The Week in Rowe-view
Actions will speak louder than words when it comes to what happens next after the release of The Most Important Participant: A Framework for Thoroughbred Welfare report, a roadmap the industry simply must embrace to ensure racing retains its “social licence” and rightful place as one of the nation’s biggest industries.
More on that later, though. Those behind the 140-page, 46-recommendation report deserve much credit for not only its contents but also the way it was put in front of as many people as possible: yes, to those from within the industry and government but, just as importantly, to those from the outside who hold concerns about horse welfare.
Jockey Hugh Bowman and trainers Ciaron Maher and Tony Gollan – public figures whose names transcend the industry – penned articulate and considered pieces for Nine Entertainment (Sydney Morning Herald and The Age) and News Limited (Herald Sun and the Courier Mail) outlining the importance of the report and the industry’s willingness to change for the better.
Thoroughbred Breeders Australia chief executive Tom Reilly, a former editor of the SMH, deserves plenty of credit for the coordinated mass media promotion of the independent report, 25 months after the disturbing footage was aired on the 7.30 programme in relation to the cruelty and slaughter of ex-racehorses.
The ABC story – the catalyst for the commissioning of the report, which calls for a national approach to thoroughbred welfare, among many other recommendations – understandably received widespread and damning coverage by all sectors of the media (and social media) at the time, so it cannot be understated how vital it was that the four-person panel’s report also gained significant mainstream attention.
Ensuring that outcome is achieved doesn’t happen overnight and it would have taken a great deal of time and negotiation to make sure it did.
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Now, it is up to the Principal Racing Authorities (PRAs) to work together (yes, I know…) to ensure that the bulk of the recommendations, at least those under its control, are implemented and done so in a timely manner.
That means Racing NSW and Racing Victoria, the two PRAs who oversee the biggest and wealthiest racing jurisdictions, have to do the heavy lifting.
It is not up to Racing Australia, a body described to me as a boat which can only achieve if “everyone is rowing in the same direction” and we know, at least under the current constitution, that there are only two member states which can steer the ship and they are unwilling to give away their “captaincy” rights.
Hopefully the importance of welfare can see the PRAs not only present a united front but one that achieves real change.
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One of the report’s recommendations which PRAs could implement almost immediately is to adjust racing programs, particularly in country areas and at picnic races, to provide more opportunities for older horses to continue their racing careers.
Not every horse is up to metropolitan grade, despite almost all owners’ initial aspirations, and as panel chair Denis Napthine found, the majority of horses are retired by the time they are five, so if there are races run that can keep horses, particularly geldings, in training for another two or three seasons, it has to be a good thing. Running 0-45 and 0-50 benchmark races and no wins in the past year (or two years) seem logical.
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The Jericho was not developed with the panel in mind, but chair Dr Dennis Napthine, a Victorian western district pollie who would hold the state’s highest office as Premier, referred to Sunday’s race when talking about PRAs’ responsibility to cater to the entire racing population.
And what a spectacle the fourth running of The Jericho was at Warrnambool on Sunday, a marathon in which Wil John (Reset), the eventual winner, waged a stirring battle with Budd Fox down the straight to take out Australia’s longest flat race.
The race was the idea of Bill Gibbins who wanted to honour the Australian Light Horseman and Bill The Bastard, probably the nation’s greatest war horse. It started in 2018 and was run for the fourth time this year.
Warrnambool businessman Col McKenna has owned hundreds, if not thousands of horses, and he buys into numerous yearlings each year, but his passion for the Jericho was palpable after his homebred Wil John won on Sunday, 12 months after finishing third in the $300,000 race.
“Nobody has given him (Gibbins) the credit that he deserves,” an emotional McKenna said post-race.
“My father, my fathers-in-law and my uncles all went to war and … it’s bloody special.”
Gibbins has funded the race to the tune of $300,000 a year until now. Racing Victoria takes over from 2022 and it must maintain the momentum the race has quickly gained.
As mentioned above, maintaining racing’s relevance in the wider community is vital and The Jericho, and its origins, makes it an event the non-rusted-on racing fan can also gravitate to and the general public can relate to.
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Long-time Cambridge Stud manager Marcus Corban is making a strong fist of his new venture as an independent bloodstock agent.
The popular Kiwi, who was Sir Patrick Hogan’s right-hand man for decades, has been active at Tattersalls in the UK this week and bought the unraced Shadwell-bred Lope De Vega (Shamardal) two-year-old filly Zawahir for 35,000gns on Wednesday on behalf of a Hong Kong client.
Corban, who has also been called on to assist Te Akau’s David Ellis in recent times, can’t wait for the 2022 sales series where he plans to be a buyer as well as oversee the selling of clients’ yearlings at the various auctions in Australia and New Zealand.
“I am working for myself and I already have a good client base. I bought a couple of nice horses at the New Zealand Ready to Run and it’s onwards and upwards. I’m looking forward to getting to Magic Millions, so it’s exciting times again,” the popular Corban said yesterday.
“We have got a great catalogue for the New Zealand (Karaka) sale and then hopefully I can get back over to Australia for the Easter sale and up to Magic Millions for the broodmares (in May).”
While Ellis has leaned on Corban’s experience, Corban has himself called on stud farms in Australia and New Zealand to manage his clients’ stock on a day-to-day basis, specifically Bhima Thoroughbreds’ Mike and Kate Fleming in the Hunter Valley, Maluka Thoroughbreds’ Luke and Mags Anderson in Victoria and Carlaw Park’s Nick Fairweather and Nicole Brown in New Zealand.
His clients’ yearlings will be represented at all the select sales across Australasia next year.
“I am really trying to establish myself, and I do a little bit of that (tried horse market), but I have a really good knowledge of breeding and helping people mate their mares, growing their foals and selecting them for the right sales throughout Australasia,” Corban said.
“That is one of my core strengths and I really enjoy going to see people’s foals and being able to say, ‘this will suit Magic Millions, this one goes to Melbourne or New Zealand’.
“That’s something I did a lot of at Cambridge and I have a very good client base in New Zealand and I did it for some in Australia as well, so I am helping them (with their breeding portfolios).”
Corban briefly moved to Australia in 2020 to take up a role with Yulong in Victoria but he has since moved back to New Zealand and established his own business, trading under Marcus Corban Bloodstock.