SOME say success comes when opportunity meets readiness and, at just 25 years of age, Lincolnshire native Eliza Bradbeer has certainly grabbed her latest opportunity with both hands.

David and Tamso Cox also felt Eliza was ‘ready’ when promoting her to her current role of foaling manager at Baroda Stud ahead of the 2025 foaling season.

With upwards of 70 mares to foal this year, it is a role that comes with as much pressure and responsibility as it does excitement, so it is little surprise that her employers have nominated Eliza for the ‘newcomer award’ at this year’s Godolphin supported Irish Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards.

Certainly not one to blow her own trumpet Eliza has displayed a clear and mature focus on her career path since graduating from Newcastle University in 2022 armed with a degree in rural studies and a passion for all things horses and racing.

The much-lauded Irish National Stud course then provided Eliza with a springboard to spread her wings internationally and she spent seven months working a breeding season in Segenhoe Stud in Australia.

“I learned a massive amount in Segenhoe, they do things a bit differently in Australia compared to here so it was a huge learning curve,” she admitted.

Having honed her skills, Bradbeer was keen to redeploy them in Europe and was delighted to secure a stud hand position in Baroda in January 2023.

Promotion

An opportunity soon arose to make a switch onto Baroda’s foaling team, a role in which she excelled in and then following a further reshuffle Bradbeer now oversees the foaling division, after just two years with the farm.

“I knew as soon as I started working with horses that foaling was an area I wanted to get involved in and now to be responsible for the safe foaling of over 70 mares a year for one of the top farms in Ireland is something I am quite proud of,” she said.

Eliza is fortunate to be aided by cameras, foaling alarms and a night-watch team but is still present for every foaling and it can sometimes be a case of spending most of the night making sure mother and baby are comfortable before re-starting work again on the farm at 7am.

“Don’t get me wrong, it is tough work and not for everyone. It’s intense, obviously, during the season and I have to operate on very little sleep but you get used to that aspect of it and the adrenaline and satisfaction that comes from a successful foaling is hard to beat.

“I have a great back-up team and that is a huge help but I remember one night we had three mares that foaled and between pre and post-natal care, that took up pretty much all the night.

“But then when a client comes to visit their mare and foal and you can see how delighted they are with them, it makes all the hours you have spent caring for them all worthwhile.”

Eliza is now at the stage where she will soon be monitoring the on-course exploits of the first group of foals she helped deliver at Baroda two years ago.

“That’s obviously another proud aspect of the job; to see these foals bond with their mother, take their first steps, maybe fetch a brilliant price in a sales ring and then ultimately become a racehorse is quite a privilege.”

Baroda Stud is a well-oiled machine with a lot of moving parts and a large team of people on the ground ensuring things remain as they should.

Teamwork is vital and Baroda’s farm manager Brian Delahunt, himself a former ITIEA award winner was quick to sing the praises of Eliza.

“She is very passionate about what she does. Being a foaling manager takes a lot of dedication and time, it involves working during unsociable hours, but she is very good at what she does and is a huge addition to Baroda,” Delahunt said.

He continued: “I wasn’t at all surprised when David and Tamso promoted Eliza to the role of foaling manager as although she is young she has packed a lot of relevant experience into a short space of time. “She did a similar stint foaling mares in Australia and having subsequently excelled here as foaling assistant, it was a natural progression for her to step up and take responsibility when the opportunity arose.

“It’s very hard to get young people to come and work in this industry as its tough work and you have to have the passion for it. Eliza has that passion and as well as being dedicated to horses she is also a team player and has grown to be an invaluable member of staff here.”