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www.racingnsw.com.au 18 PEOPLE prizemoney in Australia proved tempting and initially in 1987 and again shortly after brought clients horses over from New Zealand. Making a permanent move, Wanda was the foreman for Rosehill trainer Barry Lockwood and then a trainer at Canterbury and Newcastle. When a client purchased a property at Pitt Town, Wanda moved to nearby Hawkesbury and with her first runners at the Provincial track had a winning double with Brothers and Capital Cee. Raced by a loyal client, Michael Lee, Watson was a good performer for the Ings stable winning six races and included 3 in succession with Rodney Quinn in the saddle. Rod Quinn and Jason Lee each won on Merconman while the Ings-trained galloper also beat a field of 15 on a Saturday at Rosehill when ridden by Tye Angland. Of all her many winners, Wanda Ings regards Two Towers as the favourite, attributing that horse as being “responsible for our survival” in the racing industry. “Although Two Towers did not win a lot of races, he was so honest and could be relied on to earn good prizemoney on a regular basis from placings in very good company,” recalls Wanda Ings. In August 2019, Wanda Ings moved to Bathurst and now has 24 horses in work at the Tyers Park Racecourse. “Initial doubts about whether it was a backward step moving to the country after being a city and provincial trainer have been completely unfounded,” Wanda Ings said. “The Bathurst Club has been great to deal with, the horses love the environment, there are races to suit all classes of horses at tracks that are not too far away and there is great atmosphere and fun still to be had at race meetings in the country areas. “When our 17-year-old trackwork rider Will Stanley in his first race ride won the Maiden Handicap on our horse Dot the Eye at Bedgerebong picnics, he received a great reception and a bit later when he won the Bedgerebong Picnic Cup on the Bryan Dixon [Gilgandra-trained] Song One, the crowd cheered like he had just won the Melbourne Cup.” Ricky Blewitt, the multiple premiership-winning picnic jockey has a big opinion of the well-mannered and likeable Will Stanley and predicts he will quickly become the leading apprentice, should he join the professional ranks. Wanda Ings has two daughters who are very much involved in racing, Lindy Wharekura who has worked for leading trainers Peter and Paul Snowden for 15 years and is a foreman at their Randwick stables and Chelsea Ings who is a professional jockey. “Chelsea is the backbone of our Bathurst operation, she breaks in all the young horses and after trackwork gallops can tell me exactly how are each one is going,” Wanda explained. Despite being sidelined at times with serious injuries, Chelsea Ings has ridden 81 winners, at tracks over a wide area of the State. According to Wanda Ings, the future looks very bright for all involved at Bathurst with a $3.5m grant from the State government to be used for more on course stables. treadmills, horse walkers and reconfiguration of the course proper. Chelsea Ings after winning on Bacinblac at Gulgong