SARAH DEMPSEY

IT is hard for me to believe that my placement with Willie Browne at Grangebarry Stud is coming to an end. I can admit now that I had a fair amount of trepidation before I started at Grangebarry wondering about my ability to ride out the uneducated, often skittish, two-year-old breezers which are Willie’s speciality. I need not have been too concerned as I was immediately put at ease by Willie, Tracy and the staff at Grangebarry. Both Willie and Tracy gave me a master class in riding two-year-olds and within days, my confidence was sky high.

Nestled in the Golden Vale, Willie runs a successful business in consigning two-year-olds under the Mocklershill badge from their base at Grangebarry Stud. The young horses are sold in breeze-up sales, and are commonly referred to as breezers as prospective buyers can see them ‘breezing’ up the gallop in advance of the sale.

The stud is home to around 80 breezers who ascend the first rungs of the ladder to becoming a racehorse amidst the fantastic facilities at the stud. There are two gallops, one a straight track up a hill to build fitness and stamina, the other a round gallop. The young horses are kept in spacious, airy, sociable stables and are cared for to the highest standards.

During my placement I was very lucky to have been given lots of responsibility and under the mentoring eye of Willie, I have learned a huge amount about this very specialist line of business. My daily activities included riding seven to eight lots of two-year-olds and then doing evening stables. Part of my routine was to check the horse’s legs daily with Willie. I learned so much from Willie about checking legs and I feel very lucky to have been given the benefit of Willie’s deep knowledge on the subject.

I enjoyed taking on the extra responsibilities like bandaging legs and tending to minor ailments. Willie is a natural educator and has a flair for imparting information in the right doses at the right time. This placement I feel has brought me to a whole new level in my knowledge and has ignited a real interest in the production of breezers. In fact it’s something that I hope to dip my toe in in the very near future!

I was lucky to travel with the horses to three breeze-up sales. I went to Newmarket for both the Craven and Guineas sales, Doncaster and Saint-Cloud (France). At the Craven sale, the Mocklershill team topped the sale with a stunning Warfront colt. I was proud to have led up a Galileo filly that achieved £200,000. Getting the opportunity to travel to Saint-Cloud was a real treat though I did regret not paying more attention in French class at school, if I had then those meals I ordered in restaurants may have been less of a surprise when they arrived on my plate! Food surprises aside, I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the sales and got to make lots of great contacts.

I can say without any hesitation that I could not have learned the breeze-up business from anyone more knowledgeable or more generous with his expertise and his time than Willie.

Producing breezers for the sales ring is a real skill. Foals can be purchased on their breeding alone but for breezers, it’s about breeding coupled with performance. Timing is everything when it comes to breeze-ups and the horse must be on point on the day. Breezers usually get one chance in the sales so there is a lot riding on that two-furlong breeze which normally takes place the day before the sale. It’s all about getting the horse to achieve an optimum time and come back sound. Willie and Tracy really rubber-stamped my newly-found breezing skills when they let me ride for a breeze-up sales video!

So it’s certainly with sadness that I leave the team at Grangebarry. I could not have hoped for a better placement. The entire team were so welcoming and I must especially thank my ‘Brazillian family’ – a team of great guys in the yard who I had great fun with and from who I even picked up some basic Portuguese!

Willie and Tracy are such great coaches and mentors – from Tracy’s great instruction as she rode upsides in the early days to Willie’s seemingly endless expertise – I will be forever grateful to them both.

Next job for me is to pack my bags and hit the road to my next placement at Tattersalls where I’m looking forward to working with the team there.

AMY BURKE

MY second placement brought me to Fethard in Co Tipperary and the home of champions, Coolmore Stud. I arrived at Prospect foaling unit on Sunday evening with a view of starting work at 7am on Monday morning but started much sooner when a mare in a nearby stable began sweating up.

Within half an hour, a cracking Mastercraftsman colt had entered the world. It was January 12th but it may as well have been the middle of March because they came thick and fast over the space of my eight-week stint in the foaling unit. Under the watchful eye of Michael O’Rahilly, there are approximately 180 mares foaled in this unit every year. With 25 stables in the main yard and a further 28 within close proximity, there is a very quick but steady turnover of expectant mares.

Each mare is treated as an individual, each having their own file stating previous foaling history. No two mares foal the same way and not every eventuality can be foreseen but it is very helpful to have an idea of how much notice if any, the mare gave in previous years so all hands can be on deck when the time does come for the next potential champion to make its entrance.

I then made my way over to Coolmore hospital barn which is used primarily for horses who have undergone surgery. They come here to rest and recuperate until the time comes for them to return to their respective locations. During my time here, I was involved in fluid and medicine administration, bandaging and all aspects of post-surgical care.

A new and improved hyperbaric chamber was also unveiled during my time here. This is a state of the art building resembling the inside of a horse lorry that can hold two horses at a time. A mask is placed over the horse’s face and it fills their body with fresh oxygen for a time period of 30-45 minutes. It is hoped this will be successful on a barren mare who is struggling to get in foal as it will reenergise her system.

From the hospital yard, I moved over to the main farm and was instantly taken by the hustle and bustle of daily activities. My first port of call was Moyglass, a walk-in unit for mares coming to be covered by Coolmore stallions. This was the most enjoyable part of my time here as I was meeting so many people every day, each with a different story to tell but all hoping to get their mare in foal to a top class stallion.

Coolmore cover four times a day: 7am, 12pm, 3pm and 8pm and with a lot of activity in between I knew I was alive most days! I was also able to go with walk out mares to Castlehyde in Fermoy where Zoffany now stands. My final stop was in the adjacent barn housing mares and foals. I enjoyed my time here as I was actively involved in the worming, farriery and general husbandry of the mares and foals. I also learned a lot with regards the teasing and vetting process on a daily basis. I felt it was important to get to know each mare and her cycle pattern so you had a fair idea of when she would be ready for cover.

To back up what I was learning on the yard every day, Coolmore had informative lectures every week on different topics such as reproduction, farriery, neonatal care, biosecurity aspergillus and equine diet. Before the end of my placement I will also get the opportunity to see what happens in nominations and administration in the office at Coolmore and also in the marketing department at Primus.

I’d like to thank everyone at Coolmore especially Tom Lynch, Jim Carey and Paraic Dolan for looking after me during my time here. My next placement brings me to Horse Racing Ireland.

Applications for the 2015-2016 YITBA Apprentice scheme close on June 26th. For more information see yitba.ie