KENTUCKY, JULY 2014
Our seven months in America have absolutely thundered past, and we are fortunate to have experienced so many brilliant things along the way.
The last few months yielded the chance for us to become completely immersed in American breeding and racing. On the breeding side, we were able to visit many of Kentucky’s most influential operations such as Lane’s End, WinStar, Gainesway, and Coolmore. We got up close and personal with a multitude of American stallions, including the leading general sire, Tapit, and learned in-depth about the American breeding industry in the realms of farm and bloodstock management, nominations, sales, and marketing from multiple perspectives. We visited Hagyard Equine Medical Institute and Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, and we received excellent lectures from different practitioners on topics such as neonatal care, maximizing reproductive efficiency in mares, lameness exams, acupuncture, and therapeutic shoeing. As part of our continuing grassland mangement education, we also partook in multiple pasture walks at Darley’s Jonabell Farm throughout the breeding season. We found it very interesting to see just how drastically the land changes in both soil and grass composition during the year– especially since our winter was so harsh!
In addition, the group took a racing-related expedition to sunny Ocala, Florida, which was a welcome change of scenery (and temperature) after the polar vortex of the previous months. We had the chance to visit Stonestreet Farm’s top-class training and rehabilitation center, the beautiful Besliu Stables (managed by Flying Start graduate Fabricio Buffolo), the historic Live Oak Stud, Niall Brennan’s expansive training stable, and the OBS Breeze-Up Sale. We also had a great chat at the OBS Sale with Flying Start graduate Brandon Rice, whose RiceHorse Stables has been making bounding strides in the 2YO consignment business.
As winter thawed into spring, the Kentucky blossoms appeared perfectly on cue for the Keenland Spring Meet. During their three week race meeting in April, the twelve of us were at the racetrack spoiling ourselves with outstanding racing when we weren’t in the classroom! We had the opportunity to see Keeneland’s first-ever G1 dead heat in the Ashland Stakes as well as the G1 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes, which is generally marked as the last major Kentucky Derby prep race.
Approaching the First Saturday in May, it’s pretty safe to say that we all had Derby fever! We were able to experience some great racing at Churchill Downs that kicked off with the unveiling of the world’s largest video screen (bigger than 3 basketball courts!) on opening night. We were then on site for both the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby, where California Chrome’s scintillating win had America dreaming of Triple Crown yet again. A few of the trainees also made the “Pimlico Pilgrimage” two weeks later to catch Chrome’s Preakness win. The Belmont Stakes had an added interest for the group, as our fellow trainee Miguel Clement’s father had an exciting runner in Tonalist. You can imagine how excited we all were when Tonalist ended up winning the Belmont Stakes in a gritty photo finish! Even though the Triple Crown wasn’t to be this year, we were all thankful to have been able to experience the best of American racing with our own eyes.
Away from racing, we continued our academic endeavours in the fields of equine nutrition, law, and accounting. Each module gave us a wide range of important business skills that truly can be applied to any aspect of the Thoroughbred industry. We then entered an intense week of the Racing Officials Accreditation Program (ROAP) that educated us on the many rules of American racing and the massive role racetrack stewards play in the sport. One of the few remaining positions in horse racing the Darley Flying Start has yet to produce is a race track steward. Perhaps we will be the year to yield one!
The end of May marked the beginning of our six week work placements which saw the twelve of us scatter to California, New York, Maryland, and Japan. Our work placements were a great opportunity for us to spend time gaining practical experience in different areas of Thoroughbred industry. Some trainees went directly to the field they aspire to build a career in, while others went slightly out of their comfort zone to gain a different perspective on our industry. We returned back to Lexington in July full of stories and tales from our individual adventures. We attended the Fasig-Tipton July Sale which featured the Melnyk Dispersal. The sale held a special meaning to a few of our trainees, as they successfully sold their Tale of the Cat filly that they had banded together to claim and race just a few months before!
Our time in the Bluegrass closed with our final conference, a crisis management assessment with no prior planning allowed. Each student was allocated a leading role in either Darley management or the media before a mock disaster unfolded, which we had to tackle in our given roles. Thankfully all the crises were avoided when all was said and done, and our leading roles were rather regretabbly handed back to their rightful owners! A wonderful industry dinner that evening was the perfect way to round out the Kentucky phase, as we were able to thank and spend time with the many people whom we had interacted with in different capacities during our stay.
With that being said, thank you all who have made our first year on this truly extraordinary program so memorable. We also extend our particular gratitude to our USA coordinator Tammy Masterson for her constant care and support, and of course His Highness Sheikh Mohammed. Without his vision and generosity, none of these experiences would have been possible. We are looking forward to the exciting times ahead of us as second years…after a short summer break of course!
Best of luck to our new Australian team leaders Jack Bruce and Katie Barr!