Frank Hurst is usually a man of limited words. He does however tell it like it is, without fear or favour, and on Saturday night, Frank decided the time was appropriate to put others into the spotlight.
It’s a well-worn adage in many walks of life and business, that behind every successful man is a strong woman, and Frank knows that to be the case in his sport.
So after saying just a few words at the presentation ceremony after his dog Good Odds Harada had taken out the Bathurst Regional Final and qualified for the TAB Million Dollar Chase semi-finals, Frank asked to take the microphone back.
With his wife Tracey looking on, the words were simple, yet poignant: “I just want to mention and thank all the unnamed women in our sport.”
Reflecting on his words the following day, Frank said that while from his perspective they were specifically about Tracey, it’s a sentiment right throughout the industry.
“Absolutely, is not just about me, it’s the whole sport,” he said. “Look at all the successful trainers, look at their wives and you will see they do as much as what we (the male trainers) do, and sometimes even more.
“They don’t get the limelight we get of course, they don’t have their names in the racebooks or alongside the dog in the form, and I just thought I’d mention it at the presentation with an audience in front of me.
“I got a good response from the girls, but what I said was deserved. Every trainer knows it, that it’s a team effort.
“We’ve cut right back to only eight dogs in the kennel, but on your own, even eight dogs is a handful. You’ve got to have that person helping. When you go off racing, and leave at 2pm in the afternoon, someone has got to be there to feed them at 5pm. You need all the help you can get to do it properly, and I for one am really grateful.
“Tracey is a bit shy, and doesn’t like the limelight, but she does so much for our kennel.
“And the team is going well at the moment, so we’re all very happy.”
Having qualified Good Odds Harada ‘early’ for the semi-finals, Frank and Tracey will now plot a lead-up plan for the dog over coming weeks. They will also have his litter mate Good Odds BUDDY chasing a spot in the semi-finals in the Regional Final at Dapto on Thursday night.
“He (Good Odds Harada) will get a week or ten days off at some point, and then he’ll probably have a run or two before the semis,” Frank said.
“I was actually under the impression early that only the winners from each (regional) track got through (to the semis), that’s why I kept them (Harada and BUDDY, and their kennelmates) apart, I didn’t want to take them all to one place, but I could have taken them all to Bathurst.”
Like Hurst, Feral Franky’s trainer Jack Smith knows the value of his wife Maree to their kennel and operations.
The pair are also a team, and Jack’s success is shared by Maree. It’s only fair considering she too does plenty of work around the Forbes’ kennel, and when they hit the road travelling countless kilometres each week.
“She certainly does,” Smith said of the help, work and support Maree supplies. “She is sitting alongside me right now, grinning.”
And deservedly so, she should be grinning the way their team is currently performing.
