Trainer Lawrie Fownes retires at the end of this season due to the Jockey Club's age limitations but it may not be the happiest of goodbyes, with the veteran trainer shattered yesterday as his son, Caspar, was passed over for a trainer's licence for the 2003-2004 season.
The Club, instead, opted for four-times South African champion David Ferraris and Ivan Allan's assistant, Danny Shum Chap-shing, as the new faces in the training ranks.
In an open letter, Fownes yesterday shared his innermost feelings:
'The dreams and aspirations of a hard-working young man have been cruelly dashed. For the past 18 years, Caspar has worked alongside me in a most diligent and dedicated manner, fine-tuning his skills and learning all he can about the art of training racehorses. As his father and mentor, I am firmly convinced that he has all the attributes to excel at the job and firmly believed he would be given the opportunity to follow in my footsteps. The Fownes family has been in the horseracing business for over 60 years and this will be the first time a Fownes does not hold a licence to carry on our proud tradition - a sad day indeed!
'Each morning, I look around me and see my peers - David Hayes, Ivan Allan, David Oughton, David Hill, Tony Millard, John Moore and others, and like myself they have one thing in common - all of us followed our fathers as trainers. I can only imagine how Caspar must feel, because deep down I feel truly gutted that he will not be doing the same. All our owners will be deeply upset and the staff who have worked for us for many years and have a great working relationship with Caspar will be distraught.
'Knowing that my term as a licensed trainer was drawing to a close due to my enforced retirement, I entrusted the running of the stable to Caspar, my owners were appraised of the situation and they felt it would be good knowing that I would be looking over his shoulder and keeping a watchful eye. This was not necessary - he handles a stable with 50-plus horses in an admirable manner. We are currently lying ninth on the premiership table with more winners to come!