Staff Profile
Nikki Burke Racing has such a fantastic team of staff and specialist which all contribute to making the stable so successful.
Sally-Anne Marshall, Stable Hand
Sally-Anne (Nikki’s sister and wife of Simon Marshall), a track rider turned catwalk model, was named fashion ambassador for Country Racing Victoria. Sally herself has had many years experience in the racing industry and is always on hand to help out when needed. Sally is at the stable every morning to feed our horses and can always be relied upon to assist at the races when needed. Anyone who knows Sally will attest to her love and knowledge of horses and the racing industry.
Katherine O'Keefe, Stable Hand
Katherine is a new addition to our stable having come to us with a solid background in the racing industry. She is fantastic with the horses and has fitted into our stable tremendously well.
Patrick Beadel, Pre-training manager
Paddy looks after our pre-training property and has proven to be a great asset to our team. Paddy looks after approximately 12 horses at any one time and is responsible for having them come to our stable in great condition having completed 4 - 6 weeks of solid ground work before embarking on their faster work with us at the Cranbourne Training Centre. He is a hard worker and takes great pride in his work with our horses.
Trent Marshall, Stable Hand
Brother of Simon Marshall has been with the stable for over two years and is a highly valued member of our team. Trent’s loyalty and commitment to our stable is highly regarded by us all – he is there to help at the training centre every morning and then goes home to water and tidy up every horse’s paddock. It is the work ethic and commitment of these “behind the scenes’ staff members that really count towards our stable’s success.
Don Kirkham, Truck Driver
Don is the man in charge of the very important job of safely transporting our horses to the track each morning from both our stables and our pre-training centre. Don also works with us on the ground at the track between trips and will also do odd jobs around the stables. He is a fantastic asset to our team and can always be relied upon to help out wherever he is required.
Jack Laing, Stable Hand
Jack is our young helper who comes to the stables whenever he is not at school to help Trent with the yards and to pick some of the horses. He will also help around the farm doing odd jobs as required and is a very entertaining young man to have around.
Merlin, Chief Babysitter
Merlin is our wonderful pony who has been to pretty much every race track throughout Victoria keeping our horses company on their float trip. He doesn't ask for much except a feed and some water and is one of our most valuable assets.
Melissa Light, Foreperson
Melissa has been a part of the team since she started working part time as a 14 year old after school. Her commitment towards learning every aspect of horse husbandry, together with her tremendous work ethic, has earned her the position of stable foreperson - she is a great asset to our stable.
