Bonecrusher trainer Frank Ritchie retires
The trainer of the 1986 Cox Plate winner reflects on Bonecrusher’s near-fatal illness in Japan and the family partnerships that shaped his career.
Frank Ritchie has retired from training, ending a long New Zealand career best known for Bonecrusher’s nine Group One wins, including the 1986 Cox Plate.
Ritchie told NZ Racing News his family’s racing involvement stretched back to his great-grandfather. Following five years training with his father, Merv Ritchie, he began operating independently.
Ritchie initially rode as a jumps jockey, following his father into the saddle, before turning to training.
“I started out training with Dad and he taught me a lot,” Ritchie said.
Owned by Peter Mitchell, Bonecrusher won 18 of his 44 starts. His Cox Plate victory over Our Waverley Star pitted Ritchie against his friend Dave O’Sullivan, the runner-up’s co-trainer.
“After the race, we were both going down and we hugged because we just knew what great horses they were,” Ritchie said.
His son Shaune Ritchie left school to travel with Bonecrusher for the Australian campaign, which included victories in the Underwood Stakes and Caulfield Stakes before the Cox Plate.
Shaune later spent two years training in partnership with his father before his younger brother Craig Ritchie joined Frank. Craig is restarting on his own in Australia after five years with Chris Waller.
