ROB'S SHOUT - NATURE'S FURY UNLEASHED

By Robert Heathcote | Thursday, January 20, 2011

Robert Heathcote is the leading racehorse trainer in Brisbane. 'Rob's Shout' - the personal blog of the premiership winning trainer will appear every Thursday on HRO.

The last time I wrote a blog prior to the Xmas new year break it was was about the difficulties the rain creates to the racing industry and how uncomfortable it can make things.

That was way back in December and wow, how does one now describe the events since then in the state of Queensland?

I do not have the literary talent to accurately portray the events and the extent of the tragedy and the enormous loss and trauma felt by so many.

The 'inland tsunami' and the floods have caused havoc and destruction not seen since the devastations of the great flood of '74.

The little girl, or ‘La Nina’ as we have come to know her has now become synonymous with this changed weather pattern which has brought so much rain from way back to August and absolutely saturated the ground which has led to the catastrophic flooding this past few weeks and the tragic loss of so many lives.

I have lived here in Queensland for over fifteen years and I too had become a bit complacent regarding our weather.

Yes, we may have had a drought for the past decade but maybe, just maybe there should have been some more warning to the low lying areas of Brisbane and the adequacy of the cities flood warning system may need an urgent overall.

But, then again, perhaps it was impossible to predict the circumstances which played out in Toowoomba and the Gatton valley?

We in the Racing industry have also had to pay a huge price, none more so than the tragic loss of the senior steward from Toowoomba.

James Perry had just relocated to this state with his young family because, I am led to believe, the better weather than 'down south', so our heartfelt sympathies
and condolences go out to his family.

Such a freak of nature than brings so much loss and trauma to so many is so difficult to comprehend and no doubt there will be many ramifications down the track as the royal commission into the disaster unfolds as we try to understand and learn from this event!

It’s been incredible to see the show of strength with the united efforts of so many to assist in the massive clean-up and whilst it's not possible to match 'Mother Natures' daunting show of force, it’s been a monumental effort from so many to help get the 'train back on the rails'.

So many have told me of the indescribable carnage left by nature's fury.

There are many in the industry who have been affected far worse than others. In particular those from Rockhampton who have seen their track, stables and
training facilities under metres of water.

How long it takes for these industry participants to get back on their feet is still a guess and it was great to see the racing principal authority come to their financial aid with immediate assistance based on a prorate system according to the circumstances.

Other fund raising efforts are being made also with an upcoming dinner so full credit to those responsible for helping in a time of crisis and need.

The Brisbane city authorities have handled the situation well in terms of communication and planning and I believe a pat on the back can go to Racing Queensland as well for the way the disaster has been handled.

It’s been a stressful period and they must have spent some long hours re-planning during a time of so much uncertainty.

With so many disruptions to racing, the race planning is in such a mess now with so many horses are looking for starts, so we will have to be patient as some 'normality' returns to our industry.

I do not envy the task that has been laid out in front of the Racing administrators and I think they have done as well as can be expected under the circumstances.

Personally my stable coped pretty well during the torrential rains.

There was some minor flooding around the stable and many boxes got saturated which created another problem. Stable bedding has become just about impossible to get.

Many stables including mine use pine saw dust / pine shavings for the horses bedding and with so many mills having shut down due to the floods, the supplies have basically dried right up.

Considerations were actually being made to trucking shavings up from Victoria, of course at huge expense, but I managed to secure a load just yesterday from my regular supplier which may help me get through until things get back to normal.

The continued wetness and even damp boxes creates issues with the horses health, in particular their hooves which become softer and very susceptible to bruising.

My farrier says he has never seen the number of 'stone bruises' that are currently around the stables and this comment is backed up by Kevin Thomas out at Washpool Lodge where the majority of mine spell.

Kevin also says in his many years in the game, he has never had such a run of wet and so many feet problems with horses!

Aside from the never ending rains, the Eagle Farm training facilities were pretty much unaffected by the floods.

Whilst being quite close to the Brisbane river as it flows through Hamilton, we are at about 8.5 metres so it would have to come up another 3 metres higher than it did to affect the track and I am sure a hell of a lot more of Brisbane.

Sure, quite a few race meetings were lost which have serious financial consequences for the industry and its participants but the training of the horses was, in the main, unaffected.

The loss of so much betting revenue to the racing coffers this past few months could not have come at a worse time when we are all desperate for an injection of funds to the prize money levels. I am hopeful that we get back on track and pronto!

It’s been a long time since we saw any racing on a ‘Good 3’ turf track but we did just see the running of another Magic Millions carnival and full credit to the club for a hugely successful day.

The track itself played very well under the circumstances and raced fair and even. Credit must go to the track staff for the job they did in getting the track to race as well as it done after so much rain fall of late.

It’s an event that is very important on the National racing calendar and that’s the key word, EVENT as its more than just a race day.

The sales held in conjunction with the race day are a major player on the national thoroughbred scene as well as the global scene and may even be a barometer to the state of the industry?

I attended the sales and I have to say that I thought the sales went well. The nice yearlings were very keenly sought after and brought the big dollars, but it’s fair to say the yearling sales have had a 'correction' this past few years.

Maybe even a bit more to come with some more realistic prices for the horses, but the average was still quite healthy so there will as usual have been some happy buyers and some happy vendors … as well as those not so happy.

Maybe the service fees at the higher end have to come down a bit more, but that's a simple case of the old supply and demand economic syndrome, I guess!

I was lucky enough to pick up a couple of nice yearlings including a stunning Jet Spur colt in conjunction with Ontrack Throughbreds. More info will be accessible through my own website a bit later under the horses available banner.

The New Year has started off disastrously for so many but we in the racing industry are a pretty resilient lot and I have no doubt that we can all bounce back.

It will take quite a while for normality to return and the hit the industry has taken could not have come at a worse time but it has happened and hopefully all of the major players ... on both sides of the fence can come together and work to create more harmony to achieve the ultimate goal of a strong and vibrant industry and help out those in need during this difficult period.

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