They say you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.
But if anyone could make a horse drink, it was Dean Logan.
The legendary horse trainer and co-founder of Logan Racing lost his battle with throat cancer yesterday, though his devotion to his horses, staff and fans was evident until the very end. He fought and fought and had the bravest fight," says Donna Logan, his former wife, business partner and long-time affiliate at the Logan Racing stable.
"One of our last mornings together at the track, Dianne [Dean's wife] and the children came down and we watched Volkstok'n'barrell gallop. He [Dean] was very ill but he stuck in there until the bitter end to make sure the job got done right, because he was a real stickler for precision," she says.
Volkstok'n'barrell went into Saturday's $750,000 TV3 Derby at Ellerslie as a hot favourite, and placed second in what became an emotional last stanza for the Logan Racing trainer.