One of Clarke’s earliest memories is of her father training Sacred Shield (Racer’s Edge), who racked up seven of his 11 career wins under Gary Clarke’s expert care in the early 2000s. It’s safe to say that Clarke’s life and racing have always been completely intertwined.
Bitten by the bug
Clarke took out her stablehand license as soon as she turned 13 and has been a fixture of her father’s stables in Darwin ever since. Over the last few years, she has functioned as a foreperson in the stable and has absorbed all she can from her father. The trainer of the 1993 Birdsville Cup winner Engrossing (Charmande {USA}), her mother Sharlene has been an important influence as well.
A turning point came six years ago when Clarke was offered an opportunity by another trainer; fellow Darwin trainer David Waters was heading overseas for a while and asked if the young Clarke would look after one of his horses - a Host (Chi) gelding named Compere - while he was gone. The horse was transferred into the senior Clarke’s stable and the reins were handed to Ella.
Ella Clarke with father, Gary | Image supplied
“That's where I got my bug from the most for training,” Clarke said. “It was my responsibility to organise everything, under the guidance of Dad as well. And he got his first and only win while he was with me.”
Compere broke his maiden at his 12th start and collected most of his six placings in Clarke’s care. It was an excellent learning curve and paved the way for her to go for her trainers certification.
“Even after I completed my certificate, I didn't choose to jump straight into training,” she said. “I just still wanted to learn.” But who is a better teacher than your first horse?
Learning curves
Clarke’s first horse joined her stable in late 2021 - Son Of Utred (Time For War), a seven-start maiden who hadn’t had much luck running around New South Wales. Clarke swiftly turned his fortunes around, chalking up his second lifetime placing almost immediately and following it up with his - and hers - first win at his very next start.
“That was probably the horse that I learned the most with,” Clarke said. “He taught me a lot. In his first start, he came out and led the whole way, and just got beaten on the line.”
That first win was, in Clarke’s words, a weight off of her shoulders immediately.
“There’s so much pressure, being Dad’s daughter,” said Clarke. At the time, her father had just won his ninth consecutive trainers premiership. “He's very good at what he does, that's why I look up to him a lot. And he's someone that obviously I've always wanted to learn off of - I've just been lucky enough that he's my dad.
“So while that is good, it does come with a lot of pressure for me as well.”
Clarke’s next horse Pop Magic (Wandjina) brought plenty of lessons with him as well. Placed once at Scone before heading north, Pop Magic also benefitted from the change of scenery and Clarke’s well-trained hand as Son Of Utred had before him. The then 3-year-old gelding placed in his first start for Clarke, then followed it up with a maiden win in his next start five weeks later.
“I've had a lot of fun with Pop Magic, but I've learned a lot with him as well,” she said. The gelding was sidelined for most of the 2022/23 season with injury, but Clarke has since nursed him to a further five wins and over $115,000 in prize money. His crowning win came in the Summer Sprint Series Final, where he put 6.8l on the runner-up. “He won that quite impressively.”
Clarke’s success with Pop Magic has allowed the stable to expand and Clarke has six horses on her books, including last start winner Wild Beau (Brazen Beau), who made an impressive statement with his 7.8l victory in December.
“Another little milestone, I took out the track record for the 1100 meters at Darwin with Wild Beau,” Clarke added. “The track record was previously held by Patriotic King, which was one of my dad's horses!”
Clarke also had one of her biggest moments captured for television when her Shamus Award gelding Ironedge won the Darwin Cup consolation race while the Bossy’s Bucket List team were visiting the track. She features along with her father in the second season of the series.
Hard work pays off
Clarke says she has really “knuckled down” over the past twelve months, pushing herself to be the trainer she knows she can be. In the first year of her training career, Clarke’s brother Guy lost his battle with mental illness and she admits the interest in her work waned for a while after his passing. But over the last year, her focus has been renewed and her hard work has been rewarded with 13 winners in her last 50 starters.
In 2024, the Women in Thoroughbred Racing NT Association invited Clarke to be a guest speaker at one of their events and to talk alongside Peter Moody’s co-trainer Katherine Coleman about her experience as a trainer - an “amazing experience” for Clarke and an unmissable opportunity to establish herself further.
Ella Clarke with Katherine Coleman at the NT Women in Thoroughbred Racing event | Images courtesy of Women in Thoroughbred Racing NT Association
“I’ve grown up in Darwin and a lot of the racing people have watched me grow up,” she said. “So it was good to get an opportunity for them to get to know me better on a deeper level, as my own person.”
Well deserved recognition
“I was quite honoured to just be nominated,” Clarke said. “And to be recognised for myself, not just as Dad's daughter.”
This year, the Magic Millions Racing Women awards expanded to have individual awards for different regions of the country, and Clarke was the recipient of the WA and NT award. The award comes with a $10,000 scholarship and Clarke is eager to use it to invest in the welfare of her stable.
Ella Clarke at the Magic Millions Racing Woman Of The Year Award dinner | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“I would like to develop my skills and knowledge around post race recovery in the tropics,” Clarke said. “But due to the remoteness of everyone in the Northern Territory, we struggle to find skilled people and investors. People don’t really spend a lot of research time up here.
“For athletes, one of the most important things is their recovery.”
To that end, Clarke intends to invest in pulse electromagnetic field (PEMF) therapy, a popular therapeutic and recovery treatment amongst the country’s biggest trainers. The difference in climate up north poses a unique challenge to the racing industry, and Clarke hopes that her investment will do more than give her an edge - it will benefit the NT racing industry as a whole.
Her award shines a spotlight on the industry’s far north and the hard working women at its core. Although she insists she’s “still learning”, Clarke is proud to carry the racing women banner forward as she continues to build her stable and develop as a trainer in her own right. Gary Clarke better watch out for his premiership top spot.
