By Jordan Gerrans
Set to turn 85 later this month, Deirdre Stein does not often cast her mind back to the famous day when she became the first female trainer to lift the Cox Plate.
Living on 110 acres at Eagleby in Queensland, for the last couple of decades Stein has dedicated her life to caring and re-homing retired racehorses.
The respected former trainer and breeder has 70 retired racehorses on her property, who over the last week have been displaced following the constant rain South East Queensland has copped.
The former race gallopers are safe and well on an elevated part of the property but everything else was under water as of last Thursday afternoon, including the stables and sheds the horses usually reside in.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to support Stein and her cast of volunteers to revitalise the stables following the flooding as well as helping pay for feed, hay and medicine, which has also been lost.
“It is shocking, there is still water everywhere,” Stein said.
“It has been worse than anything we have ever come across. I have been lucky though that we have not lost any horses.
“We have to feed them all and everything, vet them from their cuts and scratches and things from the flood.”
From the Bathurst region in NSW, Stein is living a quiet life in retirement from training gallopers after her name was up in light for years after Rising Prince won the W.S. Cox Plate in Melbourne back in 1985.
Noted for his tenacious front running style of racing pattern, Rising Prince claimed the Cox Plate in 1985 as well as the Queen Elizabeth and Mackinnon Stakes, before finishing well back in the field in the Melbourne Cup.
Rising Prince was a home-raised galloper.
Despite being the first female trainer to win the time-honoured event at Moonee Valley, Stein has a greater goal these days.
“I do not think about the Cox Plate very often, that is a long time ago, these days I focus on what is in front of me and the lovely horses I have here,” she said.
“I get so much enjoyment seeing how these horses come off the track and bond with the people and going out to ride.
“I sit up here and watch and think I am the happiest person in the world to be able to do that for the horses. They are all well looked after, have a happy life and I love the lot of them.”
Stein’s property in Eagleby is run by volunteers, who all care for the horses around the clock.
As of Thursday afternoon, much of the facility was still underwater with mud everywhere else.
“I want to help the horses, I am not worried about raising money for myself, it is all for the horses – it is going to take a lot of feed,” she said.
“I need to buy new water pumps for everywhere and water troughs.
“I just started a list of things I need to buy but until we can actually get into the stables to see what has happened, then we are not sure exactly. It is disastrous what has happened.”
The former trainer was not exactly sure of how many former race horses she had on her property until the floods came over the last week as she made a list of all their names to ensure they were safe and well.
Once the gallopers finish up on the race track, Stein and her volunteers take them in and look to find a forever home for them to be cared for.
“That is what I am doing these days, finding homes for these horses, I do it all day and half the night,” she said.
“I do not just let anybody have a horse; I do all the checks to ensure they are the right people to take on the horses. We have had great success with that.”
Stein last started a horse in her name back in 1999, training winners in Brisbane in the years following her Cox Plate triumph.
Jessica Peters, who set up the GoFundMe page to support Stein’s efforts, lauded her commitment to retired race horses.
“Deirdre spends much of her own money buying hay, medicine, feed and whatever her beloved horses need,” Peters said.
“Please, if there is anything at all you can spare, no matter how small, it would mean so much to these beautiful horses and the wonderful Deirdre and stable manager Louise, who stop at nothing and at great personal cost to give them a safe and loving home.
“All donations will go directly to the stable manager to purchase essential hay, feed, medicine, insecticides, and the basic necessities to try and get these beautiful horses’ lives back on track.”
Click here if you wish to support the GoFundMe page.