TDN: First job in the Thoroughbred industry?
Believe it or not, the one I'm in! I have worked for Tattersalls now for 22 years, having answered an advert for a marketing executive in the Racing Post back in 2000. I had previously run a very amateur racing website called Ausracing, but since it brought me no income, it could hardly be called a job.
TDN: Biggest influence on your career?
Always a hard one, but perhaps it was the friend who took me to Sandown racecourse in Melbourne's Eastern suburbs back in 1987 despite being only 15 years old. I had 50 cents each way on a horse called Boley's Girl who won at 33/1. I think I was hooked from that moment on.
TDN: Favourite racehorse of all time, and why?
I want to take the liberty of splitting this into two, one being when I lived in Australia and one being since I moved to England. In Australia it was a horse called Vo Rogue, trained by a battler called Vic Rail who was virtually impassable and ran races from the front at a fast pace, although horses such as Better Loosen Up, Beau Zam, Bonecrusher and Myocard all played significant roles in the life of a giddy teenager. In the UK it is undoubtedly Frankel who was quite simply like no horse I have ever seen before. Add in the Henry Cecil and Khaild Abdullah storylines and you had a horse who evoked excitement and emotion at the same time as well as astonishment. That he's proving such a remarkable stallion now only adds to the story.
TDN: Who will be champion first-season sire in 2023?
I guess it's stating the obvious that a large crop of foals and precocity are the key elements here and stallions who fit the bill next season include Advertise, Blue Point, Calyx, Inns of Court, Soldier's Call, Ten Sovereigns and of course Too Darn Hot. One of them I reckon!
TDN: Greatest race in the world?
Whilst the Derby, Arc, Melbourne Cup and Grand National all have claims to that crown, I always thought the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket was the race that the world was most interested in, especially form a breeding/stallion point of view.
TDN: If you could be someone else in the industry for a day who would it be, and why?
Ryan Moore. I've never ridden, so being on board a top-class racehorse in a race would be a great thrill I'd imagine.
TDN: Emerging talent in the industry (human)?
Patrick Owens has done a remarkably good job with very few horses in the short time he has been training.
TDN: Horse TDN should have made a Rising Star, and didn't?
Karl Burke's Liberty Lane who won very easily on debut at Nottingham and who has some attractive entries next year.
TDN: Under-the-radar stallion?
Not sure if he is under the radar but I think there are any number of stallions who don't get the acclaim they deserve given the complexities of fashion and the sale ring, but if I was breeding for myself I think Teofilo is value at €30,000 given he has had 98 stakes winners from 12 crops of racing age, including 18 Group 1 winners.
TDN: Friday night treat?
Thai Street Cafe in Newmarket.
TDN: Guilty pleasure outside racing?
I enjoy getting to a festival or two or two during the British summer and the odd gig here and there.
TDN: Race I wish I had been there for…
Better Loosen Up, 1990 Japan Cup.
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