The New Trainer - It's All in a Name

 I never wanted to work with horses when I was growing up.  I'd watched my father work his guts out 7 days a week when he was foreman for Bart.  I used to sneak a peak at his weekly wage and the 400 or so dollars he was earning didnt quite inspire me for the effort he was putting in.  Every couple of weeks another owner would be in Bart's stable and they would always ask if i wanted to be like my dad when i grew up..........I was a little smart arse 12-13 yo and you can imagine my reply.

I liked it and when a good horse would come into the sables! The likes of Shaftesbury Avenue, Lets Elope, Kingston Rule would be winning Group 1's and I got a kick out of it, i just never really appreciated it.  It was some of Barts greatest days and was great fun but I just took it for granted.

I’m now fully entrenched in the game and I live for those elusive Group 1's.  I know how much goes into getting them and just how hard they are to pull off.  They are not everything, they are the only thing.

Throughout my 20's I participated in a game dominated by the Hayes and Freedman names (in Melbourne anyway).  It was a way of life and you came to expect that if either had a runner against you it would have had twice the physical attributes and thrice the pedigree.  I thought that it would never change.........

To watch P G Moody come in and have such an impact has been phenomenal .  I love it.  It has opened up the whole game and literally forced the DL's amd DA's to now try to re-invent themselves.  The games changed and in my opinion for the better.  Had you told me 15 years ago that a legend like Brian Mayfield-Smith would not be able to make it work I would have laughed at you.

I'm friends with Pete and im pretty sure that he is keen to retire once his girls are through school.  Not sure if that's still the case but he is the kind of guy that would just do this.  It's a unique business this game of ours.  He has spent his life developing a career and been extremely successful building his name and his reputation.  When he walks away though, theres nothing left.  Sure he is likely to have made some good investments along the way but the business he has built up, without him is basically worthless.  No matter who he passes it onto, if he does, they are still not Peter Gordon Moody.

In this game it's your name that counts.  Its amazing because you can’t learn it in a book (unless your Robert Heathcote), and you can’t buy your way in.  It takes years to build up and earn respect.  You have to prove yourself time and time again.  Whether you are a Bloodstock Agent, Trainer,  Assistant Trainer, Foreman or a Strapper this game finds out the fakes very quickly.  I love it for that and it makes me want to do it that little bit better, that little bit more and that little bit differently to the next guy.

Clearly I now know want I want to be when I grow up.  I also know that I totally have my father to thank for it!

Where Is Racing Heading?

It's a question that is asked so often and nobody seems to have the answers.  I dont have the mental nouse nor the book smarts to sit here and write some brilliant solution and I would not pretend to even suggest that I have the answers.

I do know something though.......Right at this very moment our industry has the opportunity to really pick the ball up and run with it.  We have a horse that is capturing the attention of not only our nation but the whole racing world.  We have competition in every state that is giving us a fantastic standard of racing.  Stables and trainers all over Australia are becoming more professional each day.  The level of communication has risen tenfold in the last 5 years (by crikey it needed to though).  Prizemoney, in most cases, is continuing to grow steadily.  Conditions and wages for our hard working staff are getting much better and overall our owners continue to purchase yearlings propping up the breeding industry, and us for that matter.

So where are we falling down?  What do we need to happen to kick us in the bum and get us really flying?  Is it administration from the top down?  Is it our wagering model?  Is it some form of unity between states so that we can work together........Break it down even more should it be unity between race clubs?  How about a unified racing station Tv and Radio?  What can we all do to get together and help things rather than run with our own agendas. 

Racing will survive and always be a part of the Australian landscape.  There is a big opportunity here for us though and I for one dont want to see it pissed up against the wall.  As I said, I definitely do not have the answers, but I love this game like nothing on earth and I want to see it do well and thrive.  What can be done and who needs to drive it to make sure that it happens?

How many African Children could be Doctors?

 I travelled through Africa and always thought this question to myself.  Well it doesnt have to be a Doctor, could be an Astronaut, a Scientist, a Lawyer etc etc.  You get the point though.  So many children in so many parts of the world will never reach their full potential because they will just never get the chance. Horses are no different.  I guarantee that there should be twice as many good horses going around but they will never get the chance.  With the risk of sounding dogmatic there is such a massive difference between a trainer and a really good trainer.   Of course this is all about opinions and Joe Bloggs is going to rate Jimmy Horsetrainer differently than Billy Schmublic does.  I just think that better trainers manage their horses........better.   Better feed, better staff, less cutting of corners and a general overall greater level of care.  Looking after injuries and the ongoing detection of them.  Top vets to utilise, the best farriers and more thought put into spelling and pre-training.  Clearly I dont necessarily mean that bigger trainers are the best, and you are always going to get exceptions with freak horses.  It just goes back to my management of young horses post.......Early management is such a massive key to a thoroughbred's future and good trainers do this the best. So the next time you are chosing your trainer for your new yearling purchase or the yearling that you put so much time into breeding ask the questions!  Look at strike rates, speak to people in the industry with differing opinions, watch how people operate.  Cheap is cheap for a reason and just because a trainer has a million in work it doesnt make them the best. Treat your young horse like your child........Do you want your kid to get his/her chance to be the Doctor?

We obviously get a lot of horses coming through our system. Some have had yearling preparations and come from the sales and others come directly from breeders, sometimes straight out of the paddock. You can tell quite easily as the yearling that has gone through a sale is usually much more professional. The real key and the most important part, in my opinion, is who you use to break your young horse in. Early management of a yearling sets the course for the rest of its life. We receive a lot of horses that have been broken in by the "guy down the road". "Your bloke is ok but my guy can do it for $1200 cheaper". This has to be the worst saving that an owner can make. Horses are creatures of habit and they can form good or bad ones very quickly. Horses that are not broken in well are hard to handle have terrible manners/habits and usually take a hell of a lot more work than one that is broken in well. The trouble is that they end up taking an extra 2 or 3 preparations than a horse that is well broken. Now the owner that thought he was saving himself $1200 has probably ended up costing himself an extra $10-$15k. Dont get me wrong, they do end up coming around and most of the time come right but it takes that much longer. Then there is also the chance that they dont come right. Then they can be a problem for the rest of their lives. So the next time you are thinking about where to send your horse to be broken, put a lot of thought into it. It can make the difference for the next 5-6 years. We use two places to break our horses in. We use Julien Welsh (Booralite Prak) & the boys at Princess Park. Both are extremely good and our horses are set up for the rest of their racing lives.