Warrnambool Leaps into Jumps Season, Bigger and Better Than Last Year

2nd April 2026 ALJ330

The number of horses in training for jumps racing has skyrocketed just 12 months after a state review put the future of the sport in doubt, officials say.

Horses being accepted to trial over the jumps have increased by up to 40 per cent compared to last year. Luke Cann, Warrnambool Racing Club CEO, was pleased with the start to the season. “At the moment the numbers are looking really positive for the jumps season,” he says. “We’ve had feedback from a lot of stables, and their numbers have significantly increased.”

“For our first jumps trials in February we were about 40 per cent up on acceptances, and then that carried through to our mid- March jumps trials as well, we were about 35 per cent up from the previous year.” Hamilton jumps trials showed a similar pattern. Cann also noted the quality of horses coming through. “Those horses that won really good, competitive races last year are back,” says Cann. “But probably the growth that we are seeing is new horses into the system.”

The first meeting of the jumps racing season was held on Thursday 26^th April at Warrnambool and was well supported. It was a positive start to the season and well attended by members. “The Matilda Room was full,” says Cann. “We were really happy with how the day ran. The track was rated really nicely and conducive to jumps racing.”

The Open Steeplechase was won by Jordan Hart on Count Zero. Hart, a jumps jockey from Ireland, has been in Australia for just over two years and has ridden over the jumps in Ireland and New Zealand, as well as Australia. He is also positive about the upcoming season. “Numbers wise I reckon it should be a good season,” he says. “There’s a lot more horses around, compared to last year.”

“There’s a good quality of horses now. There’s a lot of good horses coming from the flat now that are staying horses,” says Hart. Of the horses to watch for the season, Hart was most enthusiastic about the Shane Jackson trained Highland Blaze, who Hart partnered to win four jumps races last year, including the Brendan Drechsler Hurdle at Hamilton and eCycles Solutions Grand National Hurdle at Sandown. “Whatever he did last year, I think he has more spring in his jumping this year,” says Hart.

The main event of the jumps racing season is the Warrnambool May Racing Carnival, which is just over a month away and brings in spectators from all over Australia. According to Cann, preparations are going well for the prestigious event. “In terms of previous years, we’re well ahead of schedule to product a quality surface for the three days of the carnival,” he says, “we’ve had really good feedback from the first jumps race meet of the year.”