ANDREW Bensley drove into Tamworth early Tuesday morning in the Sky Sports Radio mobile van to continue a tour highlighting the effects the drought is having on all participants in the racing industry.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
He did it last year, visiting Scone, Dubbo, Wagga Wagga and Goulburn.
After finishing Tuesday's telecast, he and his driver, Max, were off to Nyngan, Dubbo and Bathurst.
"Times are tough out here," Bensley said. "We just want to remind people how hard the people in the bush are doing it.
"A lot of people back in Sydney and on the coast think, just because it's raining, there isn't a drought. But people have been dealing with it (drought) for a couple of years.
"Hopefully we might bring some rain but I can't imagine how bad it will be if we don't get any rain before spring and summer. If we don't get rain out here in the short term, it's going to be very grim.
"As [Tamworth trainer] Sue Grills said this [Tuesday] morning, we need a flood to fill up everything."
Read also:
Grills was one of a number of people Bensley interviewed in the mobile van. She told listeners about how the drought had driven up prices for hay and made it so much tougher for trainers to exist.
"Hay has tripled in price," she said, and that's if you can find some.
"The cheapest we can get barley is $800 a tonne. Normally it's $300."
She thanked Bensley for "coming up here".
"[It's] great he's come up here to help," she said. "A lot of the time, people don't think about us in the country and don't support the country."
Bensley also interviewed Tamworth trainer Cody Morgan, Tamworth Jockey Club track manager Lindsay Bowne and Hunter and North West Racing Association chief steward Shane Cullen.
Bowne has been working with grass since he was a 16-year-old apprentice greenkeeper.
"This is the toughest challenge I've had," he said of the drought and its effect on the TJC racecourse.
"This is my first drought. I feel sorry for all the farmers. It's also been a testing time for all the tracks and the golf courses too.
"It has been tough for us. I've just been trying to keep the trainers happy."
HNWRA chief steward Shane Cullen said he has never seen it as bad here and further west around Nyngan, Cobar and White Cliffs.
He is clearly worried about the effect the drought might have on the supply of water for race-day use.
Tamworth Regional Council stopping the Tamworth Jockey Club using hosing docks on race days is a real possibility.
"If they do [that] we can't race," Cullen said.
Horses need to be hosed down after races. While horses who suffer heat stress during races sometimes need to be hosed down for extended periods to keep them safe.
Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson said: "It's no secret that our regional communities are doing it tough, especially given this unprecedented drought.
"So investing in race days can help drive tourism and increase bed nights, which is crucial to our local economies," Mr Anderson said.
It was announced this week that several of the region's most popular horse racing carnivals - including the Tamworth Cup - will receive a major boost in prize money thanks to Racing NSW.
