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LIVING LEGENDS By Mark Harding
Inside Headquarters (VRC Members� Magazine) – Spring

Racing's greatest asset is the opportunity it provides for any member of the public to pat a horse.

In a world of high stakes, big bets and stallions syndicated for tens of millions of dollars, that statement might seem a little naive but Dr Andrew Clarke believes it with a passion.
He knows it because he sees it happening every weekend at Living Legends, the retirement home for champion racehorses run by Dr Clarke as CEO since its opening last spring.
Living Legends, at Greenvale near Tullamarine Airport, is a wonderful place … and not just for old racehorses. It's set inside 700 hectares of Woodlands Historic Park, purchased by the Hamer Government in 1980 as a significant part of Victoria's heritage. Woodlands features a homestead from the 1840s and some of the state's oldest gardens.
The fenced "back paddock", which contains many trails for cyclists, walkers and horse riders, is being progressively restored to its 1840s character. Here Eastern Grey kangaroos, Blue-tongued lizards, birds and other wildlife such as the threatened Eastern Barred bandicoot live a protected existence in peaceful surrounds.
But it is the "front paddock" where horse racing's own protected species are honoured and cared for in retirement, in turn providing joy, relaxation and memories for the visitors who are rolling up to see them in increasing numbers.
The power of the pat, says Dr Clarke, is undeniable. Recently he was moved by the sight of an elderly woman stroking the neck of one of the famous horses with tears rolling down her cheeks. She said she had lived 82 years and had never patted a horse before.
A few weeks later, the old girl was trumped by a 92-year-old woman who similarly was visiting a horse paddock for the first time.
Living Legends is modelled on the Home of Rest for Horses in the UK but the inspiration for its introduction here came from some of the owners of Fields Of Omagh as they addressed the impending retirement of their much loved veteran before last spring.
One of the State Government conditions for the free lease of the homestead and front paddocks at Woodlands Historic Park is that access must be free to the public.
As Dr Clarke says, that makes it a tough business model, but they can charge for tours and other special functions. The Living Legends Board of Directors relies heavily on sponsorships and donations but they have big plans for the future.
The place has heaps of potential as a tourism venue but it also provides an important opportunity for veterinary students to study, as indeed Dr Clarke did when he received funding for his PHD from the Home of Rest when he was studying in England. 
For the dozen horses who occupy the paddocks in front of the Woodlands Homestead, Living Legends is proof that you don't always have to die to go to heaven.
Those horses – in alphabetical order to protect fragile egos – are:

Better Loosen Up – a member of the Australian Racing Hall of Fame, winner of the Cox Plate, the only Australian horse to win the Japan Cup and whose six Group wins at Flemington culminated in the 1991 Australian Cup.
Bomber Bill – the hardy soldier who won his first race in 1997 and was still winning in 2006. Five of his 23 victories came down the famous Flemington straight and he won three Group One races.
Brew – the blueblood who struck a purple patch in the spring of 2000, winning the SAAB Quality and three days later the Melbourne Cup at Flemington.
Doriemus – one of the best performed and most durable stayers of the last 40 years, winning the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups double in 1995. He won Flemington feature races in three successive springs, the Grey Smith Stakes in 1994, the Cup in '95 and the Turnbull Stakes in '96 before being pipped on the line by Mighty And Power in the 1997 Melbourne Cup.
Fields Of Omagh – the enduring galloper known as FOO, who ran in five successive Cox Plates, winning two, the first in 2003 and last year's fairytale finish to his career when he triumphed at nine years old, the day before heading to Living Legends.
Might And Power – the imposing front running star of the 1997 and 1998 springs, when he won the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups double and followed up the next year with victory in the Cox Plate and the last of his 15 victories in Flemington's Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
Paris Lane – the winner of the 1994 Caulfield Cup and Mackinnon Stakes before running second in the Melbourne Cup. 
Regal Roller – the free-rolling sprinter, whose 12 wins included nine at Caulfield and three Group One victories in the Dubai Cup, Toorak Handicap and Futurity Stakes. 
Rogan Josh – the Darwin-owned West Australian bush galloper who was transferred to the Bart Cummings stable and scored a shock win in the 1999 Mackinnon Stakes before repeating the performance in the Melbourne Cup three days later, giving Bart his 11th victory.
Silent Witness – the international star of Living Legends, bred in Australia but sold to Hong Kong where he became to Sha Tin fans what Phar Lap was to Australia and Seabiscuit was to the US. He won 17 races in a row, setting a modern record and was even named in Time Magazine's Top 100 Influential People for 2005.
Sky Heights – the winner of 11 races including features at ages three through seven, the best of them the Rosehill Guineas and AJC Derby in the autumn of 1999 and the Caulfield Cup in the same year.
Saintly – not a full-time resident but a springtime visitor for the Cup carnival. His ten wins included the 1996 Australian Cup at Flemington in the autumn and then later that same year, the Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup.

When Living Legends first opened Might And Power and Doriemus were teamed as paddock mates and on their first day they staged a re-match of their 1997 Melbourne Cup classic, racing several times around the paddock in a show of equal parts ego and unrestrained joy. Once again according to Dr Clarke victory went to Might And Power, but only by a head.
Dr Clarke says the two old warriors buddied up immediately but resentment might finally have got to Doriemus. Or perhaps Might And Power got too big for his horseshoes. Either way, they had a rowdy argument one night and have been sent to separate paddocks ever since.
Might And Power's paddock partner is now Sky Heights. They are both by Zabeel and have inherited their famous dad's ‘bit of mongrel'. Dr Clarke says Might And Power is a star and acts that way, even in retirement. If someone has to drive a ute into the paddock he will stand in front of the ute and refuse to budge. If a rake or a jumper is left in the back of the ute, he'll walk around when he thinks no-one is looking and pinch them.
Curiously, the only time he is on his best behaviour is when there are children around – Dr Clarke says he becomes almost soporific when patted by the many school children who visit in groups.
Sky Heights was chosen as his new partner because he is also a dominant personality. They call him Barry Hall after the Sydney footballer because he is big and bold and knows it.
Sky Heights used to dominate his previous mate Better Loosen Up who has been much more on terms with his current partner, Fields Of Omagh. Together they are BLU and FOO, although some at Living Legends have nicknamed them Sampras and Federer because they are perfect gentlemen with fine records.
The best mates of all the paddock partners are Rogan Josh and Paris Lane. "They will even share a feeder together," says Dr Clarke. "And they really do like the company of people."
When he first arrived, Paris Lane was a bit stand-offish but soon softened. The pair also have a peculiar habit of taking themselves off to their sheds every day almost to the minute at 1 pm for what Dr Clarke describes as a one hour Nana nap.
Silent Witness has proved an interesting case study for Dr Clarke because the Hong Kong superstar had not seen a paddock since he left Australia after just one trial as a youngster. At Sha Tin he was constantly stabled and there were fears he would hurt himself when he was put in a paddock. Instead, he handled the flight to Australia magnificently and when he arrived at Living Legends, he walked through the gate, looked to the left, looked to the right and put his head down and started nibbling the grass. Dr Clarke is in no doubt why Silent Witness was such a success in Hong Kong. "He is mentally tough," he says.
He dominates his partner Regal Roller, who took five days to lose his nervous tension when he arrived. He nearly freaked when he saw a kangaroo for the first time but is now content chasing Silent Witness around despite the bad knees which forced his retirement.
He has also learned a trick from Might And Power, who likes to splash himself with water, using his long head to scoop the water onto his body. Regal Roller saw him doing it in the next paddock and has been doing it ever since.
Bomber Bill is exactly as he was during his racing days – a no fuss pro who sneaks under the radar. And Brew is a harmless old stayer who was supposed to have been a police horse until he flunked police academy. His attention span isn't the best.
That leaves Saintly who is not a permanent resident but visits for the Melbourne Cup Parade and spring carnival. "He is a horse mountain but he is very gentle. Everything he does is slow," Dr Clarke says of the Melbourne Cup winner and the horse who has had the biggest impact upon him
During Saintly's last visit, one woman went down to his paddock and spent so long with him that Dr Clarke approached to see if everything was alright. The woman was emotional and held her hand out below waist height and explained she had once suffered the loss of one of her children. The anniversary of the child's death was on Melbourne Cup day and the family had backed Saintly because he was known as the Horse From
Heaven.
"You couldn't believe the link that was there between them," Dr Clarke recalls. "She was trying to cope and she never thought she would get to see the horse who had helped her."
If you want to see horse racing stripped to its soul, visit Living Legends this spring. It will make you feel good.

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