Rogie bounces back from cardiac scare

During more than half a century in racing, Graeme Rogerson has never been one to stay down for long.
Through it all he’s won multiple trainers’ premierships on the way to becoming the first to prepare 2,000 winners in New Zealand and more than double that since. His myriad of achievements includes being the first Kiwi to saddle a Golden Slipper winner, along with a Melbourne Cup for good measure and induction to the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame.
In the past month the man known as Rogie has beaten the greatest challenge in his 75 years, after owning up to “something being not quite right” and having to undergo open heart surgery. A fortnight afterwards he’s still in recovery mode, but in his irrepressible style, he’s ready for anything that comes along.
“I was missing a bit of strength, I just wasn’t happy with the way I felt, so I went in for a full check-up,” Rogerson told RaceForm earlier this week. “When they’d done all the tests they told me I wasn’t in the best of shape.
“The cardiologist told me that if they did nothing I mightn’t be around in 12 months. I asked him what was the upside and when he said ‘I reckon if you agree to what we’re recommending you’ll be good for another 15 or 20 years’ – well it was hard to argue with.”
The very next day Rogerson underwent major surgery, and each day since has been better than the one before.
“They put me through the mill, sawed me up the middle and took arteries out of my leg – I never knew what pain was until afterwards – but that’s what they had to do. The next day I’m lying there all hooked up with one eye open, and there’s my granddaughter Bailey saying ‘Hey Granddad, we’re still in business!”
Now back home at Team Rogerson’s dual-code Tuhikaramea base, he reflects at what might have been if he hadn’t taken note of the warning signs.
“They did a brilliant job, I’m told the cardiologist in charge is the best in the business and I’ve got him and everybody else at Braemar Hospital to thank. I used to think I was 10 feet tall and invulnerable, but I’ve realised that’s not the case.
“I’ll never be able to repay them properly, but we organised a delivery of fish to be flown up from the Chathams so the doctors and nurses and all the patients there could dine out on the best blue cod.”
Having come out the other side, Rogerson is taking a measured approach to the immediate future, a future that definitely has plenty of upside.
Last Saturday at Hastings provided a big fillip with the win by two-year-old Grove Street, a first for former Rogerson-trained speedster Ferrando, who now stands at Westbury Stud.
“I know what they mean that there’s nothing like a win by a good horse to buck you up. That was great to see, but I’m not surprised.
“Ferrando was a brilliant galloper – the fastest I’ve trained – but he never raced at two, so we have to be happy that he’s got a winner already. This horse isn’t the only good one we’ve got by him, but the surprising thing is they’re looking more like stayers than sprinters.
“Zorro’s Revenge finished third over a mile in the Champagne Stakes and he’ll be going to Christchurch for the 2000 Guineas. We’ve got Sharp ’N’ Smart heading to Melbourne and a couple of Ferrandos I really like will be going over with him.
“Great Adventure is a very good horse and he’ll be aimed at the VRC Derby, and a filly I really like by the name of So Excited is going for the Oaks.”
Rogerson reports that reigning Horse of the Year Sharp ’N’ Smart is making good progress ahead of the new season, with his first public appearance scheduled for the Te Rapa trials on August 6 followed by a 1400m race at Ruakaka 11 days later.
High hopes are also held for Swiss Ace gelding Domain Ace, the winner of two of his first season starts including the Listed Star Way Stakes at Ellerslie in April.
“He’s come back enormous and he’ll kick off in the Northland Breeders’ Stakes at Ruakaka the same day as Sharp ’N’ Smart. He could be anything at three.
“We’ve got a whole bunch of rising two-year-olds too, and we took three of them to Te Awamutu last week. One was a Ferrando and the other two are by Hello Youmzain and El Roca; they jumped out well with the older horses.”
Rogerson also provides a heads-up on his harness team, just as optimistically as he does his main stable. “We’ve got four going to Auckland on Friday and I reckon three of them – Wicked Wanda, Seaclusion and Shez Bella – can win.”
While keen to resume full duties, Rogerson is giving in to his wife Debbie and others like son Gary and his partner Michelle Northcott to ease into things rather than take his standard headlong approach.
“Everyone here has been great, they’ve all chipped in and kept things going while I’ve been laid up,” he says.
“We’ve got a whole lot to look forward to – some lovely horses and plenty of them. The best thing is what Entain have done, it’s massive when you look at what we’re racing for in both codes – none of it would have been possible without Dean Shannon and his team coming on board.”