005, Dan has had success with young and old, sprinters, stayers and hurdlers on the big stages. He has a reputation of knowing his horses inside and out, being honest and getting results.

Dan keeps his team to a limit of 35 horses to ensure he can tailor a training program to suit the individual and give your horse the best possible attention.