KEY POINTS:
Queensland's Liam Birchley is on a mission.
But that's nothing new - the 42-year-old has been on one since his late teens.
If he wins tomorrow's $1 million Karaka Million he'll probably say it's mission accomplished.
That nearly happened two weeks ago when his previously unbeaten juvenile Paprika was run down in the final 100m as hot favourite for the A$2 million ($2.47 million) Magic Millions at the Gold Coast.
Sarge In Charge, a $110,000 purchase at the Karaka sales last year, will tomorrow attempt to provide Birchley with the headline win that would cap his success.
He's currently a close third on the Brisbane trainers' premiership, but it hasn't been an easy road to get there.
It's by sheer chance that he ended up training racehorses rather than farming.
During a two-year animal husbandry course at a Queensland agriculture college he did a two-week work experience stint at the Hunter Valley's thoroughbred Turangga Stud.
"I damn near died of hard work," he recalls.
"It's the first hands-on experience I'd had with racehorses - previously I'd only occasionally gone to the races with my dad."
The Turangga boss must have liked what he saw because he offered Birchley a plane ticket to return and when he finished college Birchley joined the stud on a two-year contract.
"I learned more in my two years there than I would have in eight years anywhere else because I had to do absolutely everything. It was a slog."
Two years with New Zealand's Trelawney Stud followed then it was time to learn the art of training.
Who better as a teacher than Brian Mayfield-Smith, then training in Sydney and widely regarded as the equal of any horseman in this part of the world.
Birchley was about to be rocked back on his heels. He'd arranged a job with leading English trainer Sir Michael Stout, but couldn't get a British work visa so instead headed to California and Hollywood Park trainer Neil Drysdale.
"I was under the impression Aussie stables were the best run in the world and I was going to show those Yanks how it was done.
"Did I get a shock. I picked up some tricks I still use. Their attention to detail is amazing."
Birchley took all that experience into his own stable in Sydney, but it took two years to produce his first winner.
He spent eight desperate years in one of the world's toughest racing scenes simply because he knew he had what it takes.
"Then one day I thought if I'm going to be broke I may as well be broke in my home town." He headed back to Brisbane in 2002 and is now that booming city's third leading trainer with a stable of 40 horses.
Compare all that to the start enjoyed by David Hayes, trainer of the other Australian representative at Ellerslie tomorrow, Optimizing.
David Hayes is the son of perhaps Australia's greatest racing visionary, the late Colin Hayes, who won the Adelaide trainers' premiership 28 times and the Melbourne premiership 13 times.
David Hayes produced his first winner at Gawler on August 1, 1990 and within three months had won the Cox Plate and the then world's richest race, the Japan Cup with Better Loosen Up, a horse the stable got off Bart Cummings.
Hayes has many times proved himself a champion trainer both in Australia and in Hong Kong, but his rise to the top was significantly more comfortable than Birchley's.
Optimizing cost $90,000 at Karaka a year ago.
The colt was narrowly beaten on debut at Cheltenham in South Australia on December 6 and easily won his only subsequent start at Morphettville on December 20.
Sarge In Charge, by staying sire Golan, is bred more to be a 3-year-old and Liam Birchley believes that's when his best form will be seen.
In terms of displayed ability he is a fair way behind his talented stablemate Paprika, but he could be improving quickly.
TAB bookmakers clearly rate Optimizing the pick of the two visitors. They have him at $7 and Sarge In Charge at $12.
