Michael Wallace, the Chief Operating Officer of the China Horse Club, will resign from that position effective Dec. 31, he said in a phone call Thursday. The bloodstock agent has been with the global Thoroughbred firm for eight years, since March, 2014.
“Obviously, it has been a wonderful run with them, from a start-up company to what they are today in a period of eight years,” said the New Zealand native. “It has been a very interesting and rewarding experience. Obviously, we've experienced plenty of highs, including 27 individual Grade or Group I winners that have won 44 Grade/Group 1 races, with five Eclipse Awards in there. We have had Horses of the Year in Australia, America and in Europe, and obviously, Justify, the Triple Crown winner, who might be the epitome of it all.”
Under Wallace's direction, the CHC campaigned the likes of Abel Tasman (Quality Road), Audible (Into Mischief), Australia (GB), Yoshida (Jpn), Life Is Good (Into Mischief), Improbable, and more.
Wallace said that he would most likely return to being an independent bloodstock agent. “I'm going to take some time and think about it. But obviously, I've got a mortgage to pay and a family to look after. Before the China Horse Club, I was an independent and I'm going to go back to being an agent, working the world again, and seeing what business I can find. I would hope that my record would speak for itself and that someone will want to use my services.”
Said Wallace, “I am very appreciative of the opportunity that was afforded me as a young man in New Zealand. That position, on a global scale, was one that came with great responsibility and pressure, but it was a wonderful adventure and a new opportunity to experience new places and new cultures. But everything comes to an end; I felt it was time for a new challenge, and I aim to challenge myself.”
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