By Hayley Morrison
A pretty good athlete by the name of Pele once said, “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.”
No matter how many great quotes you look up, usually the people that are most successful in life possess a certain spark, passion and go-getter attitude about them. They don’t just post feel good quotes on their Instagram feed, rather they actually live, breathe and persevere through the daily grind.
One such individual is Jenn Tompkins, who works as Lorne Richards’ assistant trainer at Woodbine Racetrack.
Although morning training has wrapped up on the backstretch Tompkins is still in the barn tending to every last minute detail; making sure hooves are picked, legs are wrapped, water topped up and the shedrow swept neatly before making her way home.
“I get here at 4, I do all the buckets, Aaron does all the hay nets. Then I set out tack and all our equipment. Lorne and Sandra get here at 5. The other groom is Lorne’s wife Sandra. Then we start training at 5:30. We are usually done at 8:30, usually when are last one goes out. And then (I) groom,” said Tompkins.
Her partner, Aaron Wansborough works for trainer Donald MacRae in the morning, but also helps Tompkins feed every day and run horses on race days from Richards’ barn.
Lorne Richards has been working in the industry for close to four decades, sending out his very first runner (Courageous Clem) in 1980 at Exhibition Park in Vancouver. The veteran trainer is more than happy to have Tompkins working within his outfit.
“She’s been a good worker for us. Always in a good mood and that’s a big plus on the racetrack. Looking at the same mugs every day it gets a little old.”
A big smile lights up Tompkins’ face as she introduces several horses that she looks after in Richards’ barn. One handsome dark bay gelding is Tequila State, or as she tells me - ‘if he was a person, he would be Tom Hardy.’ They all have nicknames, they all get fussed over and Seize the Bay (aka Spencer) keeps eyeing the candy tin as she walks by it.
They know her to a tee and not surprisingly nearly every other picture on her social media account suggests she has some four-legged ‘besties’ in the shedrow.
Born and raised in New Westminster Vancouver, Tompkins sat on her first horse around the tender age of three. She also hails from a strong lineage of race trackers, with both her parents, Floyd Tompkins and Mary-Anne Baumgartner working in the industry.
“Both my parents were jockeys turned trainers. They trained together. Now, my dad he does breaking for Peter Redekop who used to have horses here with Terry Jordan. My mom still trains. She is an owner, breeder and trainer, so she does it all and gallops her own. She is 63 and gallops her own.”
A sport deeply embedded in her bones, Tompkins found herself working several summers at Hastings Racecourse in Vancouver while she was still in high school.
“I was always at the track. When I wasn’t school I was at the track or playing soccer,” said Tompkins.
Wanting to learn more about the industry she moved out to California in 2009 and worked as a groom at Golden Gate Fields for the next three years. In 2012, Tompkins travelled to Ontario and began working at Woodbine for trainer Steve Attard.
“I worked for him for three years and then I went back to Vancouver and I worked for Terry Jordan and Anita Bolton out there for a year. Then I went to France for a few months and rode steeplechase horses for a trainer named Pierre Bouviet and that was pretty intense. I came back here in 2016 and started working for Lorne.”
The racing world is a tight-knit industry and in this case, it would just so happen that Tompkins’ family had already worked with Lorne Richards.
“My dad actually rode horses for Lorne (Richards) at Sandown Racetrack which is racetrack they tore down in Sidney on Vancouver Island. So my dad rode races for Lorne, so small world.”
A sentiment quickly reiterated by Richards.
“Her father worked for me at one time and I’ve known her mother and father for over forty years.”
Whether its decades or not, the general consensus about working in the horse racing industry is that - the days are early, the work grind is never ending and the hustle is very real.
What gets Tompkins out of bed to be at the barn for 4 a.m.?
“Just the horses. I’ve always loved being around them. It’s a lot of work. I’m here seven days a week from March to December. I feed everyday and I come back at 7:30-8:00 pm to water off and give them their snacks. So for me it’s straight through. And then you take them over there and our horses always look good. Working for Lorne - he is the best horseman I’ve come across in 28 years, him and my dad. For sure it’s pretty rewarding working for a guy like him, who is all about the horses.”
Tompkins, who got her assistant trainer’s license last year intends to get her trainer’s license either this season or at the beginning of the next season. She also has a list of important goals in mind for this season.
“This year I just want to get the well-rounded experience of training, saddling horses, having more to do with the condition book, weights and really learning about what the trainer’s responsibilities are as opposed to an AT’s. I mean there a lot of assistants here that do that kind of stuff because the trainers aren’t here but my trainer is here - he is great with all that kind of stuff he wants me to learn. He is going to pass down the torch to me.”
Chatting within the warmth of the barn office, amongst freshly cleaned tack and a desk occupied by a huge bag of mints, Tompkins offers a samosa – treats for the horses and for the people.
She loves all her horses, but when asked if one stands out in her mind, Tompkins is quick to respond.
“My favourite horse of all time that I’ve ever looked after is Alert Bay, who was a multiple graded stakes winner in California. He beat Heart to Heart in the Mathis Brothers Mile stakes (2014). Excellent dirt mile horse and turf horse - just awesome. He looked really funny, he had like a jug head face and he wasn’t the prettiest. He had a lanky body and he didn’t look like a stakes horse, but he was all heart. My dad and I actually broke him together. So that was really cool to have him. He won horse of the year and three-year-old for me in Vancouver. That was a cool horse.”
Trekking from the west to east coast (and a few other places in between) over the last several years her list of favourite horses continues to grow. If Richards’ set of horses could talk they would most likely nominate themselves to the list as well.
A serene and peaceful vibe is emulating from the barn as Tompkins moves quietly amongst the fleet of trainees putting last minute things away. It’s hard not to see that she is very much at home at the Ontario based oval.
Asked what she loves about the racing scene on this side of the coast she is quick to respond.
“I love the turf racing. I love the turf course here. I think it is a huge asset that Woodbine has and you hear it from everyone when they come over here. Even the guy in France I worked for said Woodbine has the nicest turf course he’s ever come across. I like the atmosphere, I love the Greenwood Stakes day and I like all the little things they did, the parties and bands - it’s a good way to get young people out. I think Woodbine has a clear vision of getting young people out and about.”
It’s close to the lunch hour as the loud speaker announces entries for the next race day. Tom Hardy listens in, Spencer looks for another mint and a very handsome war horse named Stormy Rush looks on. At the sprightly age of 11, he knows the drill. Another race day will soon approach for the warrior. He looks curiously at Tompkins as she slips a halter on and leads him out of the barn. It’s not race day just yet, simply a spur of the moment photo shoot kind of day.
As the camera clicks, he doesn’t move a muscle. Stormy Rush is in no rush.
Wise beyond his racetrack years the dark bay gelding waits patiently, almost intuitively knowing that the limelight is to be shared with a young lady working tirelessly in the industry she loves.
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