Clarken Racing | Clarken Racing News 54045 Clarkens Farm Success

Shifting half of his stable from an on-course base at Morphettville to a property an hour south of Adelaide was a bold move from prominent South Australian trainer Will Clarken, but one that he's beginning to see the benefits of.

After joining forces with now co-trainer Niki O'Shea, Clarken has taken a full-time approach to training from Sellicks Hill and the results speak for themselves.

"It's obviously paying dividends, we've done a bit of hard yards to get it all set up and we've got a lot to go, we've got a lot of big plans coming," Clarken said.

"We've been at Sellicks Hill for just over a year, I'm like a bull at a gate - my nature, I thought I'd be able to get it running a lot quicker than I did, it's taken a fair bit of time.

"Now it's up and running I'm so proud of it, I love living out here, the horses love it here and we've had about three or four Stakes winners from the farm so far."

Clarken's property is not the usual piece of land a trainer might acquire for spelling horses, in fact it's quite the opposite, with facilities such as a sand track and treadmill allowing Clarken and O'Shea to train their horses solely from there.

"It's not the greatest land down here to have horses in paddocks, it's more about having horses in work, it's like a stable next to a track that is for training horses," Clarken said.

The picturesque nearby Sellicks Beach is also proving invaluable for Clarken and O'Shea, with trips to the coast a regular thing all-year round.

"It's so close to get them to the beach, I believe that Silver Sands - the beach that we use - is most probably the best beach in the state for recovery," Clarken said.

"It's a terrific area, especially over summer - the horses love it."

Clarken and O'Shea will begin breaking in their own horses at the property, while also developing a life after racing program for retired gallopers.

"I want to have about 50 on the property in a couple of years' time, and my main aim at the moment now is to do basically everything inside our system - that goes from the breaking in, to the training and also rehoming - that's another thing we really want to get right," Clarken said.

Clarken and O'Shea joined forces late last year and have enjoyed a successful start to life in a training partnership, with even more growth - including a new Murray Bridge-based stable - on the horizon.

"Mine and Niki's principals really align, he's got a wealth of experience with horsemanship, he's an excellent horse person, he's an excellent rider," Clarken said.