Brett Demanded Accountability

Sadly missed by many

Hearing the news that Advocate Brett Maselle had passed on Friday 22 January 2021 was the sort of shock that leaves one numb at the enormity of it and has to be processed bit by horrible, unrelenting bit, writes Robyn Louw.

I was lucky enough to get to know Brett and be able to call him my friend.

We met thanks to horses and racing and, truth be properly told, the politics of horse racing.

So it is fitting that the first thought to enter my head once I started to absorb the news was Joe Hirsch’s award-winning description of the mighty Kelso:  “Once upon a time, there was a horse named Kelso – but only once.”

It is difficult not to sound self-pitying, because I am. But not just for me, for all of us.  He truly was one of the best human beings it has ever been my privilege to know.  He was humble, kind, gentle, generous and entirely unable to refuse help to anyone who asked, even if it was to his own detriment, which it so often was.

He had the biggest heart of anyone I have ever met.

In today’s disposable world with so much that is throwaway and superficial, it is rare to come across someone with the relentless and sometimes exhausting energy and raw passion that he possessed for so many things.

Our particular relationship centered mainly around our shared love for racing and the people in it, but extended further.

He was a friend, an advisor, a mentor, a sounding board, a cheerleader and so much more.  If one ever needed help, advice or an opinion on something – professional or personal – Brett’s phone was always on.  And when it came to keeping confidences, he had no equal.  We seldom stop to consider the burden of responsibility that places on someone, but he bore it with a grace and degree of integrity I have never encountered anywhere else.

In short, Brett was the sort of person who restored your faith in humanity by the simple act of being himself.  He was living, breathing, unflinching proof that good people really exist.

That there are people possessed of unshakeable principles, who believe in fairness, honesty, an equal shake for everyone and who are willing to fight for it.  People who will always, always have your back.  That knowledge made the world a better place to be and life seems infinitely diminished without him in it.

As Hall of Famer Carl Hanford once said about Kelso, “They don’t make ’em like that anymore. In fact, they never did.”

Once upon a time, there was a man named Brett Maselle – but only once.

Ed – Brett Maselle contributed vigorously and passionately on this platform to the seemingly endless debate about some things right, and so many things wrong in this great game. Late last year he was still asking leading and pressing questions in his quest to hold racing’s leadership to account. Many items remain unresolved and unanswered. It wasn’t for his lack of energy.

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