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48b.
Brave Warrior case could determine the fate of racing
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08/08/2002 |
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IT was early morning on March 30, 1998, and stallion Brave Warrior had been taken from his box to his day yard set into a hill in the beautiful Darling Downs.
This was the routine. The light was good, the morning still and stunning.
The day before, the chestnut stallion's dapples had danced and glistened in the Queensland sun as he was paraded before clients at Eureka Stud. He had been a Group II winner as a racehorse and he had served just two books of mares as a stallion.
In this game of chance Brave Warrior's stock could be something or nothing. But this son of Cossack Warrior caught the eye.
Shortly after being led to his day yard on March 30, staff at Eureka Stud rushed back to the paddock, panicked by the mad squealing of Brave Warrior. They found the horse all but dead. He had smashed his head into the paddock gate with great force. He lived for another 11 days until vets and the owners gave up hope and had him put down.
Newspaper reports at the time noted it was a ``freak'' accident. Subsequently it has turned out to be a considerable blow to the Australian breeding industry.
From his only two crops he has produced 58 winners who have collected just under $6 million in prizemoney. Stradbroke winner Show A Heart is from Brave Warrior's first crop.
However, the stallion's death now promises to be more than a blow to breeding. It could vastly change the landscape of racing in this country. Dangerously so. Eureka Stud faces Supreme Court action which seeks $23 million in damages.
In this volatile environment of public liability insurance, no-one in racing is quite prepared to stipulate the ramifications if the claim is successful other than they would be horrific.
Horse insurance could become inaccessible, never mind prohibitive. A senior racing figure said yesterday that only the ``big end of town players would be left. No-one else could survive''.
As it is the industry is buckling everywhere. Only last month in NSW the last horse-breaker at Randwick, Matthew Bathis, quit because of spiralling insurance costs. Nationally, jockeys have survived an insurance crisis that threatened to shut down the industry but only with the financial help of the state racing bodies. It is grim business.
The court action is being taken by Neville Bell and Doug Cowell, who were part-owners of Brave Warrior at the time of the accident. They are suing the owner of Eureka Stud, the respected breeder Colin McAlpine, who was also a part-owner of the stallion. The claim is also made against McAlpine's son Scott.
The claim argues, among other things, that Eureka Stud and the McAlpines had breached their duty of care. It states Brave Warrior put his head between the second and third bars of the gate, moved his head upwards and a steel handle on the gate punctured the horse's cranial cavity.
The breach of duty includes failing to supervise Brave Warrior in the yard, using a gate that was unsuitable in design and failing to use a gate which was reasonably safe for use in a horse stud. A representative of Eureka Stud said yesterday that the action would be defended.
Colin McAlpine's father Andrew established Eureka Stud in the early 1930s. Colin has been president of the Queensland Breeders' Association for 17 years and the Australian Breeders' Association for 14 years. He was awarded an AM for his contribution to the Australian breeding industry in 1991.
Eureka has stood noteworthy sires Puissance, Lumley Road, Raise A Stanza and Semipalatinsk. Brave Warrior was owned in partnership -- Bell had 20 shares, McAlpine 14 and Cowell eight. The horse was insured for around $400,000 at the time of the accident. His service fee was just $5500.
Bell said yesterday that similar litigation had happened in racing before: ``Jockeys sue other jockeys.'' Bell admitted he had initiated litigation before in other matters but would not say how many times. ``However, you couldn't call me a professional litigant.''
The case is as intriguing as it is volatile. Bell is a Queensland Turf Club committeeman and part-owner of Caulfield Cup winner Sky Heights. Cowell was a member of the Brisbane Turf Club committee. Industry sources say both men would know the ramifications of a successful court case.
Bell said yesterday that he had not taken this into consideration. ``You are entitled to claim for damages if there has been a breach of care,'' he said. Bell preferred to make no other comment.
Of course, Bell is correct. He has a right to go to court if he has lost money through negligence. But racing is a business of happenstance. A horse can break down in a race, injure itself on a fence, die overnight from colic.
The $23 million claim is based on forecasts of income if Brave Warrior had been able to stand at stud for 10 years. Interestingly, when the stallion's first crop began to show form at their first trials, Bell was quoted in the Courier-Mail as saying: ``After he died I lost a bit of heart and sold about 15 broodmares that were in foal to Brave Warrior. I only kept about three mares that were in foal to him.''
So now racing awaits the outcome of the court case. And it is trembling in fear.
Patrick Smith can be heard on Melbourne radio Sport927 weekdays from 7.15am
By Patrick Smith, Award-winning columnist
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