2008 Trainee Views

April 2009 - USA

As the weather begins to warm the thoughts of racing at Keeneland come into the minds of everyone in central Kentucky. The Darley Flying Start group has one extremely happy individual from the southern hemisphere who is ecstatic about the oncoming of spring after a tough struggle through a real winter (no names will be given). All of the trainees have been busy in their practical work rotations foaling mares, working with stallions, racehorses and breeding stock and have found them to be very beneficial and enjoyable.

Our lectures have been very insightful as well. Roger Allmans pasture walk and talk really opened the trainee’s eyes as to what it takes to keep pastures up to par for a horse’s health and development. We had the pleasure of talking with Dr. Larry Bramlage about evaluating horses for lameness. For the trainees who have been to Gainsborough to foal mares Dr. Randy Purvis’s lecture on this particular subject was very useful. We were also given a tour of the beautiful W.T. Young library on the University of Kentucky’s campus where some much needed research will be going on in the upcoming months for our presentations.

The U.K. nutrition class has really kicked into gear and it is great because Dr. Laurie Lawrence has enabled us to take our classroom learning and to apply it in the practical thoroughbred world through interesting assignments. We visited the McCauley Brothers feed mill in Versailles and it was great to actually go into a feed mill to see the process of manufacturing horse feed.

The visits to various farms in the area have been great and we have seen some of the top stallions in the world. Gus Koch gave us a great tour of the historic Claiborne Farm in Paris. We also visited Three Chimneys, Vinery, and Castleton- Lyons. The group has also enjoyed the monthly Kentucky Farm Managers Club meetings as well. We have had talks from Mitch Taylor, Ray Paulick, and Bill Oppenheim which we all enjoyed. March proved to be the birthday month as five out of the twelve trainees birthdays fell during this time. Bill, Brian, P.J., Gary, and Melanie all celebrated their birthdays and proved that great people are born in the month of March. The NCAA men’s basketball tournament kicked into gear in March with the onslaught of March Madness. P.J. (University of Louisville fan and graduate!!!) had to send his condolences first to Billy for U.K. not getting in the NCAA and then to Chance for the smashing that U of L gave to Arizona ( 39 point trouncing).

As April rolled around the group got ready for the two-year old in training sales. We received lectures from Alex Kershaw and David Scanlon who broke down the sales based on what to look for in a prospect and how they are prepared for the sale. Racing has also begun at Keeneland and some in the group still cannot believe how beautiful and serene the track looks. Jimmy and P.J. have put on clinics when it comes to handicapping at their home track (example : Hooh Why at 24-1!!!). The group also hosted a charity event at Harvey’s bar for well known yearling sales showman “Snake”; it involved the famous goldfish racing and it proved to be a very successful night. There were 64 fish in the tournament and the racing was very competitive all the way down to the final between Nemo and Me. Me went on to take the final and his name will forever be in the history books for the first winner of a goldfish race in Kentucky.

In the coming weeks we will be taking our Stewards Accreditation course which should help figure out how stewards make their decisions. The conclusion of our horse nutrition class will be coming up as well as some important assignments. The much anticipated Kentucky Derby is right around the corner along with our work placements so the group will busy in the coming weeks. Thanks again to all of the Darley team, stud farms, lecturers, and industry leaders who have opened their doors to the group.

P.J. Anthony

Click here for a list of all 2008 trainee views

PJ interviewing at the inaugral Kentucky goldfish race