Press Release - 17th August 2007
Kildangan Stud welcomes latest Darley Flying Start Trainees
Twelve new Darley Flying Start trainees arrived at a sunny Kildangan Stud last Monday, August 13th. Some had flown in that morning from the USA and Perth, Australia, and some had simply driven an hour or two from their homes in Ireland. It’s a great time of year to come to learn about the Irish industry with some of the top races and the yearling sales in September and October.They were welcomed to lunch at Kildangan house by Joe Osborne, Clodagh Kavanagh, Ciara Nolan, James Keogh, Charles Spiller and Mairead Hackett. The trainees live in dedicated houses on Kildangan and have a training room for lectures and study. Transport is in the form of bicycles and a minibus for visits and going racing. They will be very busy in the next few months in Ireland with the emphasis on learning about the Irish Industry, racing and pedigrees, and completing a module in Equine Anatomy and Physiology through the Veterinary College at UCD. Goffs sales will provide a break from the course, and each of the trainees will be placed with a bloodstock agent for the inspection days and the sale itself. Communication Skills and Personal Development are also high on the agenda and there will be the annual trainee conference towards the end of October.
The trainees on this year’s course include Irishman Darren Fox from Roscommon who has worked in Rathbarry and Ballyhane Studs in Ireland and Knockgriffin Farm in the USA. Most recently he was working at Tote Ireland and he has a Masters degree in Entrepreneurship Management from University of Limerick. He has been appointed as a Team Leader for Ireland. Darren’s ambition is “to use every opportunity presented on Flying Start towards developing a career in bloodstock or possibly marketing using my recent experience at Tote Ireland.”
Cathal Beale is from Wexford, Ireland and has just completed the Irish National Stud course. Prior to that he worked for Paddy Power Bookmakers and he has a degree in English and History from UCD. Cathal’s first impressions of the Flying Start group were, “Despite everyones different nationalities, by the time we were finished with lunch on Monday any cultural barriers were broken down! Its great to have two Irish on the course but its also interesting to have a person like Jana from the Czech Republic which none of us knew anything about until we met her.”
There are four trainees from the USA – Kyle Wilson (Kentucky), Leif Aaron (Kentucky), Ian Tapp (Georgia) and Jordyn Brand (California). Two Australian trainees – Liam Howley from Melbourne and Jason Walsh from Perth. One each from New Zealand, UK, and Czech Republic, namely Andrew Williams, James McHale and Jana Kroutilikova. They are looking forward to enjoying their opportunity to live and learn in Ireland until the end of October after which they will move to Dalham Hall Stud in Newmarket. Clodagh Kavanagh For further enquiries, please contact Clodagh Kavanagh at Kildangan Stud on +353 (0)45 527600.
