Top trainer’s horses targets of break-in
Runners scratched from cup meet
TASMANIAN thoroughbred Hall of Fame trainer Gary White was forced to scratch all of his team from yesterday’s Hobart Cup meeting after his stables at the Brighton Training Complex were burgled in the early hours of yesterday morning.
White’s seven runners at the meeting had to be scratched for fear that they might have been the targets of the intruders.
“I am devastated and so are the owners of all the horses I had running at the meeting,” White said.
“I contacted stewards soon as soon as I arrived at the stables and I knew we would not be taking any of my runners to the races.”
Chief thoroughbred steward Scott Quill said the stable invasion had taken everyone by surprise.
“Early this morning I received a phone call from our southern-based steward Paul Maher who was contacted by Mr White to advise him of the stable intrusion,” Quill said.
“He advised me that the police were present at that time and that Mr White had already advised him (Maher) that he would have elective blood testing done on all of his horses that were due to race that day.
“Stewards will work with police throughout the investigation.”
The horses withdrawn from yesterday’s meeting were Nidoking, Jack’s Choice, Frisco Dame, Poole Harbour, Heaven’s Delight, D’Inzeo and Remigny.
“I am reasonably sure it was the horses these bastards targeted because nothing was stolen from the office or the stabling area.”
The intruders had to cut through metal drawdown doors and used what appeared to be professional tools to cut through an outer shell and plasterboard to gain access to the stable office and used the internal door to access the boxes where the horses reside.
“It looks to me to like this has been done by professionals who knew what they were doing.
“I usually have interstate horses staying with me but this year they have all been accommodated elsewhere.”
The powerful Godolphin stable that brought two horses to race this weekend would have normally used White’s stables but owing to availability issues their two horses Cossetot that won the Derby on Friday and Rock Dove that raced in yesterday’s Strutt Stakes, were stabled with a lesser-known trainer Angela Watling who leases just a few boxes at the complex.