Ray Dart’s remarkable fight

By Jordan Gerrans

Ray Dart has battled serious health issues in recent years, but those who see him at Deagon most mornings would hardly be any the wiser.

Other participants in the sport know the long-time trainer is struggling, but his attitude and demeanour reflect a positive, smiling outlook.

The 72-year-old has made a successful comeback to the sport over the last few years after being diagnosed with multiple myeloma, which is an incurable disease.

In the last three years, the small Dart team has tallied 32 winners, a significant result considering it usually has only a handful of horses in work at a time.

Dart is assisted by long-time Deagon trackwork rider Dominique Lahiff, who summed up the admiration many in the racing industry have for the way he conducts himself despite his personal challenges.

“Ray's amazing,” Lahiff said.

“I have never - and I can genuinely say this - met anyone like Ray. He never complains that he's unwell. He's the most positive person I have ever met in my life.

“He amazes me all the time. He turns up and you know how sick he is and he never complains. He always asks, how am I doing? How's my family doing?

“I love that about him. He's just so generous and kind and just thoughtful of everyone else.

“Ray's very easy going, very polite, kind, very easy to ride trackwork for. Very easy.”

Dart is not currently receiving treatment for his multiple myeloma, but has undergone bone marrow transplants, chemotherapy and experimental treatment for his cancer over the years.

When he was first diagnosed 13 years ago, Dart was informed by doctors that he had about a month to live.

He is still fighting on to this day.

Dart is as humble as they come and deflects all the praise onto his family members, including wife Kerrie and son Reece, who are vital to the running of his stable.

The team heads north to Caloundra on Friday with Inquisitor engaged over 1200 metres, while they will also have runners at the Gold Coast on Saturday.

Dart spent more than a decade away from training after being diagnosed with the blood cancer.

He had a couple of runners in the 2015-16 season, but 2011-12 was the last time Dart completed a full season of training before his recent return.

“Well, without my wife and son, I wouldn't be able to do it, naturally,” he said one morning after trackwork at Deagon recently.

“They're a big influence with the stables. Reece mainly helps on race day and does a bit of work at the track with me.

“My wife just lets me go on my own merry way. She was sick a while back and while she was lying in bed, I bought another horse, which she wasn't impressed about (laughs).

“They've been a big help. My wife looks after me hand and foot. She really looks after me and Reece takes the pressure off me.

“He helps any way he can to make life easier for me. All my four children do, but he is the only one involved in racing.”

Reece has previously trained his own team, but has taken on a foreman role in his father's yard in recent times.

The veteran Deagon conditioner takes great pride in buying lower-grade horses and improving them.

He has enjoyed this kind of success with a number of gallopers since his recent return.

Justice Served arrived at his stable as a maiden from Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott's Sydney operation. The gelding now has seven wins beside his name and will be searching for an eighth at the Gold Coast on Saturday.

I Am Voodoo has 11 victories on his resume, six of which have come since he arrived at Dart's stable after leaving the Toby Edmonds camp.

Watermelon has also won eight races for Dart after arriving in maiden company.

Dart's eye for a horse has contributed to his success, as has his association with top trackwork rider Lahiff.

The 51-year-old Lahiff has been riding at the venue for more than three decades and now also dabbles with a small team of her own.

“I've ridden trackwork for Ray for two years now, since he came to Deagon,” she said.

“I appreciate that Ray appreciates me. I know he genuinely appreciates the effort that I put in and I like to help out.

“I love being around Ray. It's such a good vibe to be around someone who's just so positive and you know that he's got so much going on. He cares so much for everyone else.

“He calls a spade a spade and he doesn’t mind saying to people what he thinks.

“Ray's got so many unbelievable stories. He's done everything in life. It's amazing. He blows me away all the time with the stuff that he's done in his life and what he's achieved.

“He's a very unassuming character. You would never think Ray has done the stuff he's done.”

A few years ago, Dart's wife Kerrie lauded the staff at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital for their “marvellous” work in getting her husband back on the right path.

After starting a new treatment a few years ago, Dart began to get a spring back in his step and, as they say, the rest is history.

“I've got about four or five in at any one time,” he said.

“I like the real country atmosphere at Deagon. I think it's just better than the major city tracks where there's a lot of action happening.

“Well, the horses themselves, I speak volumes of them because they've all put in. They've all won races and they're going good. So, it's mainly the horses, not me.”

Having I Am Voodoo crowned 2024-25 Gold Coast Turf Club Horse of the Year was a particular highlight for Dart in recent years.

“They've all won races,” he said.

"I like getting maiden horses and seeing if I can improve them a little bit. They've all done well, we're very pleased.”

Dart's return to the industry has also been a major boost to his mental wellbeing after a decade fighting for his life.

“It definitely puts my mind in a different place,” he said.

“That's a big feature, I think, of helping you be better. I believe you've got to be active in life. Mother lived until she was 97.

“She always used to say, if you stop walking and that, then you'll die. I just keep doing what I do.

“My trackwork rider, Dom, she's a really good help. She rides the horses and it's a good kind of partnership. We don't have any arguments or carry-ons.”