Canberra trainer Keith Dryden has promised to fight the ACT Greens until his last breath, as the community he cherishes fights what increasingly looks like a losing battle.
Rather than join a growing number of conditioners leaving the nation’s capital because of rising workers’ compensation costs and the Greens’ publicly-announced intentions to shut down horse racing, Dryden has issued a clear message.
That is – if I go down, I’m going to go down swinging in my home city.
At 77, Dryden says he has nothing to lose.
His stance is in contrast to Luke Pepper, who as a young trainer said he had no choice but to leave Canberra for Scone.
Nick Olive and Matt Dale are set to follow as the thoroughbred industry in the ACT continues to cop body blow after body blow from its policy-makers.
Increasing negative public sentiment towards the sport of kings and the perceived treatment of horses – backed by an ACT government which the industry says is at odds with its ambitions to grow the local economy – has led to this moment in time.
But to borrow a quote from Jamaican bobsledder Junior Bevill, when his father confronts him at the 1988 Winter Olympics in the classic movie Cool Runnings, Dryden has told the Greens:
“I’m staying right here”.
And he’s pulling no punches, either.
“We’ve got the Greens trying to put us out of business, and I’ve said this before – they’re nothing but economic terrorists,” Dryden told HorseBetting.com.au
“Racing in the ACT employs 450 people, with a $55 million economic return to the ACT through racing, with $20 million a year through the betting agencies.
“They’ve tried to close it down, so it is terrorism by stealth. They’re not prepared to come and have a look and talk to us about it.
“I’ve got no time at all for the Greens. They shouldn’t be sticking their noses in where they’re not prepared to come and defend their case publicly against people like me.”
Dryden says he has tried to work with the Greens in the interest of both the racing industry, and the political party and its supporters to ensure a bright future for both communities in Canberra.
But he says he has been ignored.
So now he says he is simply fighting fire with fire because he has no other choice.
“They’re getting us, the Greens. The blokes in NSW might not realise it, but once they get us they’re going to move to Queanbeyan,” Dryden said.
“And they’ll just keep pecking away, pecking away.
“What we’ve got to do is stand up. Everyone is saying ‘come and have a look at what we do and work with us’.
“But they’re economic terrorists. I was a committee man at Canberra. I’ve tried to take a level-headed approach to it and keep everything calm.
“But now I’ve decided to fight back – and I’m going to call them out for what they are.
“That is – they are economic terrorists.”
Dryden says the Canberra racing community supports his cause, but believes that because many have a family to support, they do not want to bring on unnecessary scrutiny by speaking out.
“There are plenty of guys who feel the way I do, but they’ve got families to support,” he said.
“I’m older and I don’t have a family – I’ve only got myself.
“So if they (ACT Greens) put me out of business, they put me out of business.
“I only do it now because I love the game and I’ve trained for 40-odd years.
“I reckon I’ve put a fair bit back through employing people. I’ve always employed five or six people fulltime, and I’ve got 16 casuals on my books.
“I love training, and the people in the game are all good, honest people.”
The ACT Greens were contacted for this story.
While they did not respond to the questions HorseBetting.com.au asked them, the following statement is on the Greens’ website under the header ‘Shut Down Horse Racing’:
“One horse dies every three days on Australian tracks.
“After years of exposes on the cruelty of horse racing, the growing power and influence of the gambling industry, and an overwhelming majority of people actively concerned about animal welfare, the Greens say it is beyond time to shut down racing.
“To shut down commercial horse racing in Australia, the Greens have a clear Horse Racing Transition Plan.
“As part of the Horse Racing Transition Plan, we will establish:
“A Horse Racing Transition Taskforce to coordinate and manage the shut down of the horse racing industry.
“A Horse Betting Levy of 1% of betting turnover related to commercial horse racing to finance transition activities”.
Dryden is sick of him and other trainers being lumped with the “animal cruelty” tag.
“Like in every industry, you’ll have a rogue or two – somebody who wants to do the wrong thing for financial gain,” he said.
“But 99.9 per cent of the people in this industry are not like that. And they love their horses.
“You get people who just say ‘close it down – it’s cruel to horses’.
“The next thing, they’re carrying on about us doing too much mowing and we’re hurting insects and native plants.
“I’m going to call them out for it. And if I go down the gurgler, I go down the gurgler.
“I’ve never been on the dole or the pension in my life, and hopefully I don’t have to go to the pension.
“But I’ll go down fighting anyway and we’ll see what happens.”
Dryden said he did not spend too much time coming to a decision to stay in Canberra, despite the doubt him and fellow trainers share about their sport’s future in the ACT.
“It was probably an easy decision for me because I own a large stable in Canberra. And at my age I’m too old to be picking up stumps and 30 horses and going somewhere else,” he said.
“I started training in Canberra 40-odd years ago. And I said to myself ‘I’m going to finish in Canberra’.
“If I ever retired anywhere, I’d like to help a young person train with the knowledge I’ve got.
“My staff will tell you – I try to teach them everything I know. I don’t keep anything from them, because the people who taught me said ‘you’ve got to learn this’.”
With the vast training knowledge Dryden has, he has extended this open invitation to the ACT Greens – come to my stables again at any time and closely observe how I treat my horses.
And actually ask me questions on my animal-welfare processes.
Dryden believes the Greens might be surprised to learn just how much he looks after and cares for his horses.
“The Greens came to my stables. But one was only interested that I had a Down Syndrome person working for me, and that we do employ people from all walks of life,” he said.
“(Another representative) had a 35-minute tour of the stables and never asked one question.
“I’ll call out the Greens now – come to my stables and ask me some questions.
“Just see if we’re all as bad as we’re made out to be. And stop saving the insects and start saving the people.”
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