WE have arrived in Australia to commence the next phase of the Godolphin Flying Start programme and, so far, there has been no shortage of action.

I have learnt plenty in terms of Australian breeding and the nature of breeding work down here.

We began the phase visiting world-class stud farms for stallion parades, such as Coolmore, Newgate, Yarraman and, of course, Godolphin’s own Kelvinside.

It was great to see old friends from Britain in Too Darn Hot and Pinatubo, who both looked in great order, as well as one of Australia’s most prolific stallions, I Am Invincible from Yarraman Park.

However, it was Coolmore’s dual Group 1 winner Home Affairs who looks great value. He caught my eye and I look forward to seeing his progeny hit the track in coming years.

Whilst on the topic of top-class breeding, I have recently completed practical rotations at Sledmere Stud and Kia Ora Stud, and I have learnt plenty at both. Both farms have produced high quality racehorses over many years, and I would like to thank their teams and wish them both the best of luck for the upcoming sales season.

Going racing

Over the last month, we have been spoilt with the opportunity to go to some of Australia’s finest racing in Sydney, including the world’s richest turf race, The Everest, and the Melbourne Cup.

A meeting with over 45,000 racegoers in attendance, The Everest had one of the best atmospheres I have experienced on a racecourse. For those who have not been to this meeting, let me assure you, this race is a huge event in Australia. Joe Pride’s Think About It took the race, but there were plenty with chances and there was a huge build-up to the event.

The team got to watch the famous Golden Rose at Rosehill, a prestigious race for three-year-olds over seven furlongs. The pattern in Australia is very interesting to follow. You will find horses backing up in races every fortnight, a common occurrence which makes the racing easy to follow and allows you to get attached to certain horses too.

I am looking forward to seeing how new two-year-olds get on, as of course the two-year-old season only starts in September in Australia.

All the team here could not resist attending the Cox Plate meeting in Melbourne recently, and it was a pleasure to watch arguably Australia’s highest quality race. It produced a great win for Romantic Warrior who was bred at Corduff Stud in Co Kildare and is trained in Hong Kong.

Meeting professionals

The team was also very fortunate to be able to visit some of Sydney’s leading industry professionals and their businesses, including Denise Martin (Star Thoroughbreds), William Inglis (leading auction house) and the Australian Turf Club. However, a highlight visit for me was spending a morning at trackwork with Hall of Fame trainer Gai Waterhouse. Gai is a truly great character and was very generous with her time and gave some great advice to us (especially the aspiring trainers!).

The team was excited to head down to Melbourne on Tuesday for the race which stops a nation, the Melbourne Cup. It’s a public holiday here and 84,000 attended.

During the week we also got the chance to visit Lindsay Park Racing, Godolphin’s Carbine Lodge, as well as the ever-growing Yulong Stud.

As the Melbourne Cup meeting comes to an end this weekend, I look forward to an externship with one of the world’s leading trainers, Chris Waller. This will encompass me working on the ground and trying to learn as much as possible from Chris and his team, as well as attending the Magic Millions yearling sale too.

This is a great chance for me to learn from the very best and I am grateful to Chris and his team for the opportunity.

I would like to extend my thanks to all the people who have hosted us since our arrival in Australia, including all the Godolphin staff for making us feel so welcome throughout.

See godolphinflyingstart.com for more information on the programme