Fallbrook, CA (the avocado capital of the world – see picture for details) is where it all begins. After a summer of truly “takin’ it easy,” it is time to get this show on the road!
I leave on Saturday (August 11th) and arrive in Dublin on Sunday. Training then commences on Monday. I am grateful that I will have an extra day to deal with any travel issues, being that the only excursion I have made out of the country during the first 22 years of my life has been to Mexico!
My bags are packed, my passport is in a safe place, and my currency has been exchanged. I guess all that lies ahead of me now are two fantastic years of learning, traveling and absorbing. There are so many people who have played a role in getting me to this point, so to each of you, I hope to prove a worthwhile investment!
Off to enjoy about 40 more hours of Southern California sunshine! More soon…
Hello all! I have arrived safe and sound in Ireland! The travels over went smoothly and everyone has settled in quite quickly! The entire group gets along extremely well, and as you may imagine, there are many interesting conversations to be had when combining so many different cultures!
Our first few days have been relatively easy going. So far, just lots of introduction information and we are currently taking a three day First Aid course. Today (Saturday) is a rest day and tomorrow we are going to the races at Leopardstown. It should be fantastic!
We are divided amongst three houses, all of which are very nice and close to Kildangan Stud, which is where our training and work takes place. We will be based here through mid-October and then head over to Newmarket through mid-December. We have officially been geared up with our bicycles, laptops and loads of Darley Flying Start polo shirts and jackets and ready to get started!
Next week we begin a physiology and anatomy course that is conducted through the University College Dublin as well as a communications course. The amount of quality information that we will be absorbing over the course of the next two years is astounding!
That wraps it up for now! More soon...
Hello again! Three weeks in and we have successfully completed a First Aid course, a Communications course, and an IT course focused on Word and Excel. We began some work with horses this week and had an introduction lecture on pedigrees as well. Only covering the basic practical horse skills at this point, but we will continue to build on those over the course of the next year and a half or so. If all goes well, the practical skills will culminate in a passing NVQ (National Vocational Qualification) score. This particular NVQ assessment is put on by the British Racing School and has an emphasis in the Thoroughbred breeding industry. Although many of us have spent some time around horses and some of the tasks seem repetitive, we are happy to be doing any type of "horsey" work, just so long as we have some dirt under our fingernails at the end of the day! Plus, it is always great to learn the different ways that people complete seemingly routine tasks.
We will be driving up to Dublin to attend University College Dublin for the third day of our Anatomy and Physiology course tomorrow. Sunday The Curragh will be added to the list of racecourses that we have visited in Ireland (which also includes Leopardstown and Dundalk) to this point. We are busy, but busy with one amazing thing after another! Monday will be the beginning to another aspect to the course, as we have all been assigned to stable yards that we will be working in during the morning hours. Those assignments will be in place between now and October. I think that we are all excited about the prospect of having both hands-on and lecture facets to our daily routine.
Last night we had quite a cultural experience. Clodagh (course manager) treated us all to a concert that was held at a nightclub in Naas. The band was called "The Blizzards," they are apparently somewhat local. Quite good! I think it is suitable to say that a good time was had by all!
So, I think that gives a pretty well-rounded update to this point in time! Things will continue to get more and more interesting as time progresses I'm sure!
Hope this finds you all well!!!
Hello all! Wow, it has been a while and loads of things have happened, so I will do my best to give you the short-ish version!
Since the last time I updated we attended the Champion Stakes at Leopardstown (we all spent a day in a private suite upstairs being "those people" in the Kildangan Stud box!) the Goffs Million, Irish St. Leger, and the National Stakes (go New Approach!). That was a rough week of horseracing at the Curragh, I tell you what!
Visits have included the Irish National Stud, the John Oxx racing stable and Coolmore (yes, we got to meet Sadler's Wells and some of his impressive sons!) A few of the presenters that we have been visited by were Harry Sweeny who lectured on the Japanese racing industry (and brought sushi and Japanese beer!), Brian Kavanagh and Michael O'Rourke on behalf of Horse Racing Ireland and Michael O'Hagan on behalf of Irish Thoroughbred Marketing. We are so fortunate that each of the lecturers spends time to visit with us, as they all play key roles at the top of the game.
More recently we spent a number of days at the Goffs Millions Yearling Sale that is held just down the highway. Each of us were assigned to a particular bloodstock agent to spend the weekend before the sale inspecting yearlings. Once the sale began on Monday many of us were dispatched to watch the sale and do some small tasks while others were kept busy playing bloodstock agent throughout the entire week. I think it is fair to say that by the end of the week most of us had looked at more yearlings than we thought was possible and had collected a number of contacts and memories that will not soon be forgotten. During Goffs week we were also fortunate enough to be invited to dinner with Joe Osborne, Clodagh Kavanagh and THE John Ferguson. Wow! As we arrived in the restaurant he greeted each of us by name and knew details from all of our backgrounds. A wonderful dinner was had by all, and MANY good stories were shared. Another experience that the Darley Flying Starters will not soon forget.
MOST recently we all hopped on an Aer Lingus flight at Dublin airport at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday morning and headed to a little place called Paris…we had been waiting for the weekend to arrive for what seemed like ages! As soon as we arrived we all went to our hotels and settled in for what would be a very memorable weekend! Some went to the races, while others stayed in the city to do some sightseeing. I was in the second group. A few of us took a boat tour in which we were able to see the Statue of Liberty (mini version), the Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame, the Louvre and much more! What a great way to see the sights if you only have a few hours. After that short tour we headed over to the Eiffel Tower to meet up with Andy (the New Zealander), Kyle and Liam to watch the France/New Zealand rugby game. If only everyone could have a sporting event experience such as the one I had that night! In a big white tent set up at the base of the Eiffel Tower (silhouetted in lights against the night sky) a small group of us watched New Zealand tragically (Kiwi bias) lose their chance at the Rugby World Cup title, only to try again in another four years.
Sunday we all shook out of bed in time to grab a bite, pack our bags and head to Longchamp! It was time for what we'd all been waiting for, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe! I must say that Longchamp is the most beautiful racecourse that I have ever seen. Unbelievable. The crowds were huge, the people were fancy, the weather was perfect and the horses were running. Couldn't have asked for a better day…well, from a Darley bias it may have been nice to see Authorized run a bit better, but many are Dylan Thomas fans and it was spectacular to see him win! (On a positive note for the home team, Rio De La Plata won the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and we got to see the famous Frankie Detorri flying dismount!) After experiencing what many would call the best day in European racing, we all shuffled off to the airport and after a bit of adventure (broken down minibus taxi which led to 12 of us being piled into a ten passenger minibus) we finally made it back to Dublin and were home in bed by some hour that classified it as Monday morning.
The next few weeks find us wrapping up with our work in the yards breaking yearlings (hardly got to get into that, but I will include pics), studying up for our Anatomy and Physiology final (next Monday) and preparing for our presentations that we will be sharing at the Darley Flying Start Conference in a couple of weeks. We are heading off to Newmarket on Oct. 29th, so the next update will most likely be from there.
So, that was not at all short-ish, but there have been so many amazing things, I had to try to squeeze them in! I hope that this long update finds you all well and enjoying October wherever you are!!!
Cheers!
Jordyn
Hello all! The Darley Flying Start crew arrived in Newmarket (England) on Oct. 29th and we have nearly completed our first full week. The flight over here was interesting enough, as we departed at 6:25 in the morning from Dublin airport. The logistics of getting 12 people with LOADS of stuff on a plane that early in the morning are a bit daunting. Most of us ended up paying a pretty penny in excess baggage charges and were found sprinting down to the gate, just making it in time. That's one way to get the heart rate up that early in the morning!
Our accommodations here are absolutely amazing. When we arrived and were shown in and all of us thought we had died and gone to heaven! Not that the houses in Ireland were bad by any means; however, we had about four channels and a puny TV in Ireland, and we have a huge plasma TV here. The living room is equipped with new leather couches and the kitchen is stocked as well. Another bonus, we have Internet in the houses! No complaints, that's for sure. In the evenings we all just kind of sit around in wonder…
During our first week we did loads of tours, including one around Dalham Hall Stud (where we are staying), Seven Springs (one of the yearling breaking yards), Michael Jarvis' training yard, the Jockey Club Rooms, and the Rowley Mile. We also had a lecture from James Willoughby and spent a day in London on Friday. The non-Americans had to get some Visa things sorted for our time in Kentucky, so we all took the train in and while they did their business, the Americans did some sightseeing and such. We all met up in a pub later on that night and finally caught the last train home at 9:15 at night. It was a great, but full day!
Yesterday (Saturday) we headed to see some actual races at The Rowley Mile. It is an absolutely beautiful racecourse and the crowd was pretty good considering the time of the year. The track is quite new and pristine; a good time was had by all. Next week we will have various lectures and visits. The following week we begin rotations between the British Racing School, Hamilton Hill (a pre-training yard in which we'll work with the yearlings being broken) and the various departments in the Dalham Hall office. The time at Hamilton Hill will be neat as some of the yearlings that we had been working with in Ireland have travelled over as well. I have a feeling that this leg is going to fly and we'll be home for the holidays before we know it.
I hope that this finds you all well!
Hello All! It has been a while, hasn't it? Sorry about that, really no excuse except for the fact that…well, no excuse at all! For the next ten days I will be spending the hours of 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. on foal watch at Gainsborough Farm, so there is plenty of time to catch up. So far I have experienced three foalings, and despite the new nocturnal lifestyle, it has been quite an experience!
Now to catch up on where the Flying Starters have been in the last few months. We finished up in Newmarket, England around December 15th and the majority of us headed home for the holidays. Training commenced in Lexington, Kentucky on January 2nd, so quite a few of us celebrated our New Years' Eve Kentucky-style. During our first week here we spent several days at the Keeneland January Sale with different members of the nominations team from Jonabell. The sale was great; however, a few of us ended up with a pretty awful flu that kept us in bed for several days.
After the sale (and the flu) had passed, we all spent two weeks taking a course from Mitch Taylor and his crew from the Kentucky Horseshoeing School (KHS). I must say that those two weeks were amongst the most valuable that we have spent on the course to this point. Mitch has the ability to illustrate the dynamics and importance of the horses' hoof and proper hoof care unlike anybody I have ever met. We had both classroom lectures and practical training. The practical training involved us first learning to trim the legs of cadavers and by the end of the two weeks we were all capable of giving horses simple "pasture trims" relatively well.
In order to solidify the hoof care knowledge gained at KHS the twelve of us headed up to Cincinnati to attend the International Hoof Care Summit during the end of last week. While there we listened to hoof care professionals from around the world discuss timely and interesting topics that are prominent in the farrier industry…plus, we got to see Cincinnati!
This week started our rotations. Over the course of the next few months we will be spending time doing foal watch, a month with the mares at Gainsborough, working at Keeneland with Darley trainer Johnny Burke, shadowing a few vets from Hagyard Equine Medical Institute, working with the Darley stallion crew, spending time in the Darley offices and finally working with the yearlings. Needless to say, there are quite a few opportunities to be had! Along with that we are taking an equine nutrition course at the University of Kentucky, receiving lectures from industry leaders and getting to meet all of the big players in Lexington (ex. Storm Cat).
Our accommodations in Lexington are the best yet. We are split up amongst five different apartments that are fully furnished. The time here promises to be dense in learning and fun, with loads of memories to be made. I promise to be a bit better about catching up...more soon!
Hello everyone! Happy Spring to you! While it may have been Spring for a while where you are, it is just now starting to stay consistently Spring-y here in Lexington. The long, cold, fairly miserable Winter here really made a born-and-raised Southern California girl appreciate the sunshine!
Time here in Lexington has been flying by at a nice clip! We finished our rounds of rotations last week. As mentioned in previous e-mails, we all spent time with a trainer at the racetrack, two weeks on foal watch (night watch), a month out at the farm with the mares and foals, two weeks at Hagyard Equine Medical Clinic, a week with the yearlings and so on. I would have to say that I learned the most during the month out at Gainsborough Farm with the mares and foals. During my time out there I spent the mornings with the management and veterinarians monitoring each mare and their cycles. It is critical that they get the mares to the breeding shed on exactly the right day, before they ovulate, or else they have to wait another 15 days before they come back "in." Time is of the essence, and those 15 days add up pretty quickly! Who would've known that getting mares pregnant would be such a science? The team out at Gainsborough is unbelievable, and they made very early and long mornings incredibly enjoyable. I think that we all gained an appreciation for what they do, as they are working 24/7 during foaling and breeding season (Jan-June), and maintain wonderful attitudes through it all!
During the past few months we have also been privileged to spend some time out at the local racetrack, Keeneland. The racetrack is world-class and it is about five minutes down the road from our apartments. We were able to shoot out to the races after lectures and were also out there most weekends, catching some pretty phenomenal races such as the Blue Grass Stakes, a race for 3 year-olds that is commonly used as a preparation race for the Kentucky Derby. While our time at Keeneland was mostly set aside for relaxation and mingling, we also had a few serious tasks to accomplish. Each of us spent one full day with the racing officials and stewards, seeing the activities that they carry out on a daily basis. We started the morning in the racing office, taking entries and watching the post-position draws for the following day of racing. After the morning we followed the paddock judges and identifier out into the paddock to check that each of the horses were wearing their proper equipment and got to the racetrack on time. We also got to visit the stewards up in the stewards box on the top of the grandstand and watched the official "starter" load the horses in the gate and send them on their way....it was quite a day!
I have only described a few things that we have been up to, but if I continue I will most likely go on for ages! We are looking forward to the coming weeks, as they hold the promise of the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby, a week-long stewards accreditation course and the wrap-up of our Nutrition class at the University of Kentucky. Most of us have heard where we will be doing our six-week long mini internships that begin after Memorial Day weekend and go through the 4th of July. I will be heading to New Jersey to work at the Thoroughbred Daily News (a major daily publication in the Thoroughbred industry) and look forward to learning about an entirely new sector of this industry.
On one more fun note, the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event is going on at the Kentucky Horse Park this week. I was able to sneak out yesterday and see the world-class horses and riders complete the cross-country leg of the three-days (the first day is dressage, the second is cross-country and the third is stadium jumping). The fences and the course are unbelievable!
I will keep you up to date on any new developments. For now, I hope that this finds you all well.
Hello from New Jersey! I know, you all must be thinking, this can't be possible! She can't be somewhere else…again! But, "she" is….
I am currently spending six weeks in the beautiful state of New Jersey working with the Thoroughbred Daily News (TDN), a daily online newsletter that is hugely popular with people throughout the industry. I have been here since the end of May and cannot believe how quickly the time is flying by.
When I am at "work" I am busy keeping up with several little projects that I have been assigned and also working with the editorial crew that is responsible for producing the publication on a daily basis. I had NO idea how much work it is to produce a daily newsletter, but they are like a well-oiled machine and make it look fairly effortless.
It certainly is not all work. During my first weeks here I was able to attend races at Monmouth Park, see Big Brown work up at Belmont Park, attend a Belmont Stakes press lunch at the ESPN Zone in NYC, see "South Pacific" on Broadway and I even had time to hit the beach! It was very exciting to be involved in this aspect of the industry during Big Brown's Triple Crown campaign, even though, once again out hopes were blown out of the water.
I am living with one of the kindest, most gracious families I have ever met, Vicki and John Forbes. Vicki is the Director of Customer Services at the TDN and her husband is a trainer, who was responsible for the successful career of Tale of the Cat. From my first night here they have made me feel like family, and I must say, it may be a little bit tough to leave.
When my six weeks here are over (on the 4th of July), I will drive back to Lexington for the final two weeks of the USA portion of Darley Flying Start. When we arrived in January it seemed as though seven months was an eternity. Come to find, it is not! I guess that it was just the CA-girl in me wishing for a more moderate winter. I hope that this finds you all well!