JOEL SMITH spends much of his spare time away from footy thinking about sport of a more equine variety.

The Hawthorn defender is the proud owner of a 1200-acre, family-run thoroughbred horse farm in the Hunter Valley and while he dreams of producing a Melbourne Cup winner, he’d take a premiership with Hawthorn over that any day.

“I’ve been working at this football game since I was 10 years old so it’s pretty much been all I’ve done and known and loved,” Smith says.

“I’ve probably spent two-thirds of my life striving towards winning a premiership. So if I had the choice, hands down I’d pick a premiership.”

However, Smith says he gains much enjoyment from what has now become a major preoccupation outside football.

“The good thing about horse racing is that it’s all about hopes and dreams. It doesn’t matter what level you’re at in the racing game, whether you buy the most expensive horse or you buy a horse worth a thousand dollars, they’ve all got a chance of winning,” Smith says.

While the main purpose of the business is to sell horses, Smith admits to holding on to a few so he can race them.

“It’s a pretty exciting industry. Once the racing bug gets into your system you can’t help but race a few horses so we’ve always got a few running,” Smith says.

And if you fancy placing a dollar or two on a Smith-owned horse, then the 30-year-old says one of his horses, called ‘Imagining’, is your best bet.

“Imagining is getting set for the Brisbane carnival at the moment. Hopefully he can win a few races up there,” Smith says.

The Hawk says that although his team mate Shane Crawford is heavily involved in the horse racing industry, he has yet to buy a horse from him.

“He wouldn’t have enough money for one of mine,” Smith jokes.

“But if he he wants to buy the next Melbourne Cup winner he should come and talk to me.”

While Smith is happy to talk tips on horse racing, he’s not as eager to give odds on whether Hawthorn will play finals footy this year, after their big win against the premiers last weekend.

“You can’t get too carried away over one win,” Smith says.

“The boys have taken it in their stride pretty well. The night after the game and the day after the boys were pretty excited but at the end of the day, it’s only round nine and there are still a lot of games to go.

“You play football to play in the finals so that’s what we’re striving to get to. I don’t think you speak about it on a weekly basis. You just go about the process and try and win as many games as possible.”

Smith, who returned from a pre-season knee injury in round eight, says there is a good buzz around the club at the moment.

“There’s definitely a different feel around the place this year. A lot of the younger boys have really improved. There is a lot of pressure for places which is a healthy thing for the club and the players,” he says.

“I think we’ve got the second youngest list so with a young list there’s always improvement. We’ve certainly improved from last year and we’re improving weekly.

“For the older guys - Shane Crawford, Ben Dixon, (Richard) Vandenberg and myself - it’s probably given us a new lease of life in a sense to know that there’s a bright future here and hopefully if all goes well, finals are only around the corner.”