This horse has taken part in 55 races, but he is not alone when it comes to a winless start to his career. Western Australian gelding Royal Glory has gone 60 races without a win and Victorian Dollar Bucks is on 56.
Imagine the headlines: “Poor old Bedouin bear is the slowest racehorse in the country”. That would be unfair and obviously inaccurate, not least because he finished second twice and third three times. In financial terms, he has earned $62,242 in prizemoney at Bellereve Racing and Breeding Stables.
Bedouin bear resting in the yard.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“He was never far away,” says Hansch. “He goes too hard. And the jockeys, if they try to stop him or slow him down, he puts his head in the air and just shoots. He’s just too headstrong.”
According to van Duren, Bear has clashed with stewards about 20 times and is no longer allowed to be driven by apprentice jockeys. The problem is that the Bear prefers the softer touch of a female jockey, and senior women are few and far between.
The bear is eavesdropping and Hansch notices. “He’s right behind you,” she said to van Duren, who casually turned and said, “What are you doing, BB?” BB is behaving well today. “Normally,” says Hansch, “when you lead him out of the yard, he pulls you and pushes you and everything. Like a big dog.”
He strongly dislikes being spelled, adds van Duren. “I put him out in the paddock every night and in the morning he’s at the gate ready to go in. But this is his last roll of the dice, so we’ll give him a good spell.”
What? His final preparation? Hansch claims it’s only a current look and predicts Bear could go close and rekindle the fire for another farewell tour. Apparently he lives to work. But there is a more meaningful reason.
O’Neill, van Duren’s school friend and racing enthusiast, was also one of Bear’s co-owners and wanted to keep him running until that elusive maiden victory was achieved. When he died suddenly of a heart attack, this goal became the focus of van Duren, Hansch and O’Neill’s wife Elizabeth (another co-owner). “We tried to win the race for Mark,” says Hansch. “That’s one of the reasons he’s still around.
To add another layer of meaning, the Bear is a rescue. One of the few that Van Duren and Hansch pulled from Hardwicke Stud a few years ago. The pair tell of the time they called for help from friend Peter Holloway, who was then manager of Hardwicke Stud.
“He was there the whole dry season with at least 30, 40 odd horses [and a shortage of feed]” says Hansch.
“The horses were calling to the shed and everything, and he was walking around in tears.
Kate Hansch, Jack Van Duren and Beduin Bear in their Carwoola Stables.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“[The owner] he told Pete to get rid of the horse. There were 13 breeding mares, of which three were foals. Twenty-five two-year-old fillies, no names. And probably at least five foals. They loaded mares and mares. There were three more mares to go and Pete refused to put them on the truck because they had days off.
“He said, ‘The truck is coming tomorrow, all the horses left on the site are going on the truck’. He said, ‘If you’re interested in any of these horses, come here now’.”
That day they drove an hour northwest to Yass.
“We pulled 15 horses in total,” says Hansch.
They kept seven of them. Bear was one of them, as were some others they won with, including Papaver Miner.
“The others belonged to other people and were poor,” he says. “So when they got back here we had to feed them all and get in touch with the owners and sort things out. It wasn’t a very pleasant time.”
In the body condition score, a scale of 1-9 used to rate the health of horses, van Duren says their new rescues were rated 1-5. It looked like a cow’s hangers, protruding ribs and dull eyes, about 100 kg lighter than a healthy two-year-old. They were never manipulated and had to start from scratch.
The conversation comes up in the hearing that followed, with Peter V’landys subsequently introducing Racing NSW’s policy for the rehabilitation of all retired racehorses, a requirement that all horses be euthanized by a vet.
Van Duren says one of the horses they rescued broke her shoulder, and when the vet arrived and then made the hour-long drive to get euthanasia supplies, he put her down himself, believing it was the kindest thing he could do. He was dragged between the stewards and threatened with a $5,000 fine.
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They share the complications and hardships of keeping horses healthy – and alive – during the drought, and the kangaroos who have a crop road next door. And we go to visit their stallion, Shafta, who is over-excited to eat some licorice. And they discuss Bear’s next race potential. Heading to Goulburn on January 27, in the Country Boosted Class 1 Handicap. If van Duren stays quiet until then, it will be his 3,000th start as a coach.
“Once he fights and he’s among the other horses, he’s like, ‘Oh, I’m just going to run home here’. But when he shoots, first and second this time, if he’s really, really fit . . .”
It could have been 56th lucky.
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