Andrew Campbell has become the second high-profile trainer in the past week to announce his retirement.
Last week Stephen McKee, famous as the co-trainer of champion racemare Sunline, went public on his intention to pull stumps at his South Auckland operation, and it can now be confirmed that Campbell is following suit.
The Cambridge-based horseman, likewise a Group One trainer per the outstanding sprinter-miler Tavistock, recently sold the property that he bought in 2017 after training from Masterton’s Opaki racecourse for more than 20 years.
Campbell worked as a plumber in Wellington before opting for life in the Wairarapa developing and trading horses. His focus changed some 15 years ago when he met Wellington real estate guru Tommy Heptinstall, who encouraged him to raise the bar in partnership with a syndicate of investors.
That’s how he became the trainer and part-owner of Tavistock, purchased as a Karaka yearling for $85,000, champion sprinter-miler of his year with earnings around $600,000 and retired to stud with a value of more than $3 million.
As a sire, Tavistock was the source of Campbell’s Gr.3 New Zealand Cup (3200m) winner Gobstopper and his brother Werther, a dual Derby placegetter in Australia before his sale to Hong Kong, where he became Horse of the Year.
At age 54, Campbell departs his profession with mixed feelings yet convinced that life as a trainer has lost its allure. Rising costs versus returns, sourcing staff and other challenges have become a burden, but a recent run-in with racing’s judiciary has fast-tracked his decision.
Earlier this month Campbell pleaded guilty to presenting a horse at a Cambridge trial meeting in May with a banned substance in its system, incurring a fine of $2,500.
The unnamed two-year-old did not compete after dropping his rider and being late scratched, but ironically it had been randomly selected for a pre-trial swab which was to reveal traces of the anti-inflammatory corticosteroid dexamethasone.
At the subsequent Racing Integrity Board hearing on August 9, Campbell stated that the horse had a slight puffy eye, and he was given an ointment by his vet to treat it. He applied a fingertip amount to the eye on the afternoon before the horse trialled the next day. He was not aware that Dexamethasone was a prohibited substance.
Despite an acceptance that the amount could not have influenced the horse’s performance, and that the only intention in applying the ointment was for the horse’s welfare, Campbell was found culpable on a presentation charge.
The horse concerned has since been named Riverplate and won a subsequent trial before finishing second on debut to talented filly Mustang Valley at Te Rapa in June. He is scheduled to be flown this week to Melbourne, where he will continue his career.
“I had already made up my mind to finish in November, but when they came at me like that, I decided I’d had enough, that was the final nail in the coffin,” Campbell said.
“I’ve never been big on vets and I’m definitely no cheat, so it’s been tough having to deal with what is my first supposed breach of the rules. It’s not a good feeling.
“Life as a trainer is a big enough battle without having to deal with that sort of stuff. Staffing and costs that just keep going up are making it impossible.
“My family and I have to work every Sunday because the cost of employing people is simply too much, so now I’m actually looking forward to packing up and heading back to the Wairarapa to enjoy life.”
Heptinstall, who now lives in Melbourne and has gradually migrated the bulk of his racing team to the likes of Victoria-based expats Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young and South Australian Michael Hickmott, supports Campbell fully in his decision to relinquish his licence.
“I don’t blame Andrew at all,” he said. “As if trying to get by as a trainer in New Zealand isn’t tough enough, to get treated like that for something so insignificant is just too tough on such a genuine guy.
“Talk about using a brick to kill a fly, it’s pathetic.”
Campbell harbours no regrets at the path his profession has taken him, most of all for the people he has been associated with and the horses that have been integral to that.
“Racing has been a wonderful game,” he said. “I’ve had plenty of good times with some fantastic people who have become lifetime friends.
“It’s just a bloody shame it has to end like this.”
He had intended for Tannahill to be his final raceday starter at Cambridge on Wednesday, but with the abandonment of the meeting due to COVID lockdown, the final curtain will now be at Saturday’s rescheduled meeting.
“I’ve entered him for Saturday and hopefully he’ll be a starter,” Campbell said. “That will be it though, end of story.”
