JEDD O’KEEFFE isn’t a man who tends to deal in worst case scenarios – so it wasn’t a comment he made lightly.
But there is no ducking the fact that if the horse racing shutdown extends much beyond the initial six-week period, the fall-out will be devastating.
O’Keeffe has 20-staff on the payroll at his Middleham yard, where crack novice chaser Sam Spinner is the star of the 63 horses he trains.
At the moment it is largely business as usual, as Tuesday’s bombshell news still sinks in. But if the sport doesn’t resume in early May, the repercussions are obvious.
For the amiable and optimistic O’Keeffe, 51, it isn’t a situation he wants to consider right now. But he is also realistic enough to know what could happen.
He admitted: “We’re exercising, mucking out, grooming, feeding…all the same as before, and assuming racing DID start around May 1, then I think most people would be okay.
“The focus is keeping the business going and protecting jobs. We don’t want to be making anybody redundant or asking them to take unpaid time off and as of today we are okay.
“How long would it be sustainable? If the horses remain in training and the clients keep paying, that’s indefinite. If racing is put back again, it would be a problem.
“The margins to all of us are very, very small because it is such a labour intensive industry. No-one would go on for very long.
“The outgoings don’t stop..the feed, vets, farriers, staff wages, they all need paying. Like the vast majority, we stand the costs with our suppliers and then bill our clients in arrears.
“With luck they are prompt payers, but if there’s a delay than that’s going to make things difficult. Fingers crossed we’re not without racing for too long, because it is very worrying.
“We have 20 on the payroll and I’d very much hope that we maintain those same staffing levels, but a lot of our fate is in the hands of our clients, our owners.
“Let’s face it, owning horses is a luxury, like a second holiday, and invariably they have their own businesses to worry about. I think we’ve all got our fingers crossed.”
For now, though, little will change – except the routine of Jedd, wife Andrea and the rest all eating breakfast together while the new staff facilities are built.
As he explained: “Now the staff get an hour to go home for their breakfast, and we’ve asked that they’re not all together in the same tack room, but stay a little bit more apart.”
And as for spending any spare time he gets now there are no meetings to attend? That is still up in the air…although he has an idea.
Jedd joked: “Well obviously I can’t watch any racing and I’m not bothered about it from South Africa.
“No doubt I will be given a few jobs to do and the paintbrushes will be out! They might end up getting a hand with that new building work.”
