Lisa Kennedy has always had a passion for thoroughbreds, and her efforts in guiding retired racehorses into new careers through EventStars were celebrated at Entain’s Industry Excellence Awards last Sunday as the winner of the Care and Welfare Excellence Award.
As lead re-trainer, Kennedy works alongside EventStars’ founder Gina Schick to rehome approximately 300 retired thoroughbreds into sporthorse homes on a yearly basis, and her recognition was a timely tonic for the organisation.
“It’s been an emotional time here recently, so it meant a lot to the team,” Kennedy said. “Rod (Schick) and Gina have done incredible things with this place and what she has created over the past 15 years with EventStars is amazing.
“It’s very much a team effort, EventStars and Windsor Park are one big family and just to be a part of it is phenomenal, it’s a very humbling experience and I feel very privileged.
“Thank you also to Entain for putting on these awards.”
Prior to entering the rehoming space, Kennedy had ridden on raceday as an amateur and over fences, the latter coming during her time working for Wanganui trainer Kevin Myers.
“I had friends in the South Island who raced jumpers and I ended up riding a few of them at home one day,” she said. “I thought that was pretty cool and I just went racing from there.
“I ended up working for Kevin Myers and had a couple of stints there, and now I’m in Cambridge working for Gina. I had a bit of a background in racing and younger horses, so it made it a little bit easier for me to make that transition, already having had a feel for the green thoroughbreds.”
After Sunday’s awards, it was back to business as usual for Kennedy this week, with the current group of thoroughbreds going through a carefully managed routine where they are given every opportunity to succeed in a suitable home.
“It’s all dependent on how many horses we’ve got in at the time, but at the moment, we’re ticking along through the winter,” she said. “We’ve got thoroughbreds from around the country, but also coming from the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
“For their first couple of rides, we’ll work them here to get a bit of a feel for them, then they’ll go for a hack around the home farm. If we can, we like to get them on the float within the first week and out to a different arena and a different place to go hacking, to get more mileage and experience.
“We are able to see where their strengths and weaknesses are, so we can place them into the right home environment.
“Gina is the driving force behind the marketing, communications and everything of that nature, which she is extremely good at, and I’m just learning about parts of that now. She’ll cast an eye over every horse and make an assessment on which home she thinks would be suitable, which typically is the same as the rest of the team.
“We work very well as a collective.”
Kennedy’s passion for the breed is evident outside of work as she is often out competing with two of her own retired thoroughbreds.
“I’ve loved the thoroughbreds for a long time and they’re one of a kind,” she said. “They’ve got a really cool attitude, they want to do the best that they can.
“They’re very trainable and willing, and they suit a range of different people. You find the top-level horses, but there are a lot of horses that just suit the average battler like myself.
“I have two of my own, both from Kevin Myers’ barn. I’ve had one of them for eight or nine years, he’s travelled around New Zealand with me and done a bit of everything.
“The other was a steeplechaser and I got him four or five years ago, he was Angela’s (Illston) horse and was in my barn at the time, and I just adored him. He’s a Rip Van Winkle, so naturally he’s a nice jumper and the dream is to go two-star eventing with him in the next 12-24 months.”