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Career Advice
I am currently receiving several requests per week for advice
on how to become a bloodstock agent, or how to get started in the
racing and breeding industry. I have not the time to deal with all
individually, so here are a few thoughts that I hope may help.
Firstly - there is no substitute for an education, and if it includes
languages and business studies, so much the better. Then decide
whether you are a leader or a follower, i.e. an entrepreneur or
a wage slave. Even if you ultimately intend to be your own boss
(the greatest luxury a person can have), I advise that you start
out as an employee and make (and learn from) your mistakes at someone
else's expense.
Not everyone is suited to entrepreneurship, but you can have a
very respected and respectable career in many aspects of the business
without flying solo.
There are two routes you can take into this business.
1. Clean Hands
If you are essentially a desk jockey, this is the
route for you. There are endless possibilities e.g. racing administration,
B.H.B., Jockey Club, Weatherbys, racecourse management, public relations,
sponsorship, pedigree research, form books, publishing, stud or
trainers secretary. To give an example, when I advertised for a
secretary for Juddmonte Farms in the early days, I received 58 replies
from girls who could type, and one from a young man with an honours
degree in estate management, fluent in French and computers, and
with an excellent knowledge of the stud book and form book. No prizes
for guessing who got the job, and yet this young man had been trying
to get a job in racing for quite some time, Needless to say he was
not a secretary for long, and went on to have a successful career
trading stallion shares and nominations on his own account.
2. Dirty Hands
If you can tolerate long hours, bad weather, and broken fingernails
(at best) you will be rewarded by the pleasure of close companionship
with one of the most beautiful and noble animals on earth. There
is always a job for someone who is prepared to work hard and use
their intelligence at the same time. Travel to different continents,
see as much as you can of all aspects of the business, and after
a few years you will have accumulated sufficient knowledge to be
worth employing.
I had a lot of good young people who started at Adstock and Juddmonte,
but the best always stood out from day one. Ted Voute checked the
mares while the others went to the pub. Look where he is now. Simon
Mockeridge was always a class act, and has had an enviable career
at Juddmonte.
You can do it!
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