I feel like a Kiwi farmer starting yet another blog post talking all about the weather... but here I am! We had about a week of summer, during which I caught up on my tan before the rain returned. However, a heatwave is on its way, just in time for me to start a placement with Roger Varian, where they train around 200 horses at their yard on the edge of Newmarket.
My last few weeks have been spending some time with some of the most incredible people involved in the Thoroughbred industry. I started my month off with a stint at Johnny Mckeever Bloodstock. It was perfect timing with the July Tattersalls sale coming up, so I spent a lot of time that first week trawling through the pedigrees. Johnny gave me a ‘wish list’ and let me work through the 3-day catalogue to identify what I liked and then we went through later and compared my list with his. We also spent some time on the Heath and my highlight was watching Asian Daze working alongside her trainer and Johnny, who then went on to win at the Newmarket July festival the following weekend. It was a full circle moment as Asian Daze was bought by Gai Waterhouse and Johnny at the Goffs London sale, which I had seen some of the lead-up of while I was still with the Goffs team.
The July sale came around pretty quickly. Johnny was joined by some clients from Australia and we spent the first day moving around the sale grounds inspecting possible purchases. I wish I had more words to describe everything I learned while shadowing a group of extremely knowledgeable people, but you'd be reading for another hour! What I can say is that developing an eye for assessing a horse and its pedigree is vital in this industry and I felt my confidence being nurtured every day in this area. My time with Johnny and his clients was no exception and I got the full experience of what it is like to inspect and purchase horses at public auction.
During the week, Johnny acquired some lovely mares. My highlight was a stunning race-winning mare by Siyouni, who will return to racing before being covered by Too Darn Hot and then sent to Australia. I also ran into Andrew Buick, who was here visiting clients in Europe for New Zealand Bloodstock. It was nice to catch up with someone now well-established in the New Zealand industry, reminding me how our little country is very much a well-known name in the game of racing and breeding.
After Tatts concluded, we headed to Newmarket’s July Festival of Racing for 3 days of wonderful action. Again I was blessed with a wonderful crowd to be a part of and world-class racing. Just look how packed the parade ring was!
My last stop was Weatherbys, based in Wellingborough. And, to my surprise, the only horse I saw in a good 10-mile radius was the statue outside the front doors! I shall explain the reason for the unusual location a bit later on. I started my placement with two other Interns from another racing academy so we spent the first couple of days being introduced to the way the company works. Weatherbys began in 1770 when James Weatherby was appointed secretary and Keeper of the Match Book by the Newmarket Jockey Club. During his 24 years in this role, he devised and managed racing administration, published the racing calendar, and operated the sport's financial agency, ultimately leading to the founding of Weatherbys Bank years later. Most importantly, he created the General Stud Book, to which every thoroughbred in the world can trace its ancestry.
Weatherbys is based in an Industrial estate on the outskirts of Wellingborough, which was picked only for its central location in Britain. For a time they considered placing the offices in Newmarket, but the argument was made it would give the Newmarket trainers who risked missing deadlines by post the ability to deliver them by hand. Thus, giving them a slight advantage. Weatherbys, apart from the obvious tasks of issuing and managing passports, registrations and the studbook, also have a few other very vital divisions! They design and print all the race cards for the UK. Since these cards are official documents, they are handled with utmost care and are transported like royalty! All race cards destined for the racecourse are divided between at least two different vans, which take separate routes. Additionally, helicopters are on standby to fly them to the course in case of major delays!
Most importantly, Weatherbys also operates a private bank primarily serving clients in the racing industry, along with a finance company and an insurance branch. These divisions are designed to fully support their high-end clients. Lastly, there is Weatherbys Scientific. This final division processes all the DNA for the thoroughbred stud book as well as cows, goats, sheep and even shrimp legs for the aquaculture industry.
I must have had my jaw on the floor as we walked through the building, which felt like a never-ending labyrinth! Our final stop was the office where I would be based, with well over 100 desks and bustling with people. I spent my time conducting small 'overviews' of all the different departments that make up the company. I spent time with Point to Point, bloodstock, naming, Weatherbys Scientific, Weatherbys Insurance, registrations, pedigrees, marketing, racecards, racing declarations, entries and accounts. This is just to name a few! During my gaps, I spent a fair bit of time with customer service which I found extremely insightful. They deal with everything from vaccinations, entering and declaring races, registrations, passports, organising colours, owner syndications and partnerships and much much more! I found it a good way to start piecing together the information I had gathered over the week. Another highlight was heading back down to Goffs. This time as a spectator to watch the summer sale, which set a new National Hunt horses in training world record of £660,000 (NZD 1,425,000).
As my final placements come together, I'm reminded of how little time remains on this trip of a lifetime. Varian Stables is the longest stay I have left in one place. After finishing here, I'll spend some time with a vet in Newmarket, return to Goffs to bid-spot at the Premier yearling sale, and then fly out to Hong Kong. This signifies the beginning of my journey back home. I have enjoyed seeing photos of foals already on the ground back in New Zealand at the time of writing this. In a couple of short months, I’ll be back getting stuck into work at home and I cannot wait to apply all the knowledge I have learnt in these last few months! The next time I will update you all will be at the end of my England placement, so until then goodbye from the home of horse racing!
