Remote UK Phase of Godolphin Flying Start Begins

The UK phase of the Godolphin Flying Star programme for first-year trainees has begun remotely from Ireland, Godolphin announced on Monday. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated the change. This segment will contain bloodstock insurance, racing administration, nominations sales, marketing, HR, racing and veterinary management, as well as an introduction to the legal system. Other changes include the practical experience with yearlings will be undertaken at Kildangan Stud, while the two-week course on exercising racehorses will be completed at the Racing Academy and Centre for Education (RACE) instead of the British Racing School. Later on in the two-year course a UK study tour has been scheduled.

In Australia, the Godolphin Flying Star second-year trainees are taking part in the programme with little change to the course structure. They quarantined for two weeks and are now based in Scone, New South Wales where they are completing practical rotations in the surrounding area, as well as visiting Hunter Valley stud farms. The trainees also completed their Leadership module at Macquarie University Graduate School of Managment in Sydney.

“It has been important for us to be reactive to the everchanging environment presented by COVID-19, but it brings me great satisfaction that despite the challenges, the groups of trainees in both Australia and Ireland have adopted well and have been able to achieve many of the same learning outcomes as previous year groups,” said Godolphin Flying Star Director Clodagh Kavanagh.

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The Next Generation with Corbin Blumberg

“It’s all I’ve thought about for forever,” said 25-year-old Corbin Blumberg.

And he’s not really exaggerating. The Potomac, Maryland native was just a toddler when one VHS tape sold him on horse racing for life. Blumberg learned to read by studying past performances, and has since traveled the world in pursuit of furthering his knowledge of the industry.

Less than a month before this year’s Kentucky Derby, the Godolphin Flying Start graduate signed on as the Racing Manager for Starlight Racing. It was an eventful start to the job when their talented Authentic (Into Mischief) sailed to victory in the GI Kentucky Derby and then ran a close runner-up effort in an epic edition of the Preakness S.

KR: How did you get started in racing?

CB: I fell in love with racing when I was two or three years old. My parents bought me a tape, The Best of the Breeders’ Cup from 1990 to 2000. I don’t know why they bought it for me, but that was it, I was obsessed. I went to my first Breeders’ Cup in 2000, which was Tiznow, and after that I was just hooked from there.

I was basically obsessed with racing from then on, and when I turned 16, I emailed Graham Motion. I went and lived with Graham and Anita during the summer. Animal Kingdom had just won the Derby so it was a great time to be there. They’re the best; I owe so much to Graham and Anita. I did four or five summers at Fair Hill with them, spent some time in Saratoga, and then went to the University of Kentucky for Equine Science and Management. Then I went and did a program in England called the British Horse Racing Graduate Development Programme, which was awesome. Then I did Godolphin Flying Start for the last two years.

 

KR: What drew you to the industry?

CB: I think mostly the excitement. I grew up doing Pony Club, foxhunting and eventing, so I was always involved with horses. But I think the excitement of racing and the competition really got me. From there I was hooked. It’s all I’ve thought about for forever.

 

KR: What was the most challenging part of being a total newcomer in the industry?

CB: I think for me it was when I got to Kentucky and I didn’t know anyone. That was definitely a little challenging. Being with Graham and Anita in Maryland was so great because I learned a ton, but Maryland is still a little removed from the epicenter of the industry, which is Lexington. But overall, the industry is so welcoming and inclusive and I got a lot of opportunities just from being lucky and being in the right place at the right time.

There’s definitely a barrier there in terms of knowledge at first, but I was so obsessed that I’ve been reading a Racing Form since I was five, so that helped.

 

KR: What’s your favorite part about the business?

CB: I think the transition from being a fan to actually working in it has been really great. I guess I’ve always worked in it, but it was always summers, programs and school. Now to be actually working full time, being involved in making decisions and seeing where horses go is really cool. I also love being able to follow some of the horses we worked with through Flying Start.

 

KR: Tell us about your job now as Racing Manager for Starlight Racing.

CB: Starlight is amazing. Jack and Laurie Wolf started it in 2002, and they’ve had Harlan’s Holiday (Harlan), Hall of Famer Ashado (Saint Ballado), Octave (Unbridled’s Song) and Shanghai Bobby (Harlan’s Holiday). There was a really amazing history of horses there, and since they’ve partnered up with SF Racing and Tom Ryan, and with Madaket, this whole partnership has been amazing with Eight Rings (Empire Maker), Charlatan (Speightstown) and obviously Authentic (Into Mischief).

It’s been amazing to meet all of our different partners and the people within Starlight, to get to know them and our horses. I really love it, and we’ll hopefully get StarLadies some big wins coming up too. I think we just had a really great [Keeneland September Yearling Sale], so hopefully there will be some really exciting horses for the future.

 

KR: Can you tell us your experience when Authentic won the Kentucky Derby?

CB: I was in Saratoga because we had a few horses running there that weekend. Jack Wolf was in Louisville, but Laurie, who is the managing partner of StarLadies, was actually in Saratoga. I get a bit funny about watching racing with other people, so I went and watched it alone and they were all two houses down. I went nuts when he crossed the finish line and sprinted down to their house. They were actually watching it on the internet so the race was still finishing. There were like 10 people there going nuts, so we went crazy and then had a pretty good night in Saratoga. I couldn’t believe it.

 

KR: If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be?

CB: The racing side of the industry has always been my passion, so in terms of racing, I think probably the reliance on casino wagering makes me nervous going forward. I love our industry and I love racing, so I think trying to make it as self-sustainable going forward as possible would make me feel a lot more comfortable about the future.

 

KR: Who is your favorite horse of all time?

CB: So I have two. First is Cigar because that’s probably the horse that got me into racing, and then Animal Kingdom, because he was right there when I started at Graham’s and was pretty influential. When I started with Graham, there were probably 125 horses, and then the next summer there were 200. Then more recently, Authentic is on top of the list because that was a pretty good start to working at Starlight.

 

KR: What are your career goals going forward?

CB: Right now, I have the dream job off of Flying Start. I’m so happy, so I’m just trying to make Starlight operate on a day-to-day basis as well as it possibly can-working with Jack and Laurie to make that happen, and with our partners.

Then in the long term, I think for now I just want to stay with Starlight and try and work with Jack there, but definitely being involved with the horses and probably buying some at some point is at the top of the list.

 

 The TDN has partnered with Amplify Horse Racing to present “The Next Generation,” an ongoing video series featuring young people who were not born into the Thoroughbred business, but are now excelling within the industry

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Global Views: Time Is Of The Essence

Attracting a young, more diverse audience to horse racing is essential to the long-term health of the sport. It is often asked what can be done to make racing more appealing to a younger population, yet one has to wonder if the product that’s offered caters to them. The introduction of sectional times would undoubtedly be a huge stepping stone in combating this irrefutable lack of appeal. By the same token, it’s far from certain that Irish and British racing attracts the level of international interest that we have come to believe. The lack of data available relative to other racing jurisdictions puts it at a competitive disadvantage. Ireland and Great Britain produce the best Thoroughbreds, however, it is hard to say the best resources are being utilised to showcase them.

In the case of horse racing, the more information available the better. Sectional times won’t be used by everyone, however, the sport must move with the times and become more accessible, and an increase in information and transparency will undoubtedly assist in this. Over the last 10 years, sports that cater to a data-driven population such as baseball, American football and Formula 1 have become increasingly popular. Even in the last fortnight, golf’s ‘Mad Scientist’ Bryson DeChambeau recorded his first major victory by winning the U.S. Open at Winged Foot. Bryson, whose statistical focus on the game has left traditionalists with a sour taste in their mouth, has been very vocal in the analytics of his golf swing, as well as his assessment of the different variables that are presented during a round of golf. Love him or hate him, there’s no doubting that he won’t be the last to adopt this ‘winning formula.’

Around this time last year in the run-up to the Cox Plate, an Australian friend of mine posed a question to me I was half expecting and dreading. “Winx vs. Enable, Cox Plate, 2040 metres around Moonee Valley: who wins?” Having to tell an Aussie that I thought his country’s pride and joy wouldn’t have what it takes to run down Enable–brilliant. As expected, my answer was met with an onslaught of abuse, telling me how Enable wouldn’t have the tactical speed that’s required around The Valley, that I don’t have the figures to back up my choice and that she’d have never raced around a track as sharp before. Rather than a shaky counterargument which would have consisted of pointing out that Enable had won at Chester, my response of “Enable just wins” seemed to have more substance and duly went down like a lead balloon.

Pardon the digression. The underlying point here is that the apparent high regard Irish and British horses are held in abroad is based on anecdotal evidence. If Nature Strip had come over for the G1 King’s Stand S. this season, would it have been easy for Australian racing fans to weigh up their star sprinter’s chance versus Battaash? Unlikely. It makes it extremely difficult for International racing fans who don’t follow Irish and British racing closely to quantify a horse’s chance in such situations, thus leading to them losing interest.

In 2017, sectional times were due to be introduced to Irish racecourses as part of a deal struck between HRI and SIS. The sport’s sectional times advocates have been kept at bay for a long time by what seem to be never-ending trials of the technology, yet as time goes on one has to wonder if the promises made are empty. There have been questions asked over the relevance of sectional times in Ireland and the UK given the unique nature of the tracks relative to those in other jurisdictions, but surely this distinctiveness is precisely the reason sectionals should be introduced. There is no doubt that the sectionals from track to track won’t be corresponding; this isn’t an advocation of sectionals so we can compare six-furlong splits between Leopardstown and Ballinrobe. However, I believe the information could be used to compose homogenous sectionals for each furlong once a dataset large enough for each track has been derived. The resulting figures would be fascinating for racing fans and punters in terms of exposing uphill and downhill parts of a track, tracks where tactical speed in a specific part of a race is necessary, as well as making informed conclusions in the aftermath of the race.

The information would also be useful for horse racing professionals. It could assist trainers in their post-race analysis and future placing, act as an added awareness for riders with regards to setting pace, as well as assisting in handicapping, stewarding and improving the overall integrity of the sport. Not the toughest sell, is it?

‘Punter’s Intelligence’ is an extremely popular sectional software used in Australia. Run by Racing New South Wales, the race data is presented through a free app, making it available for smartphone and tablet users. Performance data is collected 50 times per second through transmitters in the horse’s saddle cloth, which is then collated and presented in the app to show race times, sectional times, distance travelled, top speed and positioning for every horse in the race. The app also allows its users to view a 3D simulated or virtual replay of the race and control camera angles. For all they only offer sectionals for a handful of British tracks, At The Races has set a very high standard with regards to the information provided and how it is presented. The ‘Using the ATR Sectional Times’ section of their website provides you with the various analysis tools, as well as how to use and comprehend them. Energy distribution charts, sectional speeds, efficiency grade and finishing speed % are included on the site. The user-friendly nature in which At The Races presents the information also deserves praise. Analysing sectionals can seem a daunting task, but At The Races has done a great job of simplifying the process, using pace corresponding colours, race position buzzwords and finishing speeds to great effect. Products like this make the sport far more appealing to those who are data-driven. They eliminate the guesswork of what happened and why. They allow justified conclusions to be made and in doing so, eliminate a barrier of entry in the form of ‘being in the know.’

The introduction of the Tote Superpools in the last two years has greatly increased international interest in Royal Ascot. Throughout the 36 races this year, £137-million was wagered in the pools, with substantial amounts coming from Hong Kong, Australia and the U.S., compared to £20-million in 2018 prior to the World Pools being introduced. Sectional times have been provided with these pools in mind and are paramount to them remaining popular as sectionals are the minimum standards expected in the aforementioned jurisdictions. The Superpools haven’t become as regular as people had hoped when they were first pitched in 2018. Were sectional times universally in place, perhaps it would allow for greater expansion of the Superpools which would be monumental with regards to the international interest of Irish and British race meetings.

If you were a racing fan abroad, would you be willing to dedicate your time to following Irish and British racing without the necessary tools to comprehend the form? Does a sport which lacks data and requires a huge investment of time to gain a basic understanding of appeal to the younger generation?

Sectional times could be essential in the battle to gain market share from other sports with data-driven audiences. The opportunity cost of failing to move with the times and attract new racing fans is colossal. Time is very much of the essence.

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Starlight Racing Adds New Members

Corbin Blumberg, a recent graduate of the Godolphin Flying Start program, and Elinor Wolf have been added to the staff at Jack and Laurie Wolf’s Starlight Racing.

Prior to his Flying Start participation, Blumberg worked for his mentor, Graham Motion, the British Horseracing Authority, the Breeders’ Cup and the Maryland Jockey Club. A graduate of the University of Kentucky with a B.S. degree in Equine Science and Management, Blumberg will communicate with Starlight and StarLadies trainers at home and abroad, will attend the sales and provide partners with an enhanced racing experience.

Elinor Wolf, the daughter of Jack and Laurie Wolf, is a recent graduate of the University of Colorado, with a B.S. in Advertising and Strategic Communications. Captain of the school’s lacrosse team during her senior year, she has been free-lancing for Starlight and StarLadies since the coronavirus outbreak put an abrupt end to the season. Elinor will oversee marketing, advertising and bloodstock related activities for both Starlight and StarLadies Racing.

“Laurie and I are thrilled to welcome Elinor into the business which is really just our passion,” said Starlight Racing’s co-managing partner Jack Wolf. “Elinor has grown up in this industry and she knows us better than anyone. We really could not have anyone who is in a better position to share our story. As for Corbin, he came to us as an extern from Godolphin Flying Start and I’ve been impressed with him from day one. I think he’ll really add value to us and our partners.”

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