Getting ready to come back home...

Unfortunately, our time is coming to an end in Newmarket. We have really had a great time here and I’m looking forward to the day that I get to come back. We will be finishing up on Thursday and my flight back to California leaves London on Saturday morning. I’m sure I’ll miss the rest of the team during our winter break but I’m looking forward to spending time with my family and going back to Santa Anita for a few days.

The course work is winding down and all of us are relieved to have our insurance assignment finished. I learned a lot while doing this assignment but it definitely wasn’t easy. I’ve never had to value stallions before or think about insurance policies for them, so it was great to learn about these areas. In this upcoming week we’re just going on a lot of visits. I’m particularly looking forward to going to Juddmonte. We went to Shadwell’s Nunnery Stud last week and it was phenomenal. It’s great seeing all these different world class operations and seeing some of the things they do that makes them so successful.

The best thing that happened last week was the time that we spent at the British Racing School. It was a ton of fun. Although, going to the BRS was primarily to continue filling our NVQ (National Vocational Qualification) requirements they also taught us to exercise racehorses. In the mornings we arrive and were put on the simulator to practice our riding position. Then we were given a riding lesson in the indoor arena for an hour. By the end of the week they had us cantering on the round gallop. It was phenomenal. I wish I was about 50 lbs lighter so I could continue riding when I get back to America.

Things in Newmarket have continued to go well. The Tattersalls sales have been going on for the past week or so and you would’ve never realized that the economy is still in a recession. The foal sale just finished the other day and the figures were incredible. It was like a feeding frenzy, at times the opening bid for a foal was more than what many people thought the foal would make in the ring. It will be very interesting to see what the yearling market will be like next year. The mare sale has continued in the same fashion. There was a real buzz around the sales pavilion and it was a lot of fun watching the bids volley back and forth. I went around the sale with Matt Coleman, a former Flying Start trainee and an up and coming bloodstock agent. I learned a lot during the time I spent with him.

We have had some really phenomenal lectures and visits since my last post. One of my favourites was the media training workshop that we had with Rishi Persad from BBC Sport. It was nice to get media training from somebody with as much experience as Rishi. The visit to Cheveley Park Stud was another memorable visit. It was great to see a stud with such a history of success and to see Pivotal in the flesh. We had some lectures on business law, bloodstock insurance, as well as business and financial planning. I enjoyed learning about these areas since I don’t have much experience in them.

We’ve also been learning about international travel of horses for racing, breeding, and selling. It seems quite fitting to be learning about this now with the Japan Cup just being run over the weekend, the Hong Kong Cup coming up, and then the Dubai Racing Carnival taking place after that. We’ve been learning about so many different areas from the best transport practices to international regulation of horse transport to organization of the international racing carnivals. These lectures have really opened up my eyes to how global the sport is and all of the options for horses to race in. I would love to be able to participate in these events one day.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been getting up early in the mornings and going to Jeremy Noseda’s yard. The times that the lectures have started have been late enough that I can get up and go over to watch the horses train before we start. Jeremy’s been very nice to let me come whenever I have time and watch how his operation works. I’ve already learned a lot from him. It’s great to see how the horses are trained over here. There are so many different things that they do in the mornings and it’s all fascinating to see. It’s been fantastic to be in a training environment again.

First Week in England

Time has been flying in Newmarket. Most of us can’t believe that we’ve already been here 10 days. We’re all living in the same house, which most of us thought was going to be a problem, but has turned to really great. It’s nice to have everybody around. Whether you want to go out to dinner, watch some races, or go for a run there’s always somebody around that’s willing to go with you.

The presentations went very well overall and can be seen on the Darley Flying Start website if you’re interested, under 2009 trainees. I was particularly pleased with how enthusiastic and interested the crowd was in our topics. There was quite a bit of discussion and questioning after the presentations were finished.

Newmarket has been phenomenal so far. It’s nice to be around so many people who are interested in racing. Dalham Hall is a sight to see. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bigger farm. The facilities are something else as well. Looking around the farm and seeing everything has given me a lot of new ideas. I’ve also learned a lot of new things about synthetic surfaces. After talking to some of the experts over here, I’ve realized that we made several mistakes in California with our installation of our synthetic tracks. After seeing how they’re supposed to be when properly installed, I’d have to say that there is no better surface in the world. I’ve also received some direct knowledge of how these tracks work by running and training over them myself. Several of the team members have began running everyday on the Polytrack and it has really given me some better insight on how these surfaces feel to a horse.

We've had some great lectures and visits over the past week. James Willoughby, from the Racing Post, gave us a great talk on sectional timing during races. We also had a tour of the gallops here in Newmarket. It’s very interesting learning about the different options that trainers have at their disposal here. It must be great to be able to find and utilize so many different types of training options for the horses.

The Breeder’s Cup was certainly a night to remember. Although, I was disappointed by the way Zensational ran and the near loss by Lookin at Lucky, the three big races on the card made the evening spectacular. Seeing Goldikova, Conduit, and especially Zenyatta win back to back Breeders’ Cup races made the evening. I think it was one of the best Breeders’ Cups of all time. We also had a DFS Breeders’ Cup challenge, where we all put in some money in a pool and attempted to pick winners on the championship card. Jennifer crushed all of us and though I was second I was a far second, her win was similar to what Rachel Alexandra did in the Kentucky Oaks. She’s come a long way, considering her first bet was when we began the course in Ireland. I think we have a future professional handicapper in the making.

Coming to an end in Ireland.

Things are coming to an end in Ireland. Although, we’ve all had a great time here most of us are really looking forward to Newmarket, including myself. I can’t wait to be in close vicinity to the training grounds. Even though it will be winter and there probably won’t be a whole lot of activity on the gallops it will be nice to go over every once in a while to watch training.

Course work has continued to keep a steady pace. We’ve finished our Anatomy, Physiology, and Reproduction course taking our final exam the Friday after we returned from the Prix de L’arc de Triomphe. That was one of the best weekends of my life. Being at the Arc and seeing Sea the Stars win the final race of his career was phenomenal. He is definitely a horse for the ages.

The Goffs Orby sale was a great experience. There were a couple really nice yearlings that went through the ring and quite a few other nice yearlings as well during the first two days of the sale. It’s was great for us to be able to go around and inspect yearlings with people who really knew what they were doing. Some of us, including myself, haven’t had much experience at yearling sales from a buyer’s perspective and it was quite helpful to be able to have someone that could answer our questions. Mark Johnston was great, I definitely learned a lot from him. All the other trainees seemed to enjoy their time with their agents as well.

The Friday after the Goffs sale, the day before we left for the Arc, we went over to Coolmore. Seeing Sadler’s Wells in the flesh was an experience in itself. I remember a picture of my Dad and Sadler’s Wells from over 15 years ago so it was great to finally have a picture with him as well. To top it off we were also shown Montjeu, Galileo, Hurricane Run, and Peintre Celebre. It was a trip I’ll remember for some time.

Last weekend we had off so John, Vicky, and I decided to take advantage of it and went to the Curragh to watch morning training. Pat Kelly the manager of the Curragh training grounds was nice enough to take us around in his jeep as he went about his morning work. I’d have to agree with most trainers that this facility is one of the best places in the world to train horses. I was amazed by how many training options were available for the horses; they must love being out there. The early bird gets the warm was definitely true in this case, not only did we have a good time with Pat but we also saw Sea the Stars. He looked great and it was nice to see him one last time before he starts his new career in the breeding shed. It was a phenomenal morning, I really enjoyed being back in the situation of watching horses training. There’s nothing that I enjoy more than watching horses train in the mornings.

This Wednesday we have our presentations to industry professionals at the PGA National. I’m looking forward to hearing all the other trainee’s presentations and ideas. There are some very good topics this year. I’ll be making a presentation on The Feasibility of a European Breeders’ Cup. So this weekend we are all working on our presentations to make sure they’re the best they can be. However, we are planning on going out tonight to celebrate Bernard’s 26th birthday. Should be a great week!

Picking up the pace

Things in the program have still been great. I’ve been able to have some experiences that I would have never dreamt of before. Probably the most memorable was being able to see the two best horses in the world cement themselves in the record books on the same day. Being at the Irish Champion Stakes and seeing Sea the Stars in the flesh was amazing in itself. Watching him crush the field in an overpowering stretch drive on the other hand was indescribable. I can’t wait to watch him continue on his historic path in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Ten of us from the group are going to fly to France for the race and the Arc festivities. Thanks to Ludovic Cornuel, the French representative of the group.
The day was made even better when the group sat down that evening and watched Rachel Alexandra battle for the win in the Woodward. Out of sheer heart and class she got the job done. It would be fantastic to see these two great stars face off. Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll both run in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2010 at Churchill Downs.
The course work has really picked up pace but the material is great nonetheless. We’re learning so much. Whether, it’s been in our anatomy and physiology course or a guest lecturer on a topic such as proper sales preparation for a buyer at the sales, it’s all been very informative and I’ve learned a lot.
We started our hands on work about three works ago. It was as exciting as a trip to Disneyland to start working with horses again. We’ve started breaking yearlings and I’ve had a blast thus far. I have two yearling fillies that I’m breaking currently which I am very fond of. One of them in particular I think has a very bright future ahead of her. It’s a joy every morning to wake and work with them. I am looking forward to their continual progression. Training horses, no matter if it’s horses at the track or breaking yearlings is a true joy and I’m loving every minute of working with these yearlings.
This weekend and part of next week we are going to the Goffs Orby yearling sale to inspect yearlings. It’s been arranged for all of us to shadow some agents at the sales. All of us are studying our sales catalogues, after our exam this afternoon, in preparation for the upcoming sale. I’m really excited about the agent that I’ve been assigned to. He’s a very successful English based trainer named Mark Johnston. I’m looking forward to learning from him.

First Week

I’ve just finished the first week of the Darley Flying Start program. It’s everything I expected and more. The other 11 trainees are extremely knowledgeable in their areas of specialization. I really feel like I’m surrounded with the best of the best. They’re all great people as well. Darley has really done a fantastic job with the entire program. I’m living on a private section of the farm which has its own 12 stall yard and 5 large paddocks. I’m sharing the house with two gentlemen, one from France and one from Ireland so the house has a very international feel to it. As for the program itself, the course material is fantastic. There’s a lot of it so we will be kept very busy but it’s so in depth in every aspect of the thoroughbred industry.
It’s been great sitting down with the rest of the trainees and learning about the thoroughbred industry in their home countries. It’s amazing how different things are from place to place. That includes breeding, training, rules, and even conformation. Conformation that we look for in horses in the states is very different from what people like in horses over here.
The grounds where the horses are trained are unbelievable as well. Before the program started I did some travelling and visited various training gallops. Newmarket in England was unbelievable; there were multiple uphill gallops and trails lined with trees for the horses to walk back on. One group of about 30 horses stayed at the top of the gallop after training and grazed for about 20 minutes with the riders still up on their backs. The Curragh is a sight to see as well. It’s just acres upon acres of lush green gallops on the outer edge of the racetrack as well as numerous woodchip gallops, sand gallops, and one polytrack gallop. The day before I arrived I went to the races with my family. It was great to see that everybody was dressed up at the races. People still have a great respect for the sport of kings over here in Ireland. At the end of the races Aidan O’Brien worked four horses “a mile and a half” in groups of two over the undulating course at The Curragh. O’Brien worked the great Yeats, four time Ascot Gold Cup winner, in preparation for the Irish St. Leger. It was amazing seeing this unbelievable machine of a horse in the flesh finally and he didn’t disappoint in the work, dusting his workmate by over five lengths. I can’t wait to continue my education in this amazing program. I’ve been very fortunate to be given this once in a lifetime opportunity. To learn more about the program visit www.darleyflyingstart.com.