Racenet journalist Bruce Clark interviews Gai Waterhouse 27/9:
What were you doing at
2.30am Monday morning?
Snoring for Australia? Watching the Ryder Cup or blasting out after a long weekend punt on one at the Curragh or Epsom, maybe even finding an Oisin Murphy winner at Ffos Las in Wales?
Hello
Gai Waterhouse, she’s got you covered. She’s got us all covered. As always.
She of
146 Group 1 winners and still the
most recognisable face of the sport, and even better with the addendum of
Adrian Bott in partnership (
12 Group 1’s with him after In The Congo’s Golden Rose).
Sure, you may have seen a snap of Gai sipping a
“Pink Pommery” champagne on social media over the weekend, but that toast became of a different sort early this morning.
Gai’s alarm went off Monday morning at 2.30am, as usual, after going to bed before 9pm last night, despite a fabulous weekend of stable results,
a Group 1, Group 2 and Group 3 in Sydney, a Listed race in Melbourne and a maiden at Goulburn.
Making an early breakfast for husband Rob and then a round of phone calls, Facetimes or Zoom’s from 3am to either Bott, or respective stable foremen and the Melbourne team.
That’s today, tomorrow and every day.
The only slight change in routine is not packing little bags of chewy nuts for all the staff to share for morning sustenance, as Gai is locked down at home and away from the stables.
Yes, still very much the
“mother”, as much the trainer in charge.
Who said the fire was slowly simmering for the rhetorically titled
“First Lady” Of Australian racing?
Yes, Gai has an
OM (Order of Australian Medal) alongside her credentials.
Gai is forever one of her own unique making, but aside from Saturday’s big race stash, the last 10 days have yielded winners at the
Gold Coast, Nowra, Wyong, Kyneton, Cranbourne, Hawkesbury and Goulburn.
“Those days like the weekend are what we all dream about, how good was that,” mentioned Gai almost as if asking for a nod of approval like a schoolboy cricketer on making a maiden century.
She is never finished, never done, always seeking the next winner.
Scaling down or back, retirement, how dare you mention such to Gai?
“Wasn’t that terrific, the whole stable is going terrific, I’m loving it, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
When we were talking on Sunday, Gai has a runner at Benalla,
‘ring me back Bruce, let me watch that’. It misses a place, but Gai is as sharp as ever.
“Wasn’t fit enough, I’ll fix that.”
“I mightn’t be able to be at the stable or the track as much as I would like, but this is my whole life, I love it and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“I might be like a dinosaur, no they died and became extinct didn’t they, forget that, I have no intention of being like that.
“I’m still learning, I just want to be wanted by Adrian and the team and be there for them.”
Not that Adrian Bott is the least bit surprised.
“She doesn’t stop,” he said.
“One thing that I am never worried about with Gai Waterhouse is her drive, she’s competitive by nature and her attention to detail is amazing.”
“I might get the first call at 3am, then she’s on with all the others to find out everything or anything, then we might debrief after trackwork and may make some changes, then she’s on to owners, she’s a machine,” Bott said.
Waterhouse is equally as admiring of her protégé.
“We get on well, he listens but we complement each other. I care about what he thinks, and I listen, and he listens to me,” she said.
“I remember Lester Piggott once said, you are not a trainer until you’ve been training for 20 years, Adrian is only five years or so in, and he is earning his stripes and it’s why it’s so exciting for all of us right now.
“I sat alongside dad, (the legendary T J Smith of 246 Group 1 wins) for all those years and it’s terrific to have someone like Adrian alongside me.
“Adrian has a very quick way picking things up, seeing things differently. I might go in and shoot from the hip and get things done, he’ll think about it and come from a different angle. It works for us,” she said.
But it’s the young team that has always surrounded Gai Waterhouse that keeps her energy and passion for the game alive.
A mother to her staff, a proud grandmother of five of her own via daughter Kate and son Tom.
“I love young people, their energy, it’s so important, I think most of mine would be under 35 and we can all blend our experiences with each other.”
***
Like all of society, Gai has adapted to a Covid lifestyle.
“I’ve become an expert on learning Facetime and having a zoom meeting, but we have had to learn how to do things differently and think outside the box,” she said.
Keeping owners informed and engaged has always been a key at Tulloch Lodge, but the traditional Sunday morning open day for owners and friends is one thing Waterhouse does miss.
“Dad started them, and I kept them going. It was a great way of bringing owners together at one time during the week and feeling the enjoyment with our owners,” Gai said.
“It's even more important now to keep our owners in touch and we have really ramped up that side of the business. I remember when we were locked down with EI, Rob said to me “write a blog”, I didn’t even know what a blog was, but it is just another way of telling your customers what they are paying for.
“But today it’s even more important, we treat all our owners the same way as we do our horses, whether they are winning a Group 1 or a maiden at Nowra, it means so much.”
Like all of us, Waterhouse is itching for the easing of restrictions and says vaccinations are the only way forward.
If you are anti-vax, then you are in for a scolding from Gai.
“It’s the maddest thing I have ever heard. I remember when we wanted to go overseas, we needed to get inoculated for cholera, typhoid, diphtheria, whatever, you just got it done and it went into your passports without a question.
“What are these people protesting about, if you want to have a life and be around for a long time, take the precaution and get a jab. What’s this personal freedom nonsense, it’s for everyone’s freedom, we got jabs because we had to, now not just everyone in racing, but for everyone, we should get vaccinated and be done with it, simple.”
***
Waterhouse calls her Melbourne stable
“my pet project” and misses the chance to physically play her part in the spring carnival – unless that changes over time.
Hence the need for zoom calls where staff parade the horses out of their boxes for Waterhouse’s intuitive eye to see what only she can, and tinker and tailor little changes that are the difference between winning and defeat.
It worked with Queen Of Dubai on the weekend and now another Thousand Guineas looks possible.
She has high hopes for her Brisbane Cup winner Knight’s Order who will run in the Bart Cummings at Flemington on Saturday.
She has a Deep Field two-year-old colt called Black Tahitian, and while not calling it the Golden Slipper winner just yet, suggests it will play a leading role in the early season Melbourne juvenile races.
Of her Golden Rose star In The Congo, she suggests she will have only
“two bobs worth” in the say where he goes.
“I’ll leave that with Henry (Field) and the team, you don’t want too many bosses being involved.”
But in the meantime, Gai will continue being Gai with the same hunger and energy that has taken her well into her 60’s and of course, I am too respectful to land on her real age.
Gai is ageless.