They come from a wide array of backgrounds with degrees in finance, animal science, international relations and law with hopes they will be the future of the Australian thoroughbred and breeding industry.
For the first time, Thoroughbred Breeders Australia has helped mould the next generation of industry stars by taking on university graduates in an intensive training program to harness their interest in horse racing and breeding.
The group of 10 students has just finished an intense two-week course in which they heard from more than 30 guest speakers about the opportunities to work in the industry, which remains one of the biggest employers in Australia.
The course was housed out of the Victoria Racing Club’s Flemington headquarters and has been designed to fill a gap for university graduates with little or no connection to the racing and breeding sector.
“It’s a huge variety of students and some have never touched a horse in their life, but they’re so passionate about the industry and wanting to get involved,” said Maddy Tims, the education and project manager for Thoroughbred Breeders Australia.
“I’ve never seen a group so engaged with the speakers. Every speaker we had would say, ‘it’s such a great class’. I think it’s quite exciting for what the future holds for this group.”
The students were taken on tours of stud farms in Victoria’s Nagambie region including Darley, Yulong and Swettenham, visited the Racing.com studios, the home of the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley as well as Melbourne’s Inglis complex.
They also had the benefit of listening to talks from an adviser to Anthony Carbines, the Victorian government’s racing minister, and Racing Victoria integrity officials.
“The two weeks basically gave an overview into every part of the thoroughbred racing industry to give these students the best base and foundation for their six-week internship,” Timms said.
“TBA has a lot of pathways now for career progression within the industry, but that graduate level for people who might not have that horse experience but are really keen on the industry, it was almost a gap the entire industry was missing.
“It was something that was needed in the thoroughbred sector.”
Since finishing the training program, the graduates have now begun traineeships with some of the most recognisable brands in the industry, including stud farms Widden and Yulong, with trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, auction house Magic Millions, bookmaking giant Entain and Stable Financial.
TBA has also taken on a graduate, and they will continue to help the students find employment in the industry beyond their traineeships.
