FOR many, the prospect of our impending stay in the Hunter Valley was one of mixed emotion. After an overwhelming time in America the consensus was that our move to Australia might struggle to compete.

Regardless of where we are heading, it’s always exciting to experience an industry new to us, which invariably leads to great discussion and differing opinions amongst the 12 of us! After two weeks ‘down under’, so far every aspect has surpassed expectation.

One thought that immediately stood out, after inspecting a group of short yearlings on both the Darley farms and those of their neighbours, was the size and maturity of the yearlings at this stage of their growth.

Granted, their industry is built around precocity and driven by the commercial market, but the level of bone that these yearlings have laid down at this early stage and their muscular physique, still came as a surprise.

Much of which is most likely a result of the ‘let horses be horses’ attitude and the undulating, ranging landscapes that they are raised on and the favourable climate.

Our first week coincided with the annual Darley Australia stallion parade: A great opportunity to view the stallions in all their glory and introduce ourselves to breeders and the like, many of whom have a significant influence on the industry in Australia and have kindly offered their time to speak with us during our Australian phase.

BIG NAMES

Australia is well known for the shuttle opportunities for stallions, so it was wonderful to visit many of the farms and view the majority of big names so early on.

Some were familiar, for example Animal Kingdom and The Factor who we followed over from America. But many of the European stallions we had yet to view, as they were already on duty in the southern hemisphere when our group were in Europe last autumn.

Two personal standouts were Dissident, who stands his first season at the rapidly expanding Newgate Farm and Sepoy, whose first crop of yearlings sold entered the record books. It’s very easy to see where the hype of his progeny came from, because not only does he have an impeccable race record as world champion three-year-old sprinter and pedigree to match, but he is also an imposing individual, who is the definition of speed.

A refreshing point to note is the general health of the sport of horse racing as a whole in Australia. The sales market is particularly strong at present and the prize money is up there with the best on a global level.

Interestingly, unlike the models that we experienced in America, they are not heavily subsidised by legalisation of Racinos [race track and casino], but by charging corporate bookmakers a fair price for their betting product and liaising with government to negotiate state tax on wagering.

An early personal highlight was a 3.30am wake up call for a morning spent with Gai Waterhouse and her team at Randwick Racecourse. Well known for her achievements in the industry, tight-ship operation and flamboyant style, Gai did not disappoint. An exceptional host, she imparted facts and reasoning for her practices alongside a multitude of other assets; most notably her intricate attention to detail and ability to multi-task.

Not only was she conversing with our group but, in tandem, assessing warm-ups, assigning riders, watching gallops and speaking with owners (as well as not forgetting sparing time to dress me down promptly after arriving for wearing inappropriate shoes for winter mornings in Sydney and subsequently making me stand on a square of carpet to insulate my feet from the cold of the concrete surface!).

An employer of three Darley Flying Start graduates currently, she is the best known trainer in Australia and arguably the world.

Last weekend saw a first experience of Australian racing for most at Sydney’s Rosehill Gardens, which was made even more exciting when Godolphin’s colt, Exosphere, came from last to first to win the Group 2 Run to the Roses.

This only served to ramp up excitement for the next few months of racing leading up to the spring carnival - a week in our calendar which we have been told is quite often a Flying Start highlight.

Speaking of racing, a very current industry topic is the number of times horses are raced and then whisked off to breeding careers prematurely.

Saddening as it was to watch American Pharoah beaten in the Travers, you couldn’t help but be grateful to his sporting owners for running their Triple Crown winner at the infamous ‘graveyard of champions’ and showcasing their superstar to honest fans.

American racing is knocked for a lot of things, however you cannot deny they do an excellent job of opening their sport up to the general public and allowing an astounding 15,000 crowd to watch workouts on Saratoga’s main track the day before their hero was denied an eighth straight win in the unofficial Midsummer Derby.

Building fan engagement can be tough when the commercial value of stallions is so high, but American racing has executed it to a tee with American Pharoah this summer, aspects of which European racing could draw from.

Fingers crossed the connections decide to keep him in training and allow those lucky folks attending the Breeders’ Cup an opportunity to bid farewell to the first Triple Crown winner for 37 years.

See darleyflyingstart.com for more information on the programme