by Adam Hamilton

This week marks a year since Jason Grimson, Down Under’s most polarizing yet hugely successful horseman, landed one of the biggest wins of his career but also made headlines for all the wrong reasons.

The young NSW country horseman, who has taken Australian harness racing by storm, was banned for 12 months for his role in a “brawl” at Albion Park. It came just hours after his stable star Swayzee upstaged local hero Leap To Fame in the $400,000 Group 1 Blacks A Fake.

Grimson subsequently appealed and beat the ban.

But during the stewards’ inquiry, Grimson detailed what drove him to snap that night.

“Over the whole time [in the harness industry] I have been considered a drug cheat by integrity people and by people in the industry which has led to this,” Grimson said in a Courier Mail story. “I have worked hard to get where I am, I started with nothing and then I get abused.

“All night I had comments made to me behind my back or in the toilet about me being a cheat.

“It builds up over time. It’s not just winning the Blacks A Fake, it’s before that people were saying that. Even at the presentation, people were dirty at me winning.”

In his most open interview yet with SEN radio’s Gareth Hall recently, Grimson admitted when the penalty was first handed down, he felt “beaten” and was “happily going to take a break and get away from things.”

But just days later his competitiveness kicked back in.

“I love proving people wrong,” Grimson said. “I’m from a small town [Young in NSW] and nobody thought I’d be doing what I am now.

“That certainly drives me. That and making my parents and friends back home proud, which I think I am.

“When I beat that ban, it gave me a second chance to do what I love and I think I appreciate it even more now.”

Within months of having his ban quashed, Grimson proved people wrong again.

The 31-year-old became just the second Aussie trainer since 1987 — the other was Kerryn Manning with Arden Rooney in 2015 — to beat the Kiwis in their race, the iconic New Zealand Cup, with Swayzee.

“The NZ Cup is my biggest thrill, especially once it sunk in and I look back on it,” Grimson said. “Being there, you feel what a special race it is to the Kiwis.

“And to do it with Swayzee, who is such a special horse to me, made it such a big thrill.

“I’d love to take Swayzee and maybe another one or two of my horses back for it again this year, but I won’t decide that until closer to the race [Nov. 12].”

It follows that Grimson’s favorite horse is Swayzee, who will try and upstage Leap To Fame for the second year in succession in Saturday night’s Blacks A Fake at Albion Park.

“He’s definitely my favorite by far,” he said. “I had a lot to do with him as a young horse. I drove him in his first few races and I’d go back home and tell [fellow horseman and friend] Jack Trainor the horse had something special.

“Now I train him and we’ve got this special bond. He just turns for you every time.”

But can he beat Leap To Fame again?

“That won’t be easy,” Grimson said. “I think [Leap To Fame] is a lot better horse than he was last year. A lot stronger and a bit faster now, too.

“We’re going to need to draw the front with him off the back. Swayzee did need the [race] the other day [July 13] when Leap To Fame beat him. My guy was quite fat and hadn’t raced for three weeks.

“We’ve stuck a lot of work into him since and we hope we can give Leap To Fame another challenge.”

Like so many of Grimson’s stars, Swayzee came from another stable and went to a whole new level for him.

He won Inter Dominions with cast-offs Boncel Benjamin (2021) and I Cast No Shadow (2022), a Blacks A Fake and Messenger in NZ with Majestic Cruiser and that’s just a taste.

“I pinch myself every time I win one of these big races,” Grimson said. “I’ve come so far in a short period of time. It’s really good.”

So, what’s his key?

“I think I just get along with horses,” he said. “I spend a lot of time with them, I’m very hands-on.

“Most horses have some ability, but it’s just getting it out of them. It’s hard to say exactly what it is or teach others, but it just comes naturally to me.

“It’s what’s made it so hard and has been my biggest challenge, having people making comments about something I work so hard at and am so passionate about.”

Grimson, who has trained almost 400 winners — nine of them at Group 1 level — and has a 25 per cent winning strike rate, is already excited about his next challenge with two recent stable additions.

“I’ve picked up Major Moth and Curly James, who have both already done a lot before coming to me,” he said. “Major Moth could be something special. He was a top young horse before his injury problems. I haven’t seen him yet because I’m here in Brisbane and he’s at my Menangle stable, but I’m looking forward to going home to have a feel of him.

“He could even be one to make the track over to NZ if I decide to go with Swayzee again.”

Before then, Grimson will take a “holiday of sorts” to visit some friends in the U.S. for three weeks.

Could it be a hint of what’s to come?

“I’d love to take a team over there at some stage, but getting a visa is the hard thing,” he said. “This is just a trip to get away. I’ll be going to the races over there, but it’s different. They’ll just be days out for me.

“I’ve got some good friends over there, including Brad Chisholm, and I’ll be visiting a few stables.”

For now, returning from that trip to try and win another NZ Cup or his home state Sydney Inter Dominion — and continuing to prove the knockers wrong — is the focus.