Over the centuries, responsible horse owners and trainers, who are also inevitably horse lovers, have ensured that those who have served them in the racing industry have fulfilled careers when they finish racing.
Many leading stables have established their own extensive protocols for rehoming ex-racehorses, with top men such as Chris Waller, the nation’s leading trainer, taking a hands-on role in ensuring the welfare of former charges is of paramount importance, often paying vets bills and related costs themselves as part of the process.
His staff, headed by Executive Assistant Sophie Baker, works tirelessly to match the right horses to the right owners for post-racing careers, making sure that the physical capabilities and temperament of each galloper is suited to the task it will be required to carry out.
These can be many and varied. Some former racing stars like Group 3 winner McCreery end up in equestrian competition, others, like Group 1 Coolmore Stakes-winning sprinter Japonisme and Group 1 winner Foreteller work at studs as “mentors” for yearlings and young horses as they prepare for a future career on the track.
Some end up as attractions at places like Living Legends in Victoria, where that grand old stayer and Melbourne Cup regular Who Shot The Barman now resides.
Waller has been the dominant force in Australian racing for over a decade now, but he knows more than most that his success cannot be maintained if racing loses its allure with the general public.
“These horses have been given to us, so it is our job and responsibility to make sure they are getting what we got from them – a beautiful life after racing.”
Waller is upfront with his clients that owning a horse is a whole-of-life responsibility, not just a racing investment. And anyone who takes on an ex-racehorse to rehome it is given full details of any issues or injuries that the horse may have had, either recently or in the past.
Baker plays a major role in stable administration and management, particularly the rehoming process.
“Before Chris worked with horses, he worked with animals (on a dairy farm in New Zealand) so he has always been someone who cared a lot about them and their wellbeing.
“He is a big believer that the horses have been so good to us, we need to be good to them.”
Decisions on retirement are driven by the trainer, she explains.
“When horses either get an injury or get older to the point where we don’t want to put them under more pressure by continuing to race them on – they are not machines – Chris will discuss it with the owners, and they will retire them.
“The vet will have a look and give me an idea of any issues the horse has now or has had in the past and recovered from, and from that he will do up a vet report and we will put our feelers out.
“We do have a couple of contacts with a lot of equestrian people who put me in touch with potential new owners.
“We will filter through those people, ask questions about their background, references, where they would keep the horse, their intentions with the horse. We want the horses to go somewhere where they can have forever home.”
One recent retiree heading off to his forever home is the stayer Finch. Although the Turnbull Stakes, Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup will not quite feel the same this year without the presence of the ex-French galloper, he now has a future as a showjumper and eventing horse ahead of him.
Trained at Chantilly by the master Andrew Fabre for Prince Khaled Abdulla before heading to Australia, Finche ran in the past two editions of all three races. In each case he acquitted himself with great honour after finishing fourth to Cross Counter in the 2018 Melbourne Cup at just his second Australian start.
