Craiglea Stud owner Stan Johnston has come a long way since his days as a dairy farmer on the Sunshine Coast hinterland at Kenilworth.

Johnston started with one stallion and a few mares of his own in 1974 and the property now supports a roster of six sires and 350 mares.  It’s a real family affair with Stan’s wife Marilyn and their children Wade, Krystle and Jason all involved in the business.

November has been another successful month for Craiglea with freshman sires Warhead (Viscount) and Royal Harlequin (Danehill) represented by their first winners – Craiglea Ducati (Mackay) and Craiglea Cruz (Eagle Farm).  They are both trained by Peter Fleming at Gympie and race in the stud’s blue and white colours.

Johnston breeds to race not to sell and it’s not uncommon to see multiple Craiglea entries in any one race.  In fact, he even made the record books after starting seven horses in the same race earlier this year at Mackay.

“We enjoy it and it is the only way we can make money,” Stan explained.  “My horses may not be worth much commercially but they race well and I travel to where I can win.”

During a normal week, Stan will drive an average of 6,000km.  It’s all part of his business plan of travelling all over Queensland to attend race meetings that will suit his horses and to chase the QTIS prizemoney.

“QTIS is a godsend,” Stan says.  “It’s a shame we are battling for it all the time. That worries me because we really don’t want to devalue the QTIS prizemoney any more.

“Training costs are getting too high when compared with prizemoney levels.  That’s where QTIS really is great and I can’t understand why anyone would knock it, or why they wouldn’t buy a QTIS horse.  The returns are just so much better and I really think it will help keep owners in the industry.”