[AusRace] Drover, the blue whale of the District

Tue Mar 13 11:41:18 AEDT 2018

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From: Tony Moffat [mailto:tonymoffat at bigpond.com] 
Sent: Monday, March 12, 2018 8:53 PM
Subject: Drover, the blue whale of the District

There are a few racecourses in Victoria, some with training
facilities. 

I worked for a man in central Victoria for a while and he had
racehorses, his family did. He was not connected with their training,
or anything too much really, that was the job of the trainer, picking
the races, getting a jockey, feeding, watering, exercising, the things
that trainers do. All of this means, or requires organisation, and it
seems this trainer didn't have that. 

The Boss horses were brown, and that was the total of their
similarity, one was a mare, the other a gelding, one had a white
fetlock, the other three, one was twice the size of the other. It was
that last trait that caused some laughter in the stewards room once.

Rover, the girl, and Drover, the gelding were their stable names.

Rover was entered in a race one day at a different town although it
depended on some variables if she got a start or not. She could be
balloted out. She was this day, excluded, one reason being she had no
jockey, non-declared, up to 11.00am. The plan by the trainer was to
find some kid when he got there, he said that, he told the stewards,
the other being she was the last horse nominated and did not meet the
form criteria for the race, for horses with up to two wins in the
District, and she had no wins anywhere. She was not on course at the
required time also, they had to be in the stalls a couple of hours.
They had a full field, 14 may be, there being no spare kids, Rover was
balloted out. The trainer stayed for the races, left Rover, tethered
and thirsty and meant to return home in the cool evening. The owner
found this out, the trainer had not informed him that Rover was being
nominated, to be excluded.

Rover had been entered in a second race, the next day, on her home
course, as a back up to anything preventing her running the first day,
the day when there was no jockey, insufficent form, out of class, late
arrival. The second nomination, the second day, was never supposed to
be a backup for the first calamities. The trainer spoke to a kid at
the first race meeting and they struck up a deal for him to ride Rover
the next day, he was going to be there for other rides, so yeah,
pleased to. So he used the race secretary fax and fired off a form,
confirming Rover running, with a jockey, in tomorrows race, he was a
day late, but it was done.

The owner found the following out, the trainer had not informed him
that Rover was nominated for this upcoming race.

The trainer tried to get away, in the cool of the evening, but there
was the social aspect, then they asked to borrow his float, two horse
size and they would be back pronto, promise. By 2.00am the party was
winding down for day one, the trainer had been asleep in the back seat
of his car, when his float was delivered to him, and thanks all round.
Rover was ok, moved out of the wind, watered, a feed, a good feed too,
borrowed from one of the big boys down river, and well, he, the
trainer, was so tired. So he went to sleep with the best intentions of
leaving first thing, an easy run on a good road, straight to the
course, meet the staff there, he had other runners and a good
supervisor. He slept on until the birds made it impossible to do so.

He woke up in the sunny morning and went to check on Rover and she had
moved, she was now picking at the grass near the fence of the car park
and played a little game with him before acceding to capture and
loading on the float. He was late, he knew it, and he rang the yard
and spoke to his man. It seems an indictment, a blight really, that
the next thing occurred, the three stable employees were involved.
They took Drover to the course as Rover, not to undertake the race,
just be the four legged requirement in the runner stalls and not incur
the wrath of the stewards, yesterday they warned him, perhaps not
again today. It was dumb what they did, but they did it. Essentially
they took Drover from his nap after a feed, Drover, the blue whale of
the District, he is big, he is big and known, and today he was Rover,
even bandaged on his front feet, like Rover is on race days, and
Drover is never bandaged, he is clean legged all year.

The first inspection came and went, all good, stall R6, a brown horse,
discernible mark on shoulder, dimple on neck, strapper in attendance.
Second walk through stall R6, farrier in attendance, filing, plate
decision unknown, plates on. No mention or recognition that Drover was
a male, and Rover, absent at present, was a girl, a horse with a girls
name, something, something Thora, truly.

The trainer was on the way, in fact, he came off the ridge just then
and he could see the silos in the distance and the course is in their
shadow, all good. He parked outside and unloaded Rover and tied her to
the float, he went and got Drover, and quietly walked him around the
back to a row of stalls and tethered him there. He went and got Rover
and took her through the washing bay, just a refresher, the legs, the
belly, she likes the hose on her neck, she is a bit skittish, she is a
bit worked up, ready to race really he said. Poor Rover hasn't worked
a muscle for a couple of days, had grass for breakfast, although she
had the best horse gourmet last night. 

Rover was installed, brushed, bandaged on her front and the trainer
went to attend to other business, clients, horses, two others, the
jockey. The stall steward, or whatever his title, wanted an answer
regarding Drover. He is out of his stall, why, and he is not nominated
to race today, why is he here. He is here for comfort for Rover and I
tied him there while I dealt with business associated with training,
he said. Oh well, the Stewards may hear about this. The Secretary said
don't worry about it. The stewards did come, and invited him back
afterwards, about the late jockey nomination for starters, and well
there were other things, we will talk about them with you then.

The trainer wanted details there and then, he felt compromised, he
felt he had done something wrong, terrible, the jockey factor was one,
unavoidable really, there had been runners excluded because of the
non-appearance of jockeys up this way before. The stewards were
forthright, transparent, it is about Drover occupying Rovers stall,
being Rover-like while the real deal was still arriving. The trainer
felt strongly enough to say he would not allow his horse to run, he
felt picked on, compromised, he had a slight delay getting on course,
he had been warned about slackness, their word for lateness the day
before, he had not meant to be contemptible, he did not trick the
stewards, he was running a business and sometimes this requires
decisions not normal. So they left him for the time being, and
questioned the staff, why was Drover bought over, and of course they
told them why, for what reason, and apologised for being stupid.

Rover was scratched, the jockey got paid in the circumstances, just
his fee. Drover got away and like his stable mate, had a nibble of the
grass in the car park. The trainer was informed he should remain on
course today, the stewards had questions. His other runners would be
scratched as it was interpreted that the trainer wanted that, he said
that, he had said he had finished running his horses in this District.
He may have been rash in saying that, and denied he meant it to be,
but the receiver of the tirade heard it, as did the secretary and the
girls in the kitchen and probably some in the grandstand. So the
stewards asked him separately for each horse, the others and not
Rover, and he asked to re-consider, he had a public relations storm
with 4 groups of owners if he withdrew and scratched everything else
today, so they stayed in and ran. There was no joy from them.

My boss, the owner of Rover and Drover, Exposure, Clover, Sober and
some others known more for their real names and not the apparent
espionage swapping of titles, arrived on course to be told by the
trainer staff what had happened, and an apology. He laughed, it's just
a game he said, just an interest, until the hearing when he was told,
in the pre-amble, that Rover, and perhaps Drover, could be outed, was
there subterfuge or deception, was Drover going to run, he was
bandaged, explain that, explain the thinking behind occupying a runner
stall with the mammoth of the District, why is that not holding the
stewards in contempt when the only reason, you say, was to inform the
stewards by demonstration, that a runner purporting to be Rover was on
course.

There was some funny aspects to all of this, sadness too, which is may
be what comedy is, sadness or tragedy re-visited really. The trainer
said he had the best interests of his clients and his horses. The
stewards maintained he did not. He had his best interests to
forefront, and by substituting Drover for Rover had ridiculed the
racing authority in the District. There were measurements mentioned,
hands, weights, gender, the bandages, what were you thinking they
asked his staff, tell us there is a problem then resolve it they said,
don't do that, don't use Drover for that. The second steward is a big
man, a full forward in a Riverina League some time previous, the
stenographer is tiny, like 5 stone, and the steward got them to stand
side by side for the benefit of the committee and he asked now, 'which
one is Rover' and the trainer got it right, Rover is the girl he said,
he was meant to add also something about the size but didn't. The
steward did, it was he that bought the 'blue whale' counter phrase to
the hearing. They laughed, and laughed again when the trainer asked
for it to be explained.

He got fined, he had to be monitored for a few months by the racing
department, he had to submit his returns on time from now on and not
when he thought he might, or remembered, it was acknowledged he was a
horseman with the best interests of himself and his client secondary
to that of his runners, it had to be explained to him that this was a
compliment.

He was left with three horses total, but was hopeful of attracting new
business. My boss moved his to Warracknabeal, and consolidated his
racing operations there. It got going too, they had some country cup
wins, always the hallmark of success. He took the staff on course on
easter Monday, a big day locally, for a sit down meal and some
terrible music and good racing.

Drover remained a pet, hanging around the workshop, and sleeping on
the veranda of the old house,  He was big, and shiney brown, and
nearly always watched and over saw the unloading of the dozer, then
you backed up and followed him to the pit, and over took him, they are
pretty nifty in reverse those TD25s, really. Rover was sold on, to
become a broodmare somewhere.

Drover had a rival, size wise, when Rocker arrived in the District,
trained by the school teacher in the one horse town further east, you
saw those two trotting on the old railway embankment sometimes. He had
raced, our Rocker, but he was a pet now. He was big too, the reason he
is being spoken about really. Rockers parents had figured in Blamey
Stakes and big efforts in Adelaide, Drover didn't have a pedigree
really, just a past.

Cheers

Tony

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