“God” and “gambling” are two subjects one doesn’t normally associate together.

However, in the highly competitive, financially fraught, and sometimes dangerous world of horse-racing, maybe a man (or woman) of the cloth is exactly what is needed!

In explaining why he provides chaplaincy for an industry ultimately based on bookmaking, Mark Bartimote expertly refers back to the scriptures. He has a message of hope in a tough industry.

“Jesus himself associated with tax collectors, sinners, and social outcasts. He said, ‘I come to heal the sick, not the healthy’,” Mark explained.

“It’s about coming along and building relationships with people and, when things get tough, being someone they can relate to,” he added.

His position is actually part of a program that has been running for years in the racing industry in NSW with the aim of providing support for those who need it.

“I work with a mob called the ‘Australian Racing Christian Chaplaincy,’ that means I’m more than happy to talk to anybody in the industry.

“This ranges from jockeys, trainers, owners, strappers, punters, bookies, and trackwork riders; they’re all people I know and work with,” Mark revealed.

The voluntary role, he explains, mostly involves putting himself about so that people in the industry get to know and trust him.

“I’ll go down to not just meets, but at the track and talk to trainers and jockeys and strappers, some are happy to say ‘hello’ and chat, but they all know who I am.

“It’s about building relationships and building connections, someone came to me once and said, ‘call so-and-so, he’s in a bad place’ and, though I’m not a counsellor, I can refer people to those who are,” Mark emphasised.

His position, he explained, takes him not just the bigger tracks and meets in the region, he also has a roaming brief for the whole western areas of the state where he also supports those for whom racing is also a dangerous profession as well as a livelihood.

“I go to Dubbo, Gilgandra, Cobar, and recently went to the Mendooran Memorial Meet for our fallen.

“I was also at ‘Gil’ last weekend to help support the ‘National Jockey Trust’, which is a fundraiser for riders who have died or been injured over the years,” Mark said.

His job, however, does have its lighter moments in an industry known for its old-style Australian sense of humour.

“Someone one said to me, 'if you bless my horse, will it win?' I answered, ‘well, look at it this way, it’ll be blessed, but it may not win!'”

From a skilled working background himself, he now gets out and about as a truck driver between his position with racing.

“I was a fitter by trade and later became a compliance manager, but I said to the boss a few years ago, ‘I’m sick of the audits.’ Now I enjoy a job that gives me space and time to think,” Mark revealed.

“It’s all voluntary with the chaplaincy work; it’s just an honour and a privilege to be among these people.”

His obvious love of his work, he admits, goes back to his youth in which horses played a big part.

“I love horses, my father was a shearing contractor at Cobar, and the guy next door had 50 mares, and I used to help break them in.

“I loved riding as well and, though, I’ve always been too big to be a jockey, I did do trackwork for one week, that’s my famous link to the industry,” he laughed.

He again refers back to the Gospel in explaining his work in an industry that many older conservative Australians used to view as a tad shady and even disreputable.

“Jesus said, the well don’t need a doctor, I’m available for anyone who needs me, you build rapport and, if a crisis comes, you’re there, because they’ve learnt to trust you.

“One of the key words in the chaplaincy, is ‘genuine’, and I try to be genuine in everything I do.”

Helping others, he adds, is something that he happily devotes a large part of his time on.

“My goal and my role, is to care for people, that’s what I attempt to do,” Mark said.

“I’m also the chaplain at Dubbo Kangaroos Rugby Club. I love horse, and I love people,” he concluded.