Jockeying for souls

Joseph Smith | 26 September 2006

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My story

Ray Hickson

One night recently, while I was in church, I received a phone call from a jockey I'd spent much of my work day trying to contact.
I instantly recognised the number and answered quietly until I was out of the building.

`Don't talk like you don't know who this is,' he said.

My reply was `I'm talking softly because I'm in church at the moment.' He then said, after throwing a few unprintable words at me, `what are you doing in church, what are you looking for there?'

I'm not proud of what I said next (I said `I don't know') but what it made me see was that, despite indirect efforts to try, I can't keep my two worlds apart.

The horse racing industry is one that promotes gambling, ego and unfortunately innuendo and controversy and many people will tell you, like the jockey above, that horse racing and God don't mix.

Fortunately there are people out there who have proven that they do mix.

There are people out there working hard to bring God into the racing industry, most notably the Australian Racing Christian Chaplaincy and jockey Darren Beadman who, in particular, has been a wonderful role model in that area. Not only is he the best in the business, he's one of the most humble and approachable people.

At the moment Sydney racing has found itself at the centre of unwanted media attention over allegations of race fixing and misuse of power by officials - and that's just at the surface.

As a racing journalist, part of my job is to report on these issues. A larger part of my job is to provide information, comment and insight into who I think will win races.

Apparently there are people out there who pay attention to what I have to say. This places a great responsibility on me when you consider people do place money on hoses based on those opinions. And yes, I do have a bet but I'm what you'd call a $10 punter.

I don't personally promote gambling but it is a facet of my job that is unavoidable.

There aren't a lot of Christians in the racing industry that I am aware of, and that does make being a Christian in such an arena a challenge. Humility is not a quality you see often in this business. I don't advertise what I believe but I don't hide it either, preferring to build relationships just by being me.

That doesn't mean you can't have an impact.

Ray Hickson is a horse racing journalist with the Sportsman and The Daily Telegraph.

Sydney Anglicans are working hard to bring God into the world of horse racing, reports JOSEPH SMITH.

Reaching out to any industry with the gospel is difficult. It is even tougher when the industry is innately distrusted by a large number of Christians.

The horse racing industry has suffered this kind of stigma, however, the ministry of the Australian Racing Christian Chaplaincy (ARCC) has already won over the support of some Christians in high places like Archbishop Peter Jensen and Catholic Archbishop Cardinal George Pell.

The rector of St Martin’s, Kensington, the Rev Jeremy Tonks and retired clergyman, the Rev Paul Bayliss are two ministers who have been instrumental in bringing the gospel to Sydney’s race tracks while also raising awareness of the ministry among Sydney Anglican churches.

Mr Tonks became interested in racing ministry when he took over as the rector of Kensington six years ago. Randwick race course is within the parish boundaries, located just minutes from St Martin’s.

“I was concerned about the fact that we were surrounded by racing staff. Our church had no way of reaching them other than through getting onto the tracks and into stables,” Mr Tonks says.

The Rev Paul Bayliss had similar concerns trying to reach out to workers from Rosehill race course in his time as rector of St Paul’s, Harris Park in the 1980s.

Twenty years later, ARCC has strengthened its links with the Race Track Chaplaincy of America (RTCA). Dr Karin Sowada, Chair of the ARCC Executive Committee, visited the USA in April this year to attend the RTCA annual conference in Houston, Texas.

“It was a great time to be encouraged in ARCC’s ministry and the RTCA certainly see us part of their global network of ministry partners,” she says.

ARCC’s long-term aim is to get a full- time chaplain on all the metropolitan race tracks, however, the Australian context makes this more difficult than the USA, because the USA allows tax exemptions for donations to chaplaincy work.
Mr Tonks says the assistance of champion jockey and St Martin’s member, Darren Beadman has helped him build relationships with people in the industry.

“Darren is the biggest help because he is universally respected across the industry. He has been more than generous with his time, going into stables with me and introducing me to people. He is brilliant in assisting the work of ARCC,” Mr Tonks says.

Mr Tonks also runs a Monday afternoon Bible study which has been going for four months.

It is attended by ARCC committee members including Mr Bayliss and bookmakers’ statistician, Graham Isbister. By running the study on Monday afternoons, traditionally the least busy day of the week for many racing workers, Mr Tonks hopes to reach more people as contacts are developed.

September saw another opportunity for improved relations between ARCC and RTCA with the visit of RTCA Executive Director, Dr Enrique Torres, RTCA National President, Edward Smith and USA Hall of Fame jockey Pat Day.

“Pat Day is the like the American equivalent of Darren Beadman. When he retired he had won $297 million in prize money and won the Preakness Stakes five times,” Mr Tonks says.

Pat Day became a Christian during his career after dealing with addictions to drugs and alcohol.

“The RTCA members can open doors for us in the local industry because they are established,” Mr Tonks says.

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