ROB'S SHOUT - LOOKING BACK, MOVING FORWARD
By Robert Heathcote | Thursday, August 2, 2012
Robert Heathcote is the leading racehorse trainer in Brisbane. 'Rob's Shout' - the personal blog of the multi-premiership and Group 1 winning trainer will appear every Thursday on HRO.
The racing season has once again come to a close and we now begin the new season with a clean slate. Each season brings along its own demands and pressures and no doubt this coming year will be another huge challenge.
I remember winning my first metropolitan premiership four years ago and thinking what an enormous buzz it was and that it would be nearly impossible to follow it up with another one … let alone three.
As horses have more success and wins under their belt and their handicap ratings rise, it certainly does get harder to place them and remain competitive and, of course, to win races. At the end of the day, it’s fair to say that winning premierships is a numbers game to a degree but there is much more goes into it than just sending them around week in and week out.
Once you have scaled a certain height or level of success do things actually become easier?
A successful stable has the clients, it has the horse numbers and the infrastructure in place to continue the success even when things don't always go according to plan, but if only it was that easy!
Things still very much come down to long hours and lots of hard work. That's not to say in any way that other trainers who do not enjoy as much success on the racetrack do not work just as hard and also put in the long hours.
A stable is generally only as good as the horses in their care so horse management , horse and race planning over a period of time and a successful 'replenishment' and stable 'rebuilding' program is essential for a stable’s ongoing success.
This is an area that I have specifically worked on this past five years and the four successive premierships is testimony to that strategy.
Of course, with a continued level of success, there does come an added responsibility to a degree and more pressure to succeed. I personally find it is important to be realistic and only set achievable goals going into a new season and whilst I am not generally a goal setter, I do set a stable benchmark in my own mind which we aim to reach each year.
Our stable success this past few years also means we can become a bit of a target that some people like to shoot down, sometimes from my competitors whom I like to think I have a healthy rivalry with, to the mean spirited critics who do not handle the success of others too well in this industry. I have since learned that these self championed knockers of the industry will never be satisfied whatever happens in this industry!
There are times when I really do feel like firing back at these industry critics and simply say, if you think it's that easy, how about having a go yourself but that would be a waste of time?
One thing that being a racehorse trainer has taught me is that we must be resilient and tough and be able to fight back against adversity.
There are many times in this industry where we must cop a couple on the chin, but experience has now taught me there is little point in whining and moping about too much. It's better to just get over the problems and move on.
Buffering's hoof issue which saw him miss the recent BTC cup was a case in point, but the little horse bounced back brilliantly in his next two races.
Whilst winning is a fantastic feeling, we as owners and trainers lose more than we win so learning to lose well is an admirable quality which makes the winning feeling all that much sweeter. (That's unless you own Black Caviar or Frankel who both remain unbeaten).
It is important as professionals in this industry that we must always remain focused and dedicated to getting the best out of the horses in our care. If that brings with it success and premierships, well that's just a bonus. The feeling of knowing we have given it our best shot is often reward enough!
Earlier in the week the announcement was made that Black Caviar would not be racing in the upcoming Spring Carnival. I would be lying if I said that news did not bring a smile to my face.
No doubt she has been the superstar of the Australian turf this three or four years and arguably the very best we have ever seen, but I do hope the racing public get to see her on the race track again. My guess is the Lightning at Flemington in the Autumn and fingers crossed I am right, but I can certainly understand if indeed they do pull the pin and send her to stud.
Her non-presence will sure make Bufferings task in the Schillaci, the Manikato and then the Patinack somewhat 'easier'! Little doubt they will still be extremely tough races to win for Buffering, but if he can come back in the form he went out in, he will be very competitive in those races and maybe he can get his well deserved Group 1 win.
Buffering will return into my Eagle Farm stables on Monday to begin his Spring preparation. We are excited but we saw with a simple stone bruise how race plans can be derailed!
July was another record month of rainfall which continues the pattern this past year but, hopefully, we are now in for some respite as it's been a week with no rain. Pleeeeease … hopefully the weather will allow the tracks to dry out and give the track managers some respite too!
Until next week,
Cheers,
Robert
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