The 32-year-old Moffat was confident he would have the best season yet with victories as a trainer, but on top of that he would be marrying his long-time partner, Emily Anforth.
Over the past decade, Moffat has been a fixture in Queensland running racing, competing with great success at most meetings.
A graduate of the Grant Dixon system, where he worked and rode for the top rider for five seasons, Moffat took a leap of faith and struck out on his own.
With more than 530 driving victories with highlights including a pair of Listed Classics, the 2014 Flashing Red (Vegas Bound) and Rising Stars Classic (Corporal Luna), the talented rider has turned his attention to his own stable in recent years.
Since moving to Purga, in Brisbane’s Western Corridor, just over two years ago, Moffat has had two solid seasons with 22 winners (2024) and 23 winners (2023), and he was determined to take that number to 30 or more this year.
Everything went according to plan, until an unpleasant incident occurred on his property in mid-May.
While putting on a pair of shoes on an unraced two-year-old, the young horse bucked and lunged, catching Moffat off guard.
“I got kicked in the right arm and chest. I was really in trouble. I had only just sent a load of horses onto the jogger so my helper (Denis Smith) wasn’t aware of it, but luckily I work with air pods and after catching my breath and gaining some sort of calm I called my own ambulance before calling Emily,” Moffat explained.
“While the horses jogged around the track for 40 minutes, Denis was out of action and the ambulance was not around. I called Phil (Mitchell), who lives down the road, and he quickly came to give me some help before the medics arrived.”
Moffat was right. He was in trouble and the pain was unbearable.
Once arrived at the hospital and stabilized, it was revealed that Moffat had broken ribs, a lacerated liver (four out of five but the capsule remained intact) and had broken his right forearm just below the elbow (his dominant hand).
The broken arm required surgery to insert a plate and five screws.
“I was lucky. I was very lucky because it could easily have been a lot worse, but I got the help at the right time. I work with airpods so I can take calls from customers or listen to podcasts when I do farrier work, but unbeknownst to me they came in very handy for another reason,” he said.
“On reflection and out of self-criticism, I shouldn’t have put myself in that position. The horse should have been given a break and he was giving me signals that he was going a bit sour. I should have done things differently and better.”
“Of course it got a bit chaotic. I was working with a team of 20 horses at the time and suddenly I had to rehome some of them because I was going to be out of action for a while.”
Stuck in hospital and annoying the nursing staff because he was never on the phone, Moffat quickly moved his racing team to other trainers.
Moffat was fortunate to have good people around him and was able to redeploy his team without much fuss.
Guys like Daniel Anforth, Mathew Neilson, Jason Carkeet, Phil Mitchell and Bryse McElhinney really stepped up in his absence. Importantly, his group of owners was helpful and appreciative.
A month had passed and many of the injuries began to heal, leaving Moffat in the rehabilitation phase.
“I was doing physio on the elbow four times a day and returning to hospital once a fortnight. The elbow was difficult, it took a while to get full range of motion and movement again and even today it’s still not perfect,” Moffat said.
“I was determined to get back as soon as possible, but in the right way. I continued with the physio treatment. I couldn’t do much with the horses, so I concentrated on my rehabilitation.”
Three months had passed before Moffat returned to work. His horse team raced very well for their caretaker trainers before being brought home.
The two horses that performed best during his time out were Reds Stars Deal and the trotter Natty Pagger.
Reds Star Deal is played by John Dent, while Shane McConnell races Natty Pagger.
“I can’t thank all the boys who helped me enough. They were fantastic in so many ways, and my owners were just as impressive. They understood the situation and didn’t back down,” Moffat said.
“Both Shane and John have been great, and they’ve been great to me since I’ve been on my own. They both love their horses and really enjoy being trackside watching them perform.
“I have a good mix of pacers and trotters, young and old, and they are keeping their form. I thought I had a real chance of achieving 30 training wins this year. Business was going well before the incident, and they continued to keep their form under their caretakers. It is what it is, but it leaves me wondering sometimes.”
Moffat returned to the sulky for the first time after the accident in mid-May, venturing to Marburg for the Graham Harriott Memorial All Trotters Raceday on October 19.
Moffat lined up in the first race and immediately returned to the winners list when he piloted Dollys Duke ($14) home in the Zupps Mt Gravatt Maiden Trot, beating race favorite Maroon Bells.
A huge result in many respects, Moffat gained instant satisfaction and confidence, while Dollys Duke owner Shane McConnell provided his QBRED bonus for the first win.
With a little more luck the day could have been even more beautiful. Natty Pagger was handed a defeat in a tight finish, while Aladdin Sane looked a winning chance before a home break in the match, the Graham Harriott Memorial.
But Moffat was just happy to get back to doing what he did best.
So despite the mid-year bump, normal transmission has returned.
Now let’s go and have a wedding day to remember.
Congratulations Trent and Emily.
Bring on 2026!
From RQ Media
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