Beer’s Berlin
One town, Albury-Wodonga, divided. Steve Moran
“I’ve cried but only in the shower…and that doesn’t count, does it?” said Mitch Beer as he reflected on the trials of a border-straddling trainer over the past two years. From the bushfires of late 2019 to the emerging pandemic in early 2020 it has been a testing time for the young horseman. Brent Crawford, Beer’s Administration manager, says it’s been akin to living astride the Berlin Wall. “One town, Albury-Wodonga, divided. It’s like we were split by the Berlin wall. Staff on both sides. The rules constantly changing between New South Wales and Victoria. It was extremely difficult for everyone, especially Mitch who’s handled it so well all things considered,” Crawford said. Most of us have empathised, from afar, with any border business operators whose commercial and personal lives have been even more complicated than the majority of the nation’s population. In Beer’s case, the complications extended beyond staff to the management of 50 odd horses many of which he lost when it became impossible to relocate them from Victorian farms or nearly impossible to run them on tracks south of the Murray. His duo annus horribilis began with a moratorium on running his horses anywhere as they were adversely affected by a bushfire-smoke engulfed Albury; extended to relocating horses from bushfire affected areas to eventually having to acquaint himself with Covid-19 rules and regulations on almost a daily basis. “I’d make an instant coffee at home, drive to Mugachino in Albury to get a “real one” and while I waited for them to open at 5 (am), I’d be checking for any updates on the Covid rules and regulations and checking the bank balance which was usually depressing. “The hardest part was the feeling that I was managing this on my own. Not that I didn’t have great support from people like Brent, many of my owners and the staff but the whole time you’re thinking you can’t let the staff know how grim things are looking,” Beer said. BC - before Covid - life had been looking grand for Beer. The winners had flowed freely in the 18 months since his move to Albury from Mornington where he says he’d been miserable.
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That’s no longer his mood nor disposition despite the misery which has followed AD - after division of state borders. And not a state of mind you’d associate with the trainer who’s built a strong social media following with his often amusing or irreverent posts. Chris Waller may have ten times as many horses but only twice the number of Twitter followers. The restrictions on movement, of course, became the biggest nightmare for those dwelling on one side of the Murray River but working on the other. This was especially so for Beer and his fellow Albury trainers. It wasn’t just employees disadvantaged but also contractors including veterinarians and farriers. And then horses, after a second wave of Covid-19, in Victoria in 2020, prompted Racing NSW to ban the transportation of horses into NSW. All the while, the Beer’s bank balance was diminishing and - all the while - he had to respond on the fly, as the communication of bans imposed was almost non-existent from the governing body. Beer’s Victorian-based staff relocated in a matter of hours. More than 20 horses could not. They had to be transferred to other trainers. Another financial drain ensued. “When the border closed mid-way through last year, we had very little notice to move some key staff in to Albury. We were very lucky to find a suitable AirBNB. At one stage, it looked like the caravan park might be our only option. “These people willingly moved away from family and partners for three or four months. They were and are amazing but it was another financial burden for Mitch,” said Crawford who continues to provide administrative services for Beer, and many other industry participants, under the banner of Elite Racing Solutions. Beer recalls that three cabins at the local caravan park did, indeed, house his staff on night one of the lockdown. “The police and government authorities had booked out the hotels,” he said - as if they were doing their best to exacerbate local frustration. “It was a crazy time. We’re trying to run with four sets of rules - from two state governments and two racing bodies.
