IT is week seven for the first year Godolphin Flying Start Trainees and spirits are high as we have just spent the best part of a week shadowing some of Europe’s best bloodstock agents at Ireland’s premier yearling sale – the Goffs Orby. I am sure that my fellow trainees will agree that it has been a very informative and educational number of days and that collectively, we have never before inspected so many horses in such a short space of time!

With course commitments continuing in Ireland, we will not be able to attend the yearling sales in Newmarket, however we are very much looking forward to the thrill of the purchase once again when we link back up with agents for a second time for the mare and foal sales in Newmarket in a few short weeks.

There is much truth to the saying: ‘With great opportunity comes great responsibility,’ and we have certainly been busy from the beginning of our time with the Godolphin Flying start. As a group of 12, we have been divided into groups of three and been placed in different yards around Kildangan to aid in the breaking process before the yearlings head to Hamilton Hill in Newmarket.

We have each been assigned two yearlings to break under the supervision of our respective fore people. This includes all the basic milestones of breaking just short of backing the yearlings, which we will experience more of in Hamilton Hill.

With full-siblings to horses such as Magic Lily, who was an impressive winner on her debut in a novices’ race at Newmarket last weekend, and Bean Feasa, winner of the Derrinstown Stud 1,000 Guineas Trial at Leopardstown earlier this season, it is exciting to get the chance to play a small role at the beginning of the career of these potential future superstars.

Helping to break the yearlings in the morning is just the beginning of a busy day. Our afternoons are usually filled with lectures, assignments and/or exams, however for the first time in my academic career I can safely say that I can see an application for what I am learning outside of the classroom.

Unlike when one is fresh out of the Leaving Certificate and sitting in a university lecture simply to tick a box for the most part, we have been given ample opportunity to put what we have learned in the classroom into practice. One example of this would be our lectures with Joe Osborne, recently appointed Global CEO of Godolphin. Joe has given us a couple of lectures on different aspects of the national and international thoroughbred industries as well as a sales brief before our trip to Goffs last week which we all found interesting as well as constructive.

FORTUNATE

In saying all that, it has by no means been all work and no play for us. We have been fortunate enough to attend such exciting events as Longines Irish Champions Weekend followed by the Irish Champions Dinner in the Shelbourne Hotel where we were invited to dine, on behalf of the organisers, by Gerry Duffy. After experiencing the thrill and grandeur that is Irish Champions Weekend, an evening in the Shelbourne in the company of so many industry leaders and professionals was a real privilege and none of us will ever forget it.

DIFFERENT SCALE

As is the nature of Irish racing, this weekend was just one highlight of a week in which we experienced racing on a completely different scale having attended Laytown races earlier that week, an experience on the beach that most are not accustomed to.

As a Kildare native, there has been a certain security in starting the course within a stone’s throw of most of my family and friends and I have thoroughly enjoyed giving our international students an authentic experience of my locality. Nevertheless, I am eager to see what Newmarket and the next two years have in store. In fact, I got a good practice run for re-establishing how to spread my wings and function outside of Kildare last weekend when we attended the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Chantilly.

As you read this article, we will probably be reminiscing about this time last week when we visited French trainer Andre Fabre, or reliving the moments when we stood by the Chantilly winning post to see Enable storm home. It was a weekend that will never be forgotten and we are very grateful to France Galop for the hospitality they showed us.

On that note, it is time to wave ‘au revoir’ and remind anyone who may be interested that our social media platforms are constantly updated with our movements.