We had chatted and filmed what we talked about almost a month ago- mainly different things to do with horse racing and where it’s going. But then when swept up in almost a tsunami of events, some not very good for the sport, the man some know as “BT” or “the Babe” and myself decided that we have another chat with what we know today- though what we know today might not be what’s here tomorrow. Life these days is a karma karma karma chameleon.
Neither of us run a racing club, nor do we want to. My longtime friend Brent Thomson is not a marketing man like I am and I have not lived a lifetime in horse racing like he has.
So, though coming from very different backgrounds and positions at what is a pastime for me and an incredible career as a world class jockey that’s part of his DNA, it wasn’t a car crash.
Together with Hugh Bowman, Brent is the only rider to win four Cox Plates, he’s ridden against and for the very best in Europe and the UK and had a successful career in Hong Kong when riding for notorious and powerful champion trainer Brian Kan Ping-chee.
Kan wouldn’t have been out of place in any of the first two Godfather movies, and is still very much the retired Don of horse racing. His cameo appearances at the races even today are greeted with a certain papal reverence.
Hell, if anyone could coerce all of Hong Kong to get vaccinated, it would be Brian Kan Ping-chee.
BT’s association with Kan happened when he replaced the Trainer’s very talented and exciting stable jockey South African Bartie Leisher after the latter suffered a career-changing race day injury in Hong Kong.
Brent and I go back many years. They’re filled with memories, most of which neither of us wish to forget. Even the not so good ones. They remain life lessons that have served us well.
We’re now at a point in our lives to know the wheat from the chaff, how to roll with the punches and when to play that ace in the hole.
We have enjoyed those days when the world was a very different place as was horse racing. Some of the stories we could tell…but these are best saved for the book.
This interview asks some questions which really cannot be answered. But we tried. Perhaps it’s food for thought.
At a time when lockdowns are part of life and the main topics of concern are vaccinations and their possible side-effects, this “new normal” is very much like constantly walking on eggshells. It’s a very tough way of living.
Social media and what often goes on there add to the uncertainty and absurdity of it all.
Brent looks at horse racing from where he’s been and where he is today- and I see it as a pastime that works better in certain countries than others, and where there may exist more opportunities.
Key in moving forward are the generation gaps that need to be understood before they become potholes.
After all, the 30 year old in the Nineties is today approaching 60 whereas today’s 30 year old has completely different likes, dislikes and priorities to someone the same age back in the day.
What we both agree on is that racing has seen the end of different eras probably 2-3 times and which didn’t really register with us then. The changing of the guard is far more evident today.
Like almost every other leisure activity industry, these changes and challenges and new competition are now faced by horse racing. Plus, for whatever reason, there’s a dearth of new creative and executive level talent. Who’s going to fill these positions? Does anyone really know?
It is what it is and what it isn’t and nothing is going away and nothing stays the same forever.
It’s now all about how one adapts to these changes- whether in horse racing or not.