Leading Bendigo trainer Josh Julius quits horse training

The trainer of Bendigo's most successful horse over the past two years - Just Folk - has decided not to renew his licence for next season.

Work/life balance and more time with his wife, Kassie, and daughter, Frankie, were the major reasons behind his decision.

"I've made the decision to go down a different career path,'' Julius said.

"I've been in stables since I was 16, I've had my trainer licence since I was 21 and I've just turned 34, so the racing industry has been my working life.

"It's time for a change and I'm young enough to have a crack at something else.

"A big part of it is work/life balance. Our daughter is about to turn four, so I want to be around when I should be, not when I can be.

"Training horses is very time consuming and it's unrelenting. It's quite literally a 24 hour, seven days a week business.

"Getting my weekends back, realising what a public holiday is and not taking work home all the time is pretty important to me.

"Financially, for a small trainer it's quite difficult. There's a lot of pressure that comes with that.

"I've had a great time and worked with some wonderful people, but I'm looking forward to the next chapter."

After moving to Bendigo from Warrnambool eight years ago, Julius saddled up his first runner as a Bendigo trainer at Echuca on June 15, 2015.

The horse was tried galloper Dubai King and he saluted impressively in a benchmark 64 over 1400m.

Dubai King went on to become Julius' first city winner at Moonee Valley.

Undoubtedly the highlight of Julius' training career was the success of Just Folk, who won six races and more than $770,000 in stakemoney.

He won two races at Group Two level - the 2021 Crystal Mile at Moonee Valley on Cox Plate Day and the 2022 Ajax Stakes at Rosehill.

"Just Folk was the best horse we had in the stable, but we were lucky enough to have a good consistent band of horses that were good enough to win races for us along the way,'' he said.

Just Folk's racing career will continue under the care of new owners and a new trainer.

"He goes online for sale on Friday,'' Julius confirmed

"He's owned by my grandparents and leased to Kassie and I and some stable clients and our lease is nearly up.

"With me stepping away from training he's a bit much for my grandparents to handle.

"We look forward to following his career with a new trainer."

The remainder of Julius' stable has been split between two of his good mates - Mitch Freedman at Ballarat and Daniel Bowman at Warrnambool - and Ben Brisbourne at Wangaratta.

"I arrived in Bendigo with three horses and I built that team to more than 20 at times,'' Julius said.

"I've had great support from syndicates like Roll the Dice and ATB (Australian Thoroughbred Bloodstock) and local owner/breeder Jim Middlemiss was a huge part of my stable for a long time.

"We were lucky to have a wonderful group of owners and, whether they were 100 per cent owners or 2.5 per cent owners, they've been terrific.

"Those relationships I built with clients is what I will miss the most."

Julius won't be leaving the racing industry completely.

On Monday he starts his new job - assistant track manager at the Bendigo Jockey Club.

"I grew up on a dairy farm, so I know a little bit about growing grass,'' Julius said.

"I'm looking forward to learning more about the turf trade and applying it to an industry I know well.

"Bendigo is very much home for us and Kassie and I wanted to stay in Bendigo. I'm very lucky that it has fallen into place the way it has."

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