Media Releases and Articles

From July 1st, thoroughbred breeders will have access to the loans offered by the Regional Investment Corporation. Gaining this access was something that Thoroughbred Breeders Australia (TBA) had lobbied governments for two years.

The loans are offered at a concessional rate – currently 2.31% – which is likely to remain lower than commercial lenders, as it is calculated on the back of the federal government’s bond rate, rather than that of the Reserve Bank of Australia.

While there are four types of loans available, the three most likely to be accessed by breeders are:

Farm Investment Loan: This is the most popular of the RIC’s loans and is typically used by farmers to refinance existing debt.

Agristarter Loan: Aimed at helping people obtaining their first farm business or buying relatives out of their farm businesses.

Drought Loan: To help farmers recover from drought or prepare for future climactic events.

All three of these loans have a 10 year loan term, with the first five years at interest only. The remaining debt at the end of the loan term can be refinanced with a commercial lender.

While these loans sound very attractive, there are some really important caveats to eligibility. For example, for the Farm Investment Loan a business has to demonstrate they have been adversely impacted by an event outside their control for two in the past five years; this may be drought, floods or disease outbreak.

For many breeders this will be relatively easy to prove given the recent drought, but people applying will need to be able to show this through their financial records.

Another criteria for eligibility is that applicants will be asked to demonstrate they intend to sell their products into supply chains that are mainly interstate or overseas. Again, given the national nature of horse racing, this is something that many breeders will be able to show; for example, NSW breeders selling stock at the Magic Millions interstate, or horses sold at auction being sent to interstate stables.

The feedback TBA has received from other farming groups is that the RIC approval process is slower and more bureaucratic than with a commercial lender, and that the eligibility criteria is strictly enforced. Anecdotally, other agricultural sectors have said the Farm Investment Loan is the most valuable and this is best used when refinancing.

For those considering whether RIC finance might be suitable for their business, TBA strongly encourages reading the loan guidelines (links below):

Farm Investment Loan

Farm investment loan guidelines: loans for farm businesses (ric.gov.au)

Agristarter Loan

AgriStarter Loan – Regional Investment Corporation (ric.gov.au)

Drought Loan

Drought loan guidelines: loans for farm businesses (ric.gov.au)

Those wanting to discuss the RIC Loans further should contact Craig Turner, who is a RIC business development manager and also has an understanding of the thoroughbred industry having been involved in ownership for many years.

However, TBA strongly encourages reading the loan guidelines before reaching out to Craig. He will then be able to provide further guidance on how an application could be progressed and how a farm could demonstrate its eligibility.

Craig can be reached at craig.turner@ric.gov.au or on 0466 515 307.

Sixteen new trainees began their Fast Track journey last week with the aim of building successful careers in the industry.

Launched by Thoroughbred Breeders Australia (TBA) in 2018, the Fast Track program offers passionate horse people a pathway into the breeding sector, as well as the opportunity to gain a nationally recognised formal qualification.

Over the next 12 months, trainees will study for a Certificate III in Horse Breeding, while working full-time for some of the country’s most respected stud farms.

The 2022 crop is made up of trainees from five of the six states with students taking up placements on farms in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland – the widest representation of states since the program’s inception.

Expanding the number of interstate trainees was made possible thanks to funding secured through the AgriFutures Australia Capacity Building Program.

Separate to the Thoroughbred Research and Development Levy, the Capacity Building Program awards grants for projects that specifically focus on helping levied industries develop their skills.

This year’s cohort includes a pilot, a veteran and a childcare worker, all of who were looking for an opportunity to turn their passion for horses into a new career.

Former soldier, Jimmy Clarke, developed an interest in horses while working with them in a veteran therapy program.

“When I was transitioning out of the army, I started working with horses in the program and just really loved it”, says Clarke. 

“From there I spent time with an organisation in the Northern Territory that worked with kids in detention doing equine assisted therapy. I decided I wanted to pursue a career with horses and someone suggested I take a look at Fast Track.

“I thought I had no chance of getting selected because of my limited experience but I got the call up and here I am. I’m really excited to get stuck in and make the most of the opportunity. ”

TBA’s newly appointed Education and Projects Manager, Madison Tims, says Jimmy’s story highlights the important role Fast Track plays in bringing new people into our industry.

“Without pathways like Fast Track, people like Jimmy would be lost to us. You don’t need to have grown up in breeding and racing to succeed. If you’ve got the right attitude and are willing to get in and work hard, you can achieve great things.”

The trainees continue at TAFE in the Scone for the next three weeks before joining their farms to prepare for the breeding season.

Phase Two of the Post-Mortem Of Late-Term Pregnancy Loss Project is set to commence at the start of June.

This project is funded through the AgriFutures Australia Thoroughbred Horses Program and aims to determine the causes and trends of late-term pregnancy loss in Australia.

The initial phase took place in the Hunter Valley and involved the development of a confidential database, as well as the creation of training manuals to ensure a standardised procedure for conducting foetal post-mortems and the collection of results.

Phase Two will now pilot the most effective way to expand this research nationally. As a result, breeders in New South Wales, Northern Victoria and Southern Queensland will now have access to fully funded foetal post-mortems. However, it is important to note that there is a cap on the number that will be conducted in each state and foetuses must meet specific eligibility criteria.

The veterinary clinics taking part in the pilot are:

• Scone Equine Hospital (New South Wales)
• Darling Downs Vet (South-East Queensland)
• Goulburn Valley Equine Hospital (Northern Victoria)

Each clinic has its own specific procedure for dropping off a foetus but as a general rule you must:

• Contact the clinic first to make sure they haven’t exceeded their quota for funded post-mortems and that your foetus fits the eligibility criteria.
• Sign a consent form – a vet will not start a post-mortem without this.
• Double-bag the foetus using heavy duty garbage bags.
• Keep foetus at a temperature between 4-10 degrees Celsius. To do this, it is recommended that the double-bagged foetus be placed in a large plastic container or bin with ice beneath it and on top.
• Deliver the aborted foetus within 24 hours of discovery.

Breeders will be provided will a full set of results following the post-mortem. These are expected within five working days, but the EHV PCR will be sent as soon as it’s available, usually within 48 working hours.

For the purpose of the broader research, all details will remain strictly confidential and the data will have no direct link to any horse, farm or breeder; the only people who will have access to the results are the mare owner, the vet who conducted the post-mortem and the lead researcher.

If you are interested in taking advantage of this opportunity, please contact James Murray at TBA on 0407 137 032 or james@aushorse.net.au.

James will be able to provide you with the detailed information specific to your state, including the relevant consent form, eligibility criteria, and transport and drop-off instructions.

You can also access the Frequently Asked Questions for each state via the links below:

NSW Frequently Asked Questions

VIC Frequently Asked Questions

QLD Frequently Asked Questions

A lifetime’s work in some of Australia’s most famous stables has been recognised and rewarded at the Gold Coast Turf Club on Wednesday evening for the 2022 Stud and Stable Staff Awards presented by Thoroughbred Breeders Australia and Racing Australia with the sponsorship support of Racing Queensland, the Australian Turf Club, the Victoria Racing Club, Inglis, Magic Millions, Thoroughbred Industry Careers, Marcus Oldham College and the Melbourne Racing Club and with additional support from Godolphin.

Seven category winners from a record number of nominations for 2022’s Awards were celebrated, recognised and rewarded and one of the army of workers whose devotion and skill keeps racing alive, Reg Fleming was named the overall winner of the Thoroughbred Excellence Award following being awarded the recipient of the Dedication to Racing Award.

Fleming is one of seven winners of the annual Stud and Stable Staff Awards that acknowledge the thousands who operate behind the scenes in Australia’s thoroughbred racing and breeding industry.

Fleming, formerly the long-time Melbourne foreman for legendary trainer Bart Cummings and now filling the same role with Godolphin Australia, he also takes a keen interest in the welfare of retired racehorses, recently becoming the lifetime carer for the former top-class galloper Hartnell.

Other winners to emerge from hundreds of nominations from around the country were Liesl Baumann from Cressfield Stud in NSW who won the SSSA’s Leadership prize and Adam Shankley from Arrowfield Stud, winner of the Horsemanship Award.

On a big night for Arrowfield, Jess Hood made it a double for the Hunter Valley-based farm, taking out the Administration and Ancillary Services category.

In the Dedication to Breeding section, the nod went to Kelly Frost from Godolphin Australia’s Northwood Park farm in Victoria while in the Care and Welfare section, a previous finalist, Fiona McIntyre had her selfless and vital work in re-homing and retraining rewarded with top honours in the Thoroughbred Care and Welfare category.

As well as recognising long-term service, the SSSA also offers a Newcomer Award to those who have been working in the industry for two years or less.

The 2022 Newcomer winner is Sacha Roberts whose move from running a chicken shop to working for Victorian trainer Mick Kent has been a revelation to both her and her boss. The Newcomer winner receives $5,000 and an educational visit to Dubai.

Winners in each category, excluding the Newcomer, receive a cash prize of $10,000 and a trophy with $3,000 to each runner-up and $1,000 to share among workplace colleagues with the Excellence winner receiving a further $5,000.

Congratulations to the following recipients of the 2022 Stud and Stable Staff Awards:

• Administrative and Ancillary Services Award sponsored by the MRC Foundation – winner: Jess Hood, Arrowfield Stud
• Dedication to Racing sponsored by the Australian Turf Club – winner: Reg Fleming, Godolphin Australia
• Dedication to Breeding sponsored by Magic Millions – winner: Kelly Frost, Godolphin Australia
• Horsemanship Award sponsored by Inglis – winner: Adam Shankley, Arrowfield Stud
• Leadership Award sponsored by the Victoria Racing Club – winner: Liesl Baumann, Cressfield Stud
• Thoroughbred Care and Welfare Award sponsored by Racing Queensland – winner: Fiona McIntyre
• Newcomer Award sponsored by Thoroughbred Industry Careers and Marcus Oldham College – winner: Sacha Roberts, Mick Kent Racing
• Thoroughbred Excellence Award – winner: Reg Fleming, Godolphin Australia

An inspirational compilation from a world of unsung heroes has been selected as the finalists in the 2022 Australian Stud and Stable Staff Awards.

Representing a range of occupations from across the thoroughbred racing and breeding industry, the 14 finalists range from stable hands to re-trainers to trackwork riders to men and women who ensure that future generations of racehorses are conceived, born and raised with love and devotion.

For all of them, the SSSA, offers both recognition and reward.

An initiative of Thoroughbred Breeders Australia, and Racing Australia and supported by Godolphin, the Awards offer cash prizes in seven areas: Leadership, Horsemanship, Dedication to Breeding, Dedication to Racing, Care and Welfare, Administration and Ancillary and a Newcomer award.

In 2022, the eighth year for the SSSA in Australia, the judging panel has some typically difficult decisions to make.

The Dedication to Breeding (sponsored by Magic Millions) and Dedication to Racing (Sponsored by the Australian Turf Club) categories could well speak for the entire industry, and as a result they have revealed some outstanding figures.

In the former, Kelly Frost from Godolphin’s Northwood Park farm in Victoria and Drew Plater from Strawberry Hill Stud are both regarded as “naturals” in their nominated categories.

The Dedication to Racing contenders Michael O’Grady from Tasmania and Reg Fleming from Godolphin’s Melbourne team constantly use their decades of experience to extract the best from the horses they handle and offer the same to the colleagues they work with.

The task of educating retired racehorses for a life after racing is an area that evokes great passion, a quality possessed in large doses by the Care and Welfare Award (sponsored by Racing Queensland) finalists Fiona McIntyre and Grace Chantler.

McIntyre’s record as a re-trainer, a job she does as well as working full-time in another career, has made her renowned in both Australia and abroad, while Chantler specialises in picking up horses least likely to be taken on by other re-trainers.

In the Leadership category (sponsored by the Victoria Racing Club), Liesl Baumann the operations manager at Cressfield Stud and Sean Keogh a senior foreman at Godolphin’s Flemington training base, were nominated by colleagues who look to them as inspirations.

The finalists in the Horsemanship category (sponsored by Inglis) are Adam Shankly, a man who “stands out in a team of exceptional horsemen” and Emile Fredericks, the assistant yearling manager at Widden Stud where his calmness and confidence have made him one of the farm’s greatest assets.

For the racing and breeding industries to function efficiently, the office is as important as the racetrack or the paddock, and for those who organise, administer, answer phones, keep the books in order and just about everything else, there is the Administration and Ancillary Award (sponsored by the MRC Foundation).

The finalists in 2022 are Jess Hood from Arrowfield Stud and Emma Cully from the prominent syndicator, Star Thoroughbreds.

Hood has been on the Arrowfield team for 21 years during which time her nominator Paul Messara says: “Jess has had a positive impact on every part of the business.”

A similar accolade was bestowed on Cully by Star’s founder and leader Denise Martin who regards her as “a revelation who is vital to all aspects of our business”.

One of the aims in introducing the Newcomer Award (sponsored by Thoroughbred Industry Careers and Marcus Oldham College) was to provide incentive for those near the beginning of their working life, and in the latest finalists, that ambition lives with Matilda Jones from the Waterhouse Bott racing stable and Sacha Roberts, a recent addition to the team of Mick Kent Racing in Victoria.

An overall Thoroughbred Excellence Award (sponsored by Godolphin) provides an additional prize of $5,000 to a winner from the above categories (excluding the Care and Welfare and Newcomer awards) judged to have made a “significant, exceptional contribution” to the industry.

The winners in each category, except Newcomer, will receive a trophy and cash prize of $10,000 with $1,000 to their employer to share among staff. The Newcomer winner receives $5,000 and an educational racing experience in Dubai.

The winners will be announced at the Stud and Stable Staff Awards presentation ceremony at the Gold Coast Turf Club on Wednesday, 25 May.