She may not be always right, but she’s seldom wrong either and it’s all this and having bigger balls than the shake, prattle and roll of a Man Called Hoss at the racing and sports radio channel in Australia known as RSN that makes horse racing in the country so, well, Gai.
Together with Chris Waller, her recent much publicised fight and highly charged questioning of the Australian Turf Club about the proposed sale of Rosehill was what one has come to expect from Gai Waterhouse- putting forward her thinking without fear of reprisals and boldly going where few have gone before because of, well, their lack of confidence, the effects of having walked on eggshells for too long and suffering from George Costanza type shrinkage.
Without even knowing it, Lady Gai Gai is creating a very exciting path for a new generation of female racing executives who are not part of nor subservient to the old boys club.
It’s not going to be long when rickety organisations like the Asian Racing Federation- ARF?- become a thing of the past along with the ARC- those junkets known as the Asian Racing Conference, where such “astute marketers” of the future of horse racing discuss things like dress codes instead of looking at things like new business streams that can only happen through business partnerships, especially with the big boys in technology.
There’s something else about Gai Waterhouse that should never be forgotten: her loyalty.
Most recently, we have seen it in how much she has supported jockey Adam Hyeronimus, below, and brought him back from the wilderness and put him slap, bang into the limelight.
Listening to Adam speak, here is someone who has matured, is a terrific jockey and is not some brash know-it-all believing that money and Instagram “fame” buys class. Never has, never will.
Other than Adam Hyeronimus, the lady trainer and Le Grande Dame of horse racing never misses a beat.
She sees it all and sees through it all, because she’s seen it all.
Think of how much she has done to create her own one team and inner circle- jockeys Tim Clark, Jordie Childs, Winona Costin and by her side being those she trusts.
There’s also her relationship and partnership with Adrian Bott.
More and more, we are seeing Adrian Bott become his own man and with his future path pretty much a given.
Gai Waterhouse is a fascinating person from whom there’s much to be learned if one listens to what she has to say, understands what is said between the lines, and then looks at her results driven career.
She’s a national treasure.