ROB'S SHOUT - THE BRILLIANCE OF CAVIAR AND THE BAD TASTE OF POLITICS

By Robert Heathcote | Thursday, February 9, 2012

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

Hello once again and welcome to another 'Black Caviar weekend'.

She sure is a wonderful thing to behold! The racing world or perhaps more to the point … and this is why she is so special to our industry … the entire Nation and millions worldwide will stop to watch her run once again as she attempts to extend this extraordinary winning sequence!

I ran second to her in the Group 1 Pattinack with Buffering and funny how that race is one of my highlights of my career to date as it was such a fabulous day.

As usual in racing there is always plenty of debate and differing opinions and no different this week with the Melbourne Racing clubs decision to throw the gates open to the public for free entrance!

I can see the merits of this decision … just as I can understand those opposed to not giving free entry to the public and using the money to help other facets of the industry.

I certainly believe that it would not have happened here in Brisbane with our cash strapped Metropolitan club and I don't say that to be critical of the club itself … it's just a fact!

That’s why I continue to find it totally incredulous that the state’s racing administrators fail to adequately financially support the metropolitan race club in their efforts to improve and upgrade the facilities in town or, just as importantly, seemingly fail to show a desire to see the metropolitan facilities improved.

It is widely accepted that the facilities are substandard in most areas in the state and yes, the allocation of the IIP funding is vital to the provincial and country regions … however getting the metropolitan product in order is vital to the whole statewide industry and the industry's continued financial viability.

I do not doubt that the infrastructure statewide is in need of vast improvements, but it is vital the core product is looked after first and foremost.

That product is metropolitan racing even though it is clear to see from the latest letter from the chairman on the industry's website that the intention is to maybe 'farm' out metropolitan racing to Caloundra and the Gold Coast if things go belly up in town.

It fair dinkum angers me to see such comments about Caloundra and the Gold Coast being viable alternatives to metropolitan racing if the BRC fails … apparently, as some would hope!

Wouldn't it be nice to see our administrative body throwing its weight and support behind the BRC instead of against it!

What was it I said last week about not getting involved in the politics of this industry?

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I have been asked to give a brief outline of some ‘behind the scenes’ aspects of in our racing stable.

As my stable has increased in numbers I have found my time management has
been increasingly more important. I run a stable of about 55 in full work ,so it's essential that the stable be run efficiently and be well organized.

We start each day at 3am and the track work and stable duties are usually completed at about 8am each morning. The days sure do get long when the jump-outs and trials are on as it's not unusual to still be going at 11am.

For me, it’s then back into the office to report to the connections on the trials and for a roundup of the mornings work. This is a vital time for me as I evaluate the mornings work and also prepare the next morning's work schedule.

This is when I decide what work the horses are doing, whether they will be working in company and which rider will be riding which horse! I can then write a
saddling order list for my ground staff to ensure the horses are saddled and walked before the riders are ready for their track work.

This time also allows me to plan races and contact owners. It’s amazing how everyday just seems to fly by and before you know it, its 2pm and we start the afternoon shift attending to the stable chores and exercising the horses!

Trainers will invariably have their own methods regarding how they train, work and feed their horses.

My method is really quite simple with my main control of the horses being the amount of work and the intensity of the horses work.

I try and keep most other facets of the horse’s life in training, including their feed, at a constant and steady routine! I am huge believer in having horses happy as I have found a happy and contented horse tends to race up to their best more regularly!

Of course no two horses are exactly the same and it can take time to work a horse out and that is often the key factor in working horses out … TIME.

Mother nature can usually not be rushed and as eager as many owners are, a lot of horses require plenty of time to mature both physically and mentally before they can cope with the intensity of racing.

I guess it is fair to say that most horses have a 'standard work schedule' which is based on their individualism and constitution with some horses needing and coping with more work and others needing and sometimes coping with less.

I have always maintained my job as a trainer is to get the best out of each horse in my care. If a horse has the ability to win three or four races on the city and provincial tracks and we get the horse to that level, then fair to say we have achieved our goal.

Getting a horse with Class 3 or 4 ability to go right through to open company and maybe win some black type is just about impossible!

It's the ability to recognize and nurture the talent within a young horse and to eventually extract it on the race track which determines the success or failure of the task at hand. That said it is still all about getting the horse to race up to its best most times it steps onto the race track.

It is very frustrating when you have a horse which shows all the signs of being a good horse on the training track and yet they just do not seem to fire on the race track. That may well indeed have something to do with a vital organ called the heart but, jokes aside, there can indeed be many reasons why particular horses does not produce the goods on the race track!

Just lately there have been plenty of comments and discussions concerning trials and the importance of them when determining form for punters. I primarily use trials as an aid to the fitness preparation and helping to determine a horse’s best racing pattern … but the intensity of a race can never be replicated in a barrier trial and it's under the real pressure that we see the true extent of a horse’s ability!

I generally have a good idea of a horse’s ability before I get it to the trials, but every now and then we do get pleasantly surprised when one puts its hand up and showed promise unexpectedly!

An important aspect of training is the feedback I get from my track work riders. Their experience and knowledge of the horses is invaluable as we get them ready for the races.

So I hope that answers some of your questions with regard to what happens behind the scenes at my stable.

Now all you have to do is relax, enjoy the weekend and the experience which is BLACK CAVIAR.

I train 55 horses and she gets me excited!

Cheers.
Robert

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