Frank Ritchie, the horseman who guided the career of New Zealand racing legend Bonecrusher, has retired from training.
Ritchie, who turned 82 last month, has had a long and distinguished career in the sport.
He hails from a long line of trainers, and said his father, Merv, was a particularly talented horseman.
“It goes way back to my great-grandfather,” Ritchie said. “My dad was a very good jumps jockey, and he won the Great Northern as a trainer and jockey.”
Ritchie followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming a jumps jockey before quickly opting for training.
“I won a couple of races [as a jockey], but I soon learned that I wasn’t good at it, so it didn’t last long,” he said.
While his riding career was short-lived, one moment stands out.
“I was in a jumping race at Ellerslie, and I fell off by the winning post on the first time around.
“I got up and thought, ‘Bugger’, and as I was walking back to the birdcage there were a bunch of people, mostly girls, and they were laughing as I was going in. I thought, ‘You bloody things’, but what I didn’t know was half of my backside was hanging out because my breeches were torn.”
Ritchie soon joined his father in a training partnership, and developed a strong foundation under his guidance.
“I started out training with Dad and he taught me a lot. He was a terrific horseman, not only as a jockey but as a trainer as well; he was brilliant.
“I didn’t get all of it. I wasn’t that good, but enough to have some fun.”
After five years training alongside his father, Ritchie went out on his own, and it wasn’t long before he had the horse of a lifetime in his care.
Bonecrusher, owned by Peter Mitchell, was bought on the advice of Harold Hampton, Ritchie said.
“There was a guy [Hampton] that would go to the races and would tell people that he knew pedigrees and would give advice at the sales.
“Peter decided he would give him a chance and he picked Bonecrusher. He said this breed, one of four will be a great horse, and I thought it was silly. He bought the first one, which wasn’t Bonecrusher, and it might have had one or two races but wasn’t doing much, and Bonecrusher was the second foal, and he bought him.”
Under Ritchie’s care, Bonecrusher raced in New Zealand, Australia and Japan, winning nine Group 1 races, with his highest-profile victory coming in the 1986 Cox Plate (2040m) after a titanic struggle with fellow Kiwi horse Our Waverley Star.
“Dave O’Sullivan [co-trainer of Our Waverley Star] and I were good friends, and you obviously do your best to win the race,” Ritchie said. “He knew my horse, and I knew his.
“He knew he could outsprint us, and ironically the distance was perfect to have it as it was. If it was another furlong, Bonecrusher would have won easy, and if it were a bit less, he [Our Waverley Star] would have beaten him. It was set up to be what it was, and we were pretty aware of that.
“After the race, we were both going down and we hugged because we just knew what great horses they were.
“At the end of the day, it comes down to the horse, and he was just amazing.”
While the Cox Plate win was the highlight, Ritchie said they experienced the other end of the spectrum while travelling to Japan with Bonecrusher.
“When he went to Japan, he got very ill, and we almost lost him. That was terrible, but he got over that.”
Racing was a true family affair for Ritchie, who trained in partnership with both his sons, Shaune and Craig, with Shaune having a particular connection with Bonecrusher, having travelled the world with him while a fresh-faced teenager.
“Mum wanted me to continue in school, but I left school to go to that Cox Plate campaign where he won the Underwood Stakes and Caulfield Stakes,” Shaune Ritchie said. “From that Waverley Star Cox Plate, he went over to Japan.
“It was magnificent for me to go and see all those good trainers and what they did. I wish I was maybe 10 years older because I wasn’t old enough to understand what an experience I was getting at that point.
“Having said that, you walk out of school and look after a horse like him, there is only one way to go, and it’s not up. You’re already at the top, but he opened up a lot of doors for the family.”
While he enjoyed strapping Bonecrusher, he said the biggest joy was experiencing it all with his father.
“I got to work with the horse, but the best part wasn’t just the horse. When you can get a job where you get to work every day with your father and with horses, it is a remarkable life. He wasn’t just a good horseman or a good trainer, he was a fantastic father to both me and Craig.”
Shaune went out on his own after training with his father, but said he had always been available for advice.
“I think I spent two years in partnership with Dad before my younger brother went into partnership with him, at Ellerslie. We moved from Ellerslie to Takanini and then from Takanini to Cambridge. We have always been training out of the same jurisdiction.
“Gee, he is competitive. There were no favours given on raceday. I have always had, and still do have, him there to get some advice off when we have got horses with a little problem, or something they have done. Some of those things they did in the older days, those remedies, are still really effective today.”
While Bonecrusher has been Frank Ritchie’s most successful horse, and is immortalised by a statue at Ellerslie Racecourse in Auckland, he enjoyed plenty of success with several others. He holds particularly fond memories of dual Group 1 winner and South Australian Derby heroine Showella, and Group 3 winner Centainette, who died when she was only 2.
“Showella was a sweetheart,” Ritchie said. “I knew the breeding quite well, and she was just a lovely horse to work with. She had good owners, and we had a lot of fun.
“Centainette was a very good horse, but I lost her early unfortunately.”
While Ritchie has now retired, he and his wife, Colleen, are enjoying watching their sons’ efforts, with Shaune operating a successful stable in Cambridge, and Craig plying his trade in Australia.
“Shaune is doing well and doing a great job,” Ritchie said. “Craig is just getting going again. He was with Chris Waller for five years, and he is just starting on his own again, so hopefully things go well for him.”
Ritchie looks back fondly on his successes, but is quick to deflect praise to his horses.
“A lot of it is luck when you get a good horse,” he said. “And also, the good people behind you.”
– LOVERACING.NZ News Desk