Family has always been important to Darryl growing up in a large family alongside his six siblings. After meeting his now wife Kerri, they are blessed with two children who have continuously provided Darryl with the love and support needed to focus on making his dreams become reality with an abundance of success.
Darryl’s father tragically lost his life whilst cray fishing in the Southeast of South Australia. Shortly after the tragedy his family decided to move to Port Lincoln, South Australia.
The move to Port Lincoln was the beginning of Darryl’s love and passion for horses. He dedicated hours of his time into understanding the mentality of horses, learning how to ride, and working alongside now stepfather Bryon Cozamanis who gave Darryl an early inside look at what it takes to become a leading trainer within the industry.
At the age of 15, Darryl was given the opportunity to adventure out and become an apprentice jockey. Riding for only 6 months Darryl had the success of riding 7 winners before weight issues led him to focus on training horses.
While working in Port Lincoln and travelling, Darryl has worked breaking in over 1000 horses. This has been invaluable to gain a deeper understanding of a horse's mind and different behaviours which in turn has taught Darryl to have greater patience, perseverance, and awareness.
As a regional Trainer in Port Lincoln for over 30 years, Darryl has learnt a lot about training horses, the industry and what it requires to be successful, Training over 300 winners. A training highlight has been saddling up 5 winners at a Port Lincoln cup carnival with all winners ridden by Jamie Kah.
During Darryl’s time training horses in Port Lincoln, he continued his passion for the fishing industry creating a name for himself as a professional abalone driver. This profession has many dangers and challenges but has also provided great benefits including the opportunity to work in a close knit community and family. A highlight was appearing in numerous episodes of the popular television show abalone wars, watched world-wide on the Discovery channel.
Watch "Abalone Diver Faces His Fear Of Sharks To Haul Over $8k Worth Of Abalone | Abalone Wars" on YouTube https://youtu.be/hPcch5-pZkM?si=fuYHgzAlTVzHnPd
Darryl has his sights set on new challenges for the future. In 2022 Darryl decided to move his family and horse training operation adjacent to the Morphettville racecourse in Adelaide, South Australia. The excellent facilities at Morphettville as well as the close proximity to local beaches and Hills trails is a wonderful environment to develop horses. With the help of his team and support of great owners he has several promising young horses residing at the Carrison stables.
Darryl aims to put his passion, knowledge and experience to good use and achieve new training success.
