Miraculous escape for Wauchope trainer’s breeding and racing stock
Wauchope trainer Colt Prosser was lucky to save some of his racing and breeding stock yesterday as record high flood waters engulfed his property in the Mid-North Coast region of NSW.
With a short break in the relentless rain, Prosser was able to access his farm and called on friends and staff to mount an incredible rescue mission for his 15-head of prized broodmares, spellers, yearlings, retired racehorses and a foal.
“We thought they would all be dead when we got there, the water was so high. We couldn’t believe it,” said Prosser.
“Water was up to the windshield of the horse truck. The bigger horses were well up over their shoulders in the water. They kept popping their heads up and the foal stuck its neck out like a snorkel.”
Fortunately the horses had made their way onto a refuge mound Prosser built when he first bought the property. After a daily dumping of up to 300 millimetres of rain, the flood water had swelled 1.3 metres over the area where the horses were huddled.
“We cut six fences and made a track to go through waist deep water most of the way and had to swim across 80-90 metres where you could not touch the ground at all,” he continued.
“Luckily I swim all my horses so I had a couple of the good horses that we sent out in front and the others followed.”
Prosser even had a few local jockeys chip in to help the rescue effort.
“Jockeys were wading up to their necks to get them through.”
Once they were safely on dry ground, the horses were transported to the Wauchope Showground for veterinary care.
“They were shivering and stressed because they were submerged for a day. They have been treated with antibiotics and electrolytes over the tongue so they can have a good drink.
“They have swollen legs and scratches and nicks.”
Last night, a relieved Prosser gathered with those that assisted him and shouted them a few well earned beers at the local pub.
“We were so lucky. It was a good mix of our future all tied up on one little property. People nearby lost all of their horses and whole herds of cattle,” he said.
Race clubs on the Mid-North Coast have also been inundated with flood waters and will be out of action for days.
Mid-North Coast Racing Association secretary Michael Bowman said Port Macquarie, which lost its meeting last Friday, is scheduled to stage another programme this Saturday but it’s looking highly unlikely to go ahead.
“Unfortunately it’s a period where we have three meetings in three weeks. We are trying to race next Saturday but I don’t like our chances. They are talking about it coming down hard again in the next couple of days.
“In-field dams keep rising and rising and now go over the sand track and a section of the main track,” said Bowman.
At the Manning Valley Race Club in Taree conditions are even worse. The club’s secretary Helen Sinclair said the weather event is unprecedented.
“It’s very severe. I can’t get to work tomorrow. The town (Taree) is cut off at both ends. The track itself has had a lot of flooding and debris. It’s never happened like this ever,” said Sinclair.
There are 20 trainers based at the Taree racecourse and they have all been forced to keep their horses stabled and cannot work them.
“The track itself will take a while to recover. We have been racing on a Heavy 10 for a while. This rain has come down for six weeks or so. We have had a really unrealistic rain event.
“In March last year we lost a meeting due to smoke from bushfires and now it’s a complete turnaround,” she said.
Racehorse trainers have also come to a standstill at Kempsey with the next meeting there scheduled for April 25.
In recent days the Mid-North Coast horse/livestock flood recovery group was established on Facebook and already has more than 2,000 members.