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I’ve just seen the awful news that he has passed away. At only 40 years of age.
Just weeks after the biggest win of his career and I was all set to cheer Beer Goggles on in the Cleeve hurdle.
RIP Richard.
Shockingly sad news. Let’s hope they still run BG on Saturday and then we can all cheer him on. No surprise and they every right to pull him out at this very sad time though.
RIP Richard and condolences to all his family and stable staff.
This is very shocking. I hope that his family is strong enough to get over it.
It would be nice for them to have a Festival winner in Beer Goggles.
Rest in Peace to himA chance to make some good out of a tragic situation.
I think it’s a good thing to launch an anti-depression fundraiser. There are a lot more people suffering from it than we might expect. Also a good thing that she went public with it instead of keeping it a secret. Good luck and all the best to her!
More to this story about to emerge apparently. I’d hold onto those plans for a moment, guys.
Still waiting for that, plus what the rumours were about what is going on with the Rebecca Curtis yard that were evidently flying around Newbury at a meeting in November, and what racecourse it is Dave Yates has got wind of might close!
Interesting article from Charlie Brooks in The Telegraph yesterday, with a good insight into trainer stress. Paywall so delete if necessary.
A chill went through my heart last week when I heard of the tragic death of trainer Richard Woollacott; he was only 40. I did not know him, but the reason why his premature passing has been hanging over me is because there but for the grace of God went I.
Woollacott had been a very successful young man. He was a champion point-to-point jockey, riding nearly 250 winners; he was hugely popular on the Devon pointing circuit, where he was known as “a genuinely nice man who lit up the likes of Black Forest Lodge and Chipley Park”. In recent years he trained top-class horses such as Lalor and Beer Goggles, who won a major staying hurdle at Newbury this season. Many probably thought he was a young guy on the up.
I cannot speak of the turmoil that might have been cascading around in Richard’s head, but I can recall what sort of place I was in when I gave up training at a similar age; if only to highlight the sort of pressure that a lot of trainers are under.
Racing is a business of occasional highs, swamped by awful lows and disappointments. Because I was fortunate enough to have some really good horses, I was in an enviable position. One that any budding trainer would have bitten their own arm off to be in.
But I got to the point where the agony of passing on bad news to owners was more unbearable than the pleasure of training winners; viruses, lameness and plain lack of ability spring to mind.
At the time, I put it down to being a perfectionist and caring too much, but I think the reality was that I was not mentally tough enough to deal with the highs and lows of my profession.
Dec 2, 1995, was the day when I knew I would have to stop training at some point in the near future. Ten days before, the yard had a wonderful result when Couldn’t Be Better won the Hennessy Gold Cup and Padre Mio took the Fighting Fifth Hurdle within the space of half an hour. Then I blood-tested a load of horses and they were all sick; and I knew how depressed I was going to be for months.
Beer Goggles – Training horses is truly stressful – I should know
The late Richard Woollacott trained Beer Goggles, ridden here by Richard Johnson CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES
I struggled on for a few years; but was spiralling into deeper depression. And what worries me now is that there must be trainers out there mentally struggling just like I did.I think age is quite a big factor in this for men; if you combine mid-life crisis territory with a brutally competitive and public job, things are sure to spiral out of control for some.
Up until the mid-30s, young men can take the swings and roundabouts of success and failure, victory and defeat in their stride. You have good days and bad days but you are ambitious and you keep working away. But once we men approach 40, the destiny of our lives begins to look set in stone. Underachievement can begin to haunt you; especially when the racing press publish tables reminding everyone that you are not doing very well. Disappointment can turn into despair.
I was one of the lucky ones. My mother had squandered enough money on my education to give me an escape route. I was able to give up training and find other things to do.
When people ask me if I miss training, the answer is that I still miss bits of it.
But life is a package deal, and I am glad I do not have to feel any more warm tendons; or look at reverse-ratio white-blood cell counts or dirty scopes. That is a huge release for me; although I still have nightmares about them.
A lot of trainers are not so fortunate and I fear some might be trapped on the treadmill of keeping going, even if mentally that is not a good place for them to be.
There is now considerable awareness that jockeys, some of whom half-starve themselves, can be prone to depression. But as far as I know, training racehorses is not considered to be an occupation that can cause higher-than-normal mental illness issues. However, I am certain that it does.
There have been a few suicides over the years. Very enlightening article by Charlie Brooks.
Thank you Cav for highlighting the Charlie Brooks article it gave a very good insight into the highs and lows of training horses and the lows seem to outweigh the highs by a long way.
I can imagine how depressing it must be to have to report back to owners that their horse is sick or injured when you have spent so much time and effort getting them to peak fitness for a certain race and for every great success on the racetrack a tragedy lurks, you just have to look back a year to Many Clouds Cotswold success and tragic demise to see how that plays out.
Hope that Richard Woollacott’s family can find the strength to carry on and somehow find a way to help people in the same situation before they take matters into their own hands by setting up some sort of Foundation in his name where people in their darkest moments can reach out for some sort of guidance or support. Not an easy task.
He was so young and had so much talent and will be sadly missed.
Things turn out best for those who make the best of how things turn out...
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