Didn't Bernie Saundry leave Victoria Town to avoid this?

[Chief Stipe]

“The last six months have been hell on earth. I wonder why I still want to be part of this industry.”

So says Kate Goodrich who renewed her training licence for the new season last week after dealing with many issues over a long period of time – mental, financial and practical.

I’m sure you know much of the back story to this. Allegations of bullying and threatening behaviour were sustained by an independent FBIS report as well as wrongfully suspended from training at Kilmore – or the basis for which was “flawed, injustifiable and does not withstand scrutiny.”

Since then, it has been a costly and endless search for accountability and a torrid test of her well-being. Yes, there have been mediations and financial offers put to Goodrich to make good the distress, but there are bigger pictures she sees and continues to plow on.

Only last week, Racing Victoria settled a substantial six figure amount on her legal fees in mediation on charges dating back to 2017.

“At the Court Of Appeal where I was exonerated of the charges against me by RV, the three Supreme Judges refused to provide RV with indemnity certificates because they found RV had materially contributed to the errors made by both the VCAT & Supreme Court Judge,” Goodrich wrote in an unanswered letter to Australian Trainer’s Association boss Andrew Nicholl last week.

“We had to risk all our assets, of most significance our property, to continue on with this case, this has caused me a great deal of stress and enormous damage to my mental health, I have been unable to continue as a trainer, so it has cost me my livelihood and my dreams.

“Either mental health matters or it doesn’t. As an organisation you can’t say you advocate for the mental health of all trainers then ignore the controlling body abusing its power against a participant so extremely as they have done in the manner they ran this case, in my opinion, to mentally break a participant to silence them, I believe that some of those running Victorian racing have hoped I would take my own life,” she said.

Goodrich is also reaching out to Victoria’s new Racing Integrity Commissioner Sean Carroll for assistance, after his predecessor Sal Perna claimed he didn’t have jurisdiction in intervene.

“I have been pro-active in contacting Kate and trying to understand her story, but as there are on-going legal proceedings, it is inappropriate for my office to be involved,” Carroll said.

“But I feel it is important that anyone can come to us at any time with any form of grievance and accountability for all, from my office to any licensee of participant is a priority.”

Goodrich has just six runners last season, the latest on May 7 (called perhaps appropriately Too Hard To Handle). In the season this journey started 2012/2013 she had 109 runners. Even two seasons back she had 22 runners but now she wonders whether the reason to renew her licence and requirement to saddle five runners will add to stress.

“I am hardly training any more now – I can’t put horses on a truck and travel 50 minutes each-way to Seymour, it’s just too stressful after all I have been through.

“I leased a couple of my horses out, that almost killed me, as I had bred them, but I just need to hang in there and try and keep myself busy,” Goodrich said.

“But at times I am mentally screwed up but it all and have no motivation for racing, I could possibly work for someone else but I’m not up for that.”

“But I have decided to keep my licence, they can’t stop me doing that, and with my lawyers I will just keep kicking on.”

[Huey]

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/superracing/vic-racing/racing-victoria-chief-executive-bernard-saundry-to-leave-post-at-end-of-year/news-story/4614dc00aad7986043dfe6792baf7449

[Joe Bloggs]

We left NZ as my lovely Mrs Bloggs attempted to take her life regarding a horrible and tortuous incident and Mr Saundry was a huge part of this, our lawyers advised us we would win our case against the 3rd party however they had no money and all we would achieve would be to bankrupt them........Saundry wrote to me with a terrible overview of how he saw things, he made no attempt to contact us until I took the matter to John Allen and the Prime Minister. Both Allen and The Prime Minister responded [to their credit] Saundry only responded once Allen prompted him to do so, Saundry claimed he didn't see the email, it was referred to him he said, it was addressed to him, he also contradicted the advice we received from the the racing investigator, so someone lied, either Saundry or the Investigator. My wife had business dealing with the wife of the investigator, we met the investigator socially prior to this incident, we believe him to be a man of the utmost integrity, if he lied then there is no hope for racing. If my wife had of succeeded in her suicide attempt you would have read about me on the front page, I make no apologies for that. Saundry was a huge part of destroying our lives in NZ, my wife is Australian, she has moved on, she is strong, and brave like Kate Goodrich, we have been together just on 50 years the week, I can't wait for Kate to succeed in her actions against RVL and in our case we have a paper trail condemning the behaviour of not only Saundry but his support staff,  we will tell all regarding our story shortly, it also involves our corporate life running and owning an award winning travel and safari company in Southern Africa, a read which I'm sure will intrigue most of you.