“The only certainty about luck is that it will change” - a quote attributable to nineteenth century American short story writer Bret Harte. Gavin Fitzpatrick isn’t into philosophical quotes but he’ll relate to this one.
He and his father Paul, a seven time Sydney premiership winning trainer have enjoyed a hot winning streak in recent months. They were at it again at the rescheduled Penrith meeting on Sunday November 7th - a programme which had been washed out three nights earlier. The Fitzpatrick show rolled on when Rocknpenny, American Made and Elektra gave them a winning treble.
If Gav was privately feeling a touch infallible, he was brought back to earth with a sickening thud just twenty four hours later. He rarely misses the official Penrith trials and was there as usual on Monday night November 8th. He was there to trial two horses from the family’s Cawdor stables, but was called upon by trainer Hayden Green to fill in on Lord Heston in a later event. To expedite proceedings Gav used his own sulky behind Lord Heston who jumped to the lead in a five horse trial.
Fitzpatrick was totally focused on the job at hand as the field came around the hometurn the final time. He had no way of knowing his gig was about to fall apart. A fracture occurred in the rear support bar slightly to the left of the sulky seat. “As the sulky disintegrated I found myself on the dust sheet with the reins still in my hands” said the respected horseman. “Survival is a funny instinct. I thought it best to throw the reins away and get the hell out of there. I somehow wiggled myself off the dust sheet and dropped to the ground as best I could.
“My memory of the whole thing is pretty hazy, but I obviously landed on both knees. Most horsemen have seen a horse gouge its knees out in a fall. That’s exactly what happened to me. Both knees were a mess, but you could actually see the outline of the bone in the left knee. By the time they took me to the Nepean Hospital I was in a lot of pain. Thankfully nothing was broken and I escaped ligament and tendon damage, but there was plenty of flesh missing. I’ll know in a week whether skin grafts will be required later.”
Doctors concentrated on cleaning the wounds during his two day hospitalisation, and literally bombarded him with antibiotics. He had plenty of time to reflect on twenty two years of race driving and the good luck he’d enjoyed since winning his first race on Holmes Reign at Bankstown. “I’ve been blessed really,” said Gavin. “Up until this accident I hadn’t had an actual race fall in over ten years. You can imagine the number of times I’ve been around.”
“Prior to that I had a heavy one at Penrith one night when the leader fell and I couldn’t avoid it. I sustained some nasty rib injuries in that one and took a while to get over it. There was another beauty at Harold Park seventeen or eighteen years ago when I dislocated a shoulder. All up I’ve had six race falls which isn’t too bad when you look at the number of drives I’ve had.”
Happier times! A well deserved "Driver Of The Year" trophy from HRNSW - courtesy Club Menangle.
For a self confessed workaholic the elder Fitzpatrick boy has a few tedious weeks ahead - weeks in which he can reflect on his very distinguished career. At time of writing Gavin is sitting on 1600 career wins. Many of those wins have been provided by some of the best horses to grace Australian tracks in the last two decades. The Fitzpatricks moved onto their Cawdor farm in the early 1990’s. Paul Fitzpatrick’s original plan was to use the property as a spelling and pre training operation. What unfolded was one of harness racing’s best known success stories.
Before long horses were arriving at Jay Jay Farm from near and far. The first genuine Harold Park performer to come along was The Master - the horse destined to give young Gavin his first winning drive on the iconic Glebe circuit. He finished up winning a total of eight races on the consistent pacer. Dual Prince was the first elite performer to enter the young reinsman’s life. Despite recurring bouts of heart arrhythmia Dual Prince won a total of 23 races. G.J. Fitzpatrick drove him in 20 of them.
Perhaps Make Me Smile remains Gavin’s all time favourite. He drove the remarkable gelding in all but a handful of his 34 wins which included a NSW Pacers Derby, a Bankstown Cup and any number of fast class races at Harold Park. He also had the distinction of finishing third to Divisive and Melpark Major in the 2008 Miracle Mile. The durable pacer was raced throughout his career by Gavin’s late aunt Frances Fitzpatrick.
Just as Tony Turnbull forged a legendary association with Hondo Grattan and Colin Pike with Paleface Adios, Gavin’s name will be inexorably linked with Lombo Pocket Watch. He drove the brilliant grey in 37 of his 45 wins, many of which were achieved in two and three year old races. Those wins included two Derbies, a Bathurst Gold Crown Final, APG 2YO Final, Breeders Crown 2YO Final and a WA Gold Nugget.
Gavin and Lombo Pocket Watch were almost inseparable - he drove the grey to 37 wins - courtesy Club Menangle.
Gavin has always spoken with great affection of Rohan Home who won 32 races and performed with distinction from two to nine years of age. Despite wins in races like a Newcastle Mile and a Renshaw Cup, he’s best remembered for a second to Smoken Up in Australasian record time of 1.48.5 at Menangle in the 2011 Len Smith Mile. He was beaten 11 metres, but finished a long way in front of some outstanding horses on the night. Gavin won 15 races on Smooth Crusa in the mid 2000’s including a dazzling nine on the trot at one stage. He finished a creditable third to Be Good Johnny in the 2006 Miracle Mile.
A steady stream of talented horses has continued to graduate through the Jay Jay Farm operation. Gavin has had the pleasure to co-train and drive horses like Pub Blitz, Miss Halfpenny, Sally Fletcher, Zeuss Bromac, Pay Me Sam, Jay OK, and Three Over Three. His career tally of 1600 wins by age 39 makes for an impressive CV. The magical 2000 benchmark looks a mere formality.
While brother Blake chose an individual training career some years ago, Gavin elected to stay with Jay Jay Farm as stable manager and principal race driver. On occasions the Fitzpatricks have had up to 55 horses in work. Currently the team numbers 31 and Gavin will be itching to get his hands on a few of them. His patience will be sorely tested over the next few weeks, as he waits for natural healing to take its course. You can bet he’ll wear out at least one pair of crutches on his frequent excursions to the barn.
Gavin after a Harold Park win on Gold Livenza way back in 2005 - courtesy Club Menangle.
(Banner image - A recent win for Gavin on American Made at Menangle - courtesy Club Menangle)