ROB'S SHOUT - SENSITIVE ISSUE NEEDS TO BE RESOLVED

By Robert Heathcote | Thursday, August 5, 2010

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.

“There has been some conflict and certainly plenty of comment over the recent issues concerning the increase in costs of training horses at the Gold Coast venue.

“Whilst not being a trainer at the Gold Coast and not fully aware of all of the issues at hand, I have a fair idea of the reasons behind the proposed cost increases and I can fully understand and I personally endorse the stance the trainers and the owners association have taken.

“I have found in my relatively short time as a horse trainer, with my involvement on trainers committees and associations, that we trainers tend to have a view of 'self preservation' on most issues that concern us until we are faced with a 'crisis' that tends to bring us together.

“A recent example of this has been the closure of Doomben as a training venue which was going to affect a lot of the smaller trainers and also the issues at the Gold Coast.

“There is no doubt that running and maintaining training facilities does cost a lot of money and no one hides from that fact.

“At present the club committees are forced to increase fees to trainers and ultimately owners and unfortunately the quality of the available training facilities have not improved.

“Primarily, in my opinion, it all comes down to the costs of running the facilities and saving money. I do know at Eagle Farm and Doomben that the staff levels have been drastically reduced and they do not have the 'man power' to attend to the track maintenance as in times gone by … and I am only a relative new comer here at Eagle Farm.

“I think we are very fortunate here at Eagle Farm to have the dirt training track, which I rate highly, but it is a high maintenance track.

“I currently rent 30 stables which are based on-course at Eagle Farm. During the EI period, the QTC race club showed great initiative to convert the old tie-up stalls into stables. This cost somewhere in the vicinity of $2 million so the rents were calculated to pay these costs back in a relatively quick period.

“The calculated period of 'repayment of the debt' meant that the rents were high compared to the rest of the Australian metro/provincial tracks.

“As painful as this was, it was understandable at the time. Sadly for us trainers, the two mil has been paid off and the rents, well they went up not down.

“The argument given back to us is that the club NEEDS to make every dollar it can to meet the costs of running the racing and training facilities. The stable rents now generated are a significant 'earner' for the club and I now fear this will probably now become the 'norm' regarding on course rents!

“I currently pay $10500 per month for my 30 boxes on course at Eagle Farm. This is very high on a comparable scale with other Metropolitan training centre's for example, say Rosehill in Sydney … where not only are they considerably cheaper, they have much better amenities and facilities … large roomy boxes, close proximity to the swimming pool, easy access to the tracks via a tunnel, a stable admin office and a staff amenities room.

“Full credit to those responsible for the planning that went into that Rosehill complex!

“I believe the complex was planned and structured quite a few years ago, but having stayed there and spoken to the resident trainers, it appears to be a good model for any future racecourse planning.

“I note that new stables have just been built at Caloundra and are being called 'state of the art' by Racing Queensland.

“Yes, they are new and very roomy and well designed BUT they have no offices with phone and internet connections or a tack or feed room and certainly no staff/amenities room.

“Reasons have been given, but it was possible for not a lot more outlay to 'get it right' at the planning and building stage!

“For this reason they are basically boxes for horses, bloody nice boxes though I will admit.

“I understand that new facilities may well be built at the metro tracks in the near future, but there is still plenty of conjecture about that.

“I certainly hope they do get built and soon and whilst I don't imagine they will be cheap, I do hope they are done right. I don't mind paying the top dollar for world class facilities. At the moment it’s top dollar for the best we can do and we have to put up with it!

“The issues on the Gold Coast seem to have calmed down as the trainers costs have now reverted back to the old fees.

“I am sure though that any GCTC based trainer will say there are many issues that need urgent attention if funds were available. Our fees at Eagle Farm have risen drastically for the reasons outlined previously, but it’s not so much the level of the fees, it is what is available. Urgent work needs doing at the Farm, including a thorough makeover of the course proper.

“Personally I have a view that the industry as a whole should subsidize the majority, if not all, of the costs of running the training and racing facilities to the clubs … or even have the control body take over the full management of all racing and training facilities.

“The administrators can argue that there are already substantial funds given to the clubs, but they of course argue that it is not enough. It seems we are locked in a Mexican standoff at the moment with a number of clubs!

“Maybe the solution to the problem IF the clubs cannot afford to keep the training and racing facilities at their absolute best, is to allow the Racing body to take over the full running and upkeep and maintenance of all race tracks?

“There will be many disagree with this solution but as a racehorse trainer my responsibilities lie with my owners and their horses and we need them to have access to the best facilities possible.

“The clubs are short of cash. The costs of running the race tracks and training facilities are high … perhaps have the industry body take over these facilities and bring them up to a level that we can be proud of and seriously reduce the risks of injuries to horses!

“I personally don't have the 'right solution' to the current situation but whatever it is and however it is implemented, I just hope it is SOON.

“It is not good for any of the racing administrators to be in conflict with owners and trainers, be it at club level or even with the control body so I do hope that we can work together to come up with a good solution, even if it does involve plenty of compromise!

“I am also certain that this same conflict also applies to the racing club officials/administrators and the control body at Racing Queensland.

“I believe the ‘them’ and ‘us’ mentality that has been in place for some time is very damaging to racing and I don’t subscribe to it. I am not in either camp. I only want what is best for the industry.

“The catch cry of late seems to be 'Let’s move forward', so let’s do that.

"I believe the 'them' and 'us' mentality is very damaging to racing. I am not in either camp. I only want what is best for the industry."

"I have found in my relatively short time as a horse trainer that we trainers tend to have a view of 'self preservation' on most issues that concern us until we are faced with a 'crisis' that tends to bring us together."

"I do know at Eagle Farm and Doomben that the staff levels have been drastically reduced and they do not have the 'man power' to attend to track maintenance as in times gone by."

"It is not good for racing administrators to be in conflict with owners and trainers ... so I do hope we can work together to come up with a good solution, even if it involves plenty of compromise."

"I personally don't have the 'right solution' to the current situation, but whatever it is and however it is implemented, I just hope it is soon."