From small beginnings in the mid-1980s John Sargent has built an international reputation as a trainer who gets results with horses he has either selected from the auction ring or sourced through stable clients.

Starting out from his original lower North Island base, John took out the Newcomer to Training award in the 1992-93 season and finished second on the New Zealand Strike Rate table in 1994-95. Notable successes through that period included the country’s richest two-year-old race, the Magic Millions Classic, with Vedodara, the Gr. 1 Captain Cook Stakes and the Gr. 2 Wanganui Stakes and Taranaki Stakes with Super Crest, the Gr. 2 Queensland St Leger (Filament), the Gr. 3 Canterbury Gold Cup (Whey To Go) and the Gr. 3 White Robe Lodge Stakes (The Big Bopper).

Having trained more than 200 winners and finishing on the top 10 of the trainers’ premiership in his final two New Zealand seasons, in 1998 John took up the challenge to relocate to Malaysia, where he quickly adapted to the new environment and recorded a number of major wins to establish himself in the trainers’ ranks.

Major wins included Malaysia’s richest race, the Penang Gold Cup, as well as the Perak Cup and the Selangor Gold Cup, while he topped the trainers’ premiership in 2000, his third season there.

Since returning to New Zealand with his young family in 2002, John has again made a major impact, initially with victory in the $500,000 Mercedes Super Bonus Classique with Successor, a horse he purchased a year earlier from the National Yearling Sales for just $21,000.

Other horses that underlined his skill as a trainer were the stakes winning pair Shastri and Bhandara - both of them produced from his earlier big winner Vedodara - and major New Zeaand and Brisbane winner Tickle.

The 2006-07 season has seen the Sargent stable further consolidate its position with a string of winners that have put John in the top bracket. Headline acts have been Gr. 1 Avondale Gold Cup winner Sharvasti and dual group three winner Fiscal Madness.

The operation is based at New Zealand’s most modern training complex located on the Matamata Racecourse. Becoming part of the country’s most successful racing centre has enabled John Sargent to develop his career to yet another stage.

As a training environment Matamata is without peer in this part of the world. Grass, plough and all-weather training surfaces are complemented by a superb swimming pool, while there is also available a well appointed pre-training and agistment property on lush, rolling country just a short drive from the main stable. Matamata’s central location and comprehensive range of professional services are also an integral part of the massive success being enjoyed by horses trained there.

John Sargent invites you to join him on the Road to Success and is only too happy to make contact with you, either by telephone, email or in person.