THE SUNSHINE COAST NEWSPAPER COLUMN - A LIFE WELL LIVED. DESIREE GILL LEAVES AN HONARABLE LEGACY

By Graham Potter | Sunday, November 17, 2013

Graham Potter writes a weekly column for the Sunshine Coast daily. Due to demand from those having trouble accessing the paper these columns are now also published on HRO courtesy of the Sunshine Coast daily

The sad events at Corbould Park last Saturday night crystallised the enormous risk that horse and rider face in the heat of competitive action.

The danger is nothing new in racing and the reminder was one nobody needed, but as Saturday night and the early hours of Sunday morning played out to its tragic conclusion, a real sense of loss settled on a shocked industry.

Any death is one too many and when Desiree Gill’s name was added to the list of fallen riders the industry felt the body-blow just as much as it had done on each and every occasion before when a rider had paid the ultimate price.

Accepting news on this level never gets any easier.

But there is some saving grace.

As much as it might seem like an overused cliché, Gill died doing what see loved. She was a career horse-woman who threw her heart and soul into her ‘work’ and thus lived her life to the full.

That, in essence, is something to be celebrated and husband Barry Gill’s response when telephoned by a Telegraph journalist some days after the incident, personified that spirit.

The journalist didn’t have to be apprehensive about how he would be received. Gill was happy to talk about his wife. In fact, his words, ‘I just love talking about her’ even lifted my spirits at a time when you would have thought it was his spirit that would have needed support.

No surprise there really. Self-pity has never been part of the Gill family mantra.

Tireless, tough and generous are just three adjectives that come to mind when describing Desiree Gill, but you only have to read the social media tribute postings of so many young people associated with racing to realise Gill was much more than that to many, many people.

Enough in fact to ensure she has left an honourable legacy.

Desiree would have been proud of that!

**Donations can be made to the Desiree Gill Fund via direct debit using the following details:

Name: The Desiree Gill Fund:
BSB: 084-004;
Account Number: 39-452-7218

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Want to find some interesting reading in your down-time? (What’s down-time I hear some of you say).

Well, if you can find some spare time a look at the Australian Fact Book for the 2012-13 season, which was released on Wednesday, may well give you food for thought.

The Fact Book incorporates all of racing and breeding’s key statistics on a national basis and gives a precise indication of the scale of the industry in this country which, according to ARB CEO Peter McGauran, includes, “389 race clubs, 367 racetracks, 19,626 races, 989 jockeys, 3,891 trainers and 95,971 owners … all of which goes to employ over 200,000 people.”

But wait … there’s more.

Well, that’s for you to look up if your interest extends that far.

The 2012-13 Racing Fact Book is available online at www.australianracingboard.com.au

It should be an insightful read.

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