Search Toggle

The Day in the Life of a Horse Trainer

Wake Up, go for a run on the treadmill or swim a few laps in the pool, come home for a shower, and then have some breakfast. Sounds like a typical morning for most people, but what might surprise is that this is the normal morning routine for horses trained by New Breed Racing’s Michael Costa.

While many people would still be in their beds fast asleep, I was up at the early time of 3:30am and at the New Breed Racing stables situated at Warwick Farm. Work days always commence this early as Michael individually checks all 30 horses at his stable to make sure they did not overheat through the night and are all feeling fit and ready for the day ahead.

This morning routine involves a back and forth between Michael and two whiteboards featuring every detail of every horse to make sure all workers at the stables knows the status of every animal. This is crucial for a trainer, as Michael tells me — knowing “each horse’s individual behaviour, their traits and what they do” ensures the horses are kept safe and healthy.

Despite Michael and I working up an appetite, it was the animals’ turn for some morning feed with each horse getting a muesli-style protein mixture poured from a bucket which looked just slightly bigger than what you would find in your regular old bowl on the kitchen bench.

Such attention to detail would not come as a surprise to the racing community. However the dark shadow that surrounds this industry never seems to disappear especially on the back of the horror events of last year’s Melbourne Cup.

First, there was the pre-race favourite Admire Rakti’s heart attack, and then Araldo being put down after fracturing its leg from kicking a fence around the mounting yard.

These particular events revived the criticism from various anti-racing parties, in particular the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses which has called for dramatic changes in the racing industry. They claimed in their annual report that a total of 125 horses died on Australian tracks last year with thousands more being discarded once becoming unprofitable.

While many stakeholders in the racing community would often strongly dismiss these claims, Michael chose instead to take the high road when asked for his response.

“Any industry with animals and gambling is always going to attract negative publicity and I can understand why,” he says. “As a racing community as a whole, generally the majority are fantastic with their horses but you’re always going to get those bad apples in every industry. But the way racing is going now those bad apples get weened out pretty quickly. You’re always going to have that, but as long racing stays on the front foot, doesn’t let anything slide and has zero tolerance, then the racing community is in good hands.”

In regards to the care of his own horses, Michael firmly demonstrates passion and care with one clear and concise statement:

“I know my horses are cared for like kings, they really are in the sport of royalty.”

The truth of this statement is clearly evident in these early hours as the clock strikes 5:00am and we’re ready to head to the race track. While the stables were only a few minutes’ walk away, this little morning stroll was anything but a normal walk you would do around your neighbourhood. Imagine walking through a time portal back to the early 1900s and walking along the county roads, because that’s what it felt like.

We began the walk through mostly dirt tracks with an occasional deep muddy centre in which the only way to proceed was walking through it. This was then followed by streets with not one car in sight and only horses travelling in every direction. If you closed your eyes and just listened to the sounds of the morning you could only hear the horses’ feet clashing along the asphalt surface of the road.

To make sure we did not spook the horses, or worse — get stomped on — it was paramount to listen to Michael’s instructions on when and where to walk. During this he began to talk about his love for the horses and it was clear how much passion he had for the animals.

“How good is this feeling Andrew?” he asked me, despite going through this routine every morning. “This is why I’m in the game. It’s because of the horses. While it is fun to win a race, for me it’s really more the connection I have with the horses,” he says as his voice changes pitch, highlighting his admiration upon the entry of the track.

Next we headed down a tunnel to reach the inner circle of the course. It felt like a game of red light/green light as we continually had to stop and go while also swerving away from the stream of horses that was entering and exiting the facility.

On race days at Warwick Farm Racecourse there is an abundance of noise and a scattering of litter, food and people with the horses seeming an afterthought. This morning, however, was anything but a normal race day.

A dark silence filled the outskirts of the course with a scattering of jockeys aboard their respective horses, each with a blinking light to establish who was who.

Warwick Farm Racing Area at 5am
Warwick Farm Racing Area at 5am

This continued as we headed into the main training area situated in the middle of the race course.

This was where all the horses would assemble before galloping, and the area where Michael would give his instructions to the jockeys as well as check how the horse pulled up after their runs.

The area consists of a dirt-style surface with a high standing watchtower in the middle, and an attached flood light beaming from the roof in the style of a prison camp.

The training mounting area this morning was filled with at least 300 horses. However, most days there will be at least triple this number, and it can take approximately 40 minutes for each horse to exercise.

Throughout the morning I was told by Michael that all his horses would be making an appearance, however his main focus would be the four horses galloping.

Upon entering the watchtower Michael’s passion was evident as he continued to talk about his love for the horses and the importance of his training and what he does differently. In particular, his habit of trotting them an extra lap than usual before galloping to make sure there is a very minimal chance of injury.

With his horses galloping in intervals there was a lot of spare time for the trainers to just relax and joke around with no chance of missing the horses’ arrival. Michael noted that there is an identical schedule each morning so “I know exactly when the horse will enter the track.”

The relaxation period showed a different side to these trainers, as they would be able to stray away from the stresses of the industry and just relax and have some casual conversations.

However, once a horse was ready to gallop the conversations would come to a complete stop, a slight remark telling me the horse was ready. Then utter silence would fill the room and the only sound you could hear was the horses stomping and breathing along the grass and the stopwatch beeping at every interval.

Not a word was to be said until the horse crossed the finish line, at which point Michael would finally break the silence with a statement of “absolutely perfect” run.

“I wanted good solid pace work at around 13.5 seconds, and she went 13.4, 13.8, 13.5 and 13.4 … so I couldn’t be any happier,” he would say with excitement when describing the time intervals of Exemptions’ track work.

Then all silence would disappear and the conversations would ramp up again with topics ranging from the NBA, Michael’s new life as a father, and even the roast of Justin Bieber.

One particular topic was the retirement of his first ever trained horse Ultimate Gaze. While many critics point out that trainers cast aside horses when they’re done racing, this story couldn’t be any more different.

With a change of tone, Michael began reminisced on the gelding and how it was sad to not see him in the paddock anymore. He also began to assure me that he is now on a six week vacation and will then begin a career as a dressage horse for a teenage girl he personally selected.

While there was often off-topic conversations occurring, Michael would always drop a line in between about his current horses.

“My horse is on the track right now,” he would say abruptly. “He had a second trial last Thursday and ran the quickest 1200m of the day. What he’s doing today is canting around and doing whatever he’s comfortable doing down the straight,”

However, once the horse arrived talks would then again cease. Michael would raise his binoculars and watch attentively. This process continued until the close of track at 8:00am.

By this time, the course had transformed from a dark misty setting to a sunny clear day and that was when a walk back to the stables would occur. It had only been three hours since we last walked these streets but the scene was now more modern with frequent cars and the sounds of horses being slowly drowned out by the traffic of a nearby street.

Back at the stable steam was rising from each horse as they were hosed down and then put into the walker to dry. The walker looks like a carousel you would find at a weekend carnival and is a horse version of a treadmill.

To properly dry, each horse would walk around for 20 minutes followed by a period back in their stables in which they would get treated, iced down, given specific supplements and then be left alone to rest.

But the day was far from over for the trainers, with attention now turning towards administration. Despite being less eventful, this is a crucial part of a trainer’s work and usually consists of writing owner updates and finalising the racing nominations and acceptances which close at 9:30am each day.

A prospective investor had just arrived with an interest in buying a share in one of the horses in Michael’s stable. In a scene reminiscent of a dog show in which the owners parade their pets, Michael did the same thing with a horse to help convince the investor to go ahead. Michael pointed out one of the horse’s quirks: that she loves to play with people’s hair. This could have been the clincher for the deal as the investor verbally agreed to purchase a share.

Fast forward to the afternoon were the horses are back at it again with a walker session, a swim, followed by a chance to stretch their legs and a large feed. They were checked once more at 7:30pm and given water and some carrots to conclude the long day before doing it all over again tomorrow.

While there are undoubtedly instances of neglect and abuse from trainers in the racing community, my experience this day suggested that the vast majority of trainers have great connections with their horses and give them the care and respect they deserve.

Michael left me with some advice for anyone thinking about becoming a trainer: you need passion and patience, and you need to “learn to love coffee pretty quickly.”

Written by Andrew Knezevic

Recent Comments

0

Be the first to comment!

Post Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *