Life as a Darley Flying Start Trainee
Kildangan Stud, Ireland, September & October 2006
To follow on from where Sarah left off, my mission is to share the experience of the group during this Irish phase. I have been chosen to do this trainee review because I spent 15 out of the past 20 months in Ireland being an Irish adoptive!
Plans were to be involved as much as possible in the Irish Thoroughbred Industry with lectures from a lot of top professionals such as Brian Kavanagh from Horse Racing Ireland and Michael O’Hagan from Irish Thoroughbred Marketing for example. We have been very fortunate to be able to see the first Goffs Million race ever, with Miss Beatrix a worthy winner. The classy filly added one million euros to her bank account and is providing her owners with a lot of joy, having already been successful at Group One level. A nice mix of people were there with the Ryder Cup on, a good method to bring new owners to the sales during the following days. All of the Darley Flying Start trainees were placed with different professionals such as agents, trainers and auctioneers at Goffs, giving us a great networking and learning opportunity. I do not know if the Ryder Cup played an important role concerning the market at Goffs but the figures were higher for the second year in a row.
The day following the sales, we were joined by the Canadian and Brazilian Ambassadors and representatives from the USA, UK and French embassies for the annual Ambassadors lunch held in Kildangan House.
Within our phase in Ireland we have done quite a few assignments, all of which are relevant to our end goal and also we have been to University College Dublin to do our Equine Reproduction, Anatomy and Physiology module. But even though there is a lot of work to produce, there is also a little play time set aside. We have been to Kilkenny to a pub to see “The Cats” playing the hurling final versus Tipperary, and thank God “The Cats” won to bring a really hot atmosphere for a nice celebration! We have been to the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin to see “Stones in his pockets” with two talented artists; it was definitely not to be missed with some big laughs all along the evening! Also, I was really delighted to be able to organize a trip to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris for almost everybody; sadly Junling could not join us to share this “monumental” racing event because of visa restrictions. It was for essential for me and the racing fans in the group to be over there for this particular day to see six Group One races.
Some of the most exciting visits so far included our trip to Coolmore where Maurice Moloney gave us the best welcome. It was an opportunity for me to feel at home and think about nice moments spent working in Coolmore and someone like Fabricio to fall in love with the legendary Sadler’s Wells. Three other stallions there were Montjeu, Hawk Wing and Peintre Celebre. Earlier in the day, we were in Ballysheehan Stud, where we saw both weanlings and yearlings with Brian Moloney.
At the end of this Irish phase we kept ourselves very busy with the continual assessment of our practical breaking skills and also the final exams in the UCD module. We visited the Irish Equine Centre to talk a bit more in detail about horse diseases which was very interesting.
Also, we found a new home towards the end of our stay which was the library at Kildangan to work on our presentations for our conference at the Keadeen Hotel. On the day everyone performed very well and I think it was quite interesting to listen to different presentations with all different topics; the topics being based on our knowledge and ambition. An exceptional mix of people walked through the podium such as the Brazilian natural showman Fabricio Buffolo(ask him a copy of his presentation on DVD…), but also Alex who could not have been more enthusiastic about his topic describing the “rising stars of English and Irish trainers”. That night there were great celebrations in O’Briens pub in Nurney where DJ Harry and the staff of Kildangan Stud gave us a wonderful send off. The following morning was a very early start for everybody, some people in the group travelled by car and ferry and some others flew over. We all enjoyed our stay in Ireland with three knowledgeable months including lectures, visits and trips which always brought to everybody something to learn, something to know. And I would like to thank the staff of Kildangan Stud and also the people who took time to share their knowledge in all the different aspects studied. it is very much appreciated by all of us.
The next report will be posted by William (Bo) and Gina at Christmas on completion of our UK phase.
Jerome Reynier
November 2006
Click here for a list of all 2006 trainee views
Fabricio and Eden with Deep Impact's supporters at The Arc.
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Michael O'Hagan with Eden Harrington. Larger image
Trainees with Sadler's Wells.
The 2006 Darely Flying Start trainees at the conference at the Keadeen Hotel. Larger image
Gina, Junling, Andrew and Fabricio at the DFS conference.
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Liz Pathak delivers her Darley Flying Start conference presentation. Larger image
Brandon Rice delivers his presentation at the Keadeen Hotel Darley Flying Start Conference.