She won’t make much noise about it but Denice Warren is doing things a little tough at the moment.
The Goulburn-based trainer should be riding high after kennel star Gold Force bettered another track record at Maitland on Monday night.
The son of Aussie Infrared x Scissor Sisters eclipsing La Grand Quality’s 450m mark of 24.56 by 0.01 of a second as he firms as favourite for the upcoming Group 2 Maitland Gold Cup.
But beyong the ever-impressive feats of her speed machine, Warren has been waging an unwinnable battle on the home front.
“My husband, Errol, hasn’t been well for a couple of years. He’s 82 and he’s slowly getting worse so it’s a lot to deal with…to care for someone who is ill while also trying to look after your dogs,” Warren said.
“I’m not complaining, it’s just heartbreaking what’s happened to Errol and it’s become a fulltime role caring for him.”
“I’m racing essentially to provide for the household. The greyhounds give us the income we need to keep the place going but it’s also my respite and something I love doing. I rely on a family friend to take care of Errol whenever I leave to race.”
“And it’s bittersweet at the moment in a way. We have a dog like ‘Socks’ [Gold Force] who is doing wonderful things but I'm not sure Errol can comprehend it like he used to”
Warren with Gold Force after a win in the Million Dollar Chase series at Goulburn
Warren admitting it’s become increasingly difficult to watch Errol's health rescind after a life spent loving the greyhounds.
“Errol used to be able to tell you what a dog did in a race six months ago…he was sharp as a whip as a bookmaker as well, he just had a brilliant mind,” she added.
“He still loves the dogs but I’m sure he misses not being able to go to the track and see the people he used to spend so much time around...it’s terribly challenging.”
“There could come a day when I have to give the dogs up to just take care of him all the time and if it gets to that, I’d do it in a heartbeat…but at the moment we’ve got six dogs for Michael Boots and he’s been a fabulous owner and supporter, as has Peter Stanford who sold Gold Force to us as a pup.”
Warren blown away once again by what Gold Force was able to achieve at Maitland in his first visit to the track.
Gold Force has won 12 of 18 career starts and holds the Goulburn 440m track record of 24.06 as well
“I actually had no idea how quick he’d gone until we were walking back to the catching pen and Jason Mackay said to me “you just broke the record” and I said, “no he didn’t, don’t be stupid”. But Jason was right,” she laughed.
“I didn’t expect him to do that first look…I mean he’s done it at Goulburn but he knows that place inside and out.”
“I only took him up to Maitland for a look ahead of the Cup. I didn’t want to go all the way to trial so we threw him in a race and you could tell he’d never been there when he lost himself on the corner a little bit...but he went nice.”
The heats of the $40,000 feature just over a week away as Warren homes in on an elusive feature race victory for her charge.
“I just hope he gets a shot at them. I was terribly disappointed when he got knocked out of the Goulburn Cup heats and he showed his class when he won the consolation in great time,” she added.
“Because he’s such a big dog at 39kg, he just wants room because he can’t drive out of the boxes like other smaller dogs. He doesn’t cut left or right, he runs straight so if he can get an untouched run, he just accelerates and goes, so maybe a wider draw is better.”
The heats of the Group 2 Maitland Gold Cup will be run on Thursday, November 27 with the final on December 5.
