Lees delighted with Smash as Read Tomorrow's Issue For: Brave showing Steve Moran is anticipated What's On at Meydan Race meetings: Muswellbrook (NSW), Sapphire Coast (NSW), Warrnambool (VIC), Cranbourne (VIC), Ipswich (QLD), Te Racing News | Page 13 Awamutu (NZ) Friday, March 29, 2019 Barrier trials / Jump outs: Randwick (NSW), Flemington (VIC) International meetings: Kranji (SGP), ‘I very much want to Macau (MAC) make my own mark on the game’ Big-time looms for free-thinking Michael Kent as he joins forces with Mick Price Stud News Australian Guineas winner Grunt becomes Yulong Farm’s foundation stallion Grunt SPORTPIX Dual-Group 1 winner Grunt (O’Reilly) will spearhead Yulong Investments’ move into Michael Kent GETTY IMAGES the stallion market in 2019, standing at the expanding operation, embodies all of operation’s newly-acquired Yulong Farm in By Chris Humpleby those qualities. He also speaks eloquently Nagambie, Victoria, for a fee of $13,750 (inc GST). umbling reporters are undoubtedly and intelligently, making observations – Trained by Mick Price to win five of his overcome by a beguiling sense of particularly regarding bloodstock – that 12 starts, Grunt was officially retired to stud calm when an interviewee answers subsequently require pause for thought, his yesterday having accumulated a brace of elite- their phone on the second ring, comments carrying a ‘that makes sense’ level victories and $1,382,450 in prize-money Baddresses you by name, and sounds bright and overtone, which is no mean feat. during a stellar career on the track. alert, even though your time of calling is still Kent’s outlook should not come as a “It is tremendously exciting for Yulong’s technically the middle of the night to anyone surprise. The son of Cranbourne-based trainer stallion division to be launched with a dual- other than those souls fortunate enough to Mick Kent, whom for the past eight years he has Group 1 miler the quality of Grunt,” said Sam work in horse racing. worked alongside at various stages as well as Fairgray, COO of Yulong Investments. Michael Kent, the 28-year-old newly- juggling a range of bloodstock commitments, “Many of the best stallions throughout recruited co-trainer, who was recently Kent has cut his teeth with internationally- history have excelled at a mile and we headhunted by Mick Price to bring both recognised figures from both the bloodstock believe Grunt has the profile for success at training and bloodstock expertise to his and training spheres. Continued on page 2>> stud. Stud News page 12 | 1 | Brought to you by Kent ready to rise to fresh challenge << Continued from page 1 Agents Dermot Farrington and Phill Cataldo fall into the former bracket, while a year spent observing Newmarket-based supremo William Haggas as pupil assistant was followed by a whistle-stop ‘stable-hop’ across Britain, Ireland and France, fortnightly spells with Roger Charlton, Richard Hannon, Gordon Elliott and Willie Mullins preceding a month with Mikel Delzangles in Chantilly. Unsurprisingly, Kent admits he ‘all the while took notes’ during his time aboard – ‘and I’ve still got those notes today’. However, in the same way attractive pedigrees and top-tier preparations are not guaranteed to produce a racehorse of significant merit, hailing from a background steeped in racing is by no means a direct precursor to a successful career in an industry that can be as fickle as it is rewarding. Of course, being the son of a trainer incurs natural privileges for those seeking to follow a similar path, not least the instant access to knowledge, information and individuals that those born beyond the realms of the sport will find it harder, or perhaps impossible, to acquire, but with that mantle comes expectations - be them real or imagined - about what that individual ought to achieve, and breaking the shackles of a preconceived identity is in many respects an unenviable task. Equally, there is perhaps a temptation for those born into such circumstances to rest on their laurels – to assume that success will be forthcoming, rather than earned – and to ride the crest of a wave that is fundamentally not theirs to surf. This, however, is certainly not true for Kent. “Mick Price is an amazing trainer. He’s managed to be in the top five trainers in Victoria in the last 15 years and he definitely will be my mentor. I’m not a partner in his business, I’m a partner in the training side of things, and I’ll be learning as I go along,” Kent says during his drive to work, one which ensures he arrives thirty minutes before pull-out time so he can ride two lots before the white-heat of the morning exercise regime begins, asking those pertinent questions – ‘is it sore?’; ‘is it happy?’; ‘is it moving well? – before providing invaluable feedback to Price as well as his new colleagues. Explaining how the venture came about, Kent continues: “I have never worked for Mick before, but I’ve been managing the bloodstock of Phoenix Thoroughbreds in Australia over the last ten months and in doing so I’ve had a relationship with him. “He sat me down at the Classic Sale, said he’d been watching me and that I was the right person for the job. I was surprised, but it was an amazing offer, and I think it’s the right way to venture into training for somebody my age – Mick has already got a system in place with a great team of staff and it’s far different from having to build-up your own training stable from scratch.” Kent speaks candidly about his experience with Phoenix, highlighting the benefits of being involved with a burgeoning operation not only from the perspective of absorbing knowledge from some of the most-respected figures in bloodstock – he accompanied Farrington to Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale when he purchased Saturday’s Ranvet Stakes (registered as the Rawson Stakes) (Gr 1, 2000m) runner-up He’s Eminent (Frankel) for 150,000gns as a yearling in 2015 – but also from the perspective of working with trainers, and understanding the expectations of blue-chip clientele from a communication point of view. Continued on page 4>> | 2 | Brought to you by MERCHANT NAVY FASTNET ROCK X LEGALLY BAY THE AUTUMN SUN REDOUTE’S CHOICE X AZMIYNA TRAPEZE ARTIST SNITZEL X TREPPES AUSTRALIA’S RUSSIAN REVOLUTION SNITZEL X BALLET D’AMOUR MOST VALUABLE STALLION PROSPECTS ALL GRADUATES OF INGLIS EASTER. THE BEST OF THE BEST. 9 & 10 April Riverside Stables, Sydney Easter Catalogue available now inglis.com.au Kent ready to rise to fresh challenge | 4 | Friday, March 29, 2019 << Continued from page 2 “It’s been an eye-opening experience “I also love a horse with good dealing with the elite breeding farms in Australia as well as dealing with length and a short back. Look at a lot of Australia’s best trainers daily,” he continues. “Now I am venturing Snitzel – he’s got a lot of length into training myself, I think it is really crucial to understand that from an for a small horse, but he’s got a owner’s perspective and what owners expect from their trainers. really short back. If they are long “It was a good lesson for me – to understand the best way of dealing with a short back, that tells you with owners who want results and, say, what to do if a horse is not good they’ve got a really long shoulder enough. You quickly learn what is a good approach.” and a really long hip, which gives Kent’s depth of bloodstock knowledge and experience was one factor them that stride length and that which brought him to the attention of Price and sourcing yearlings will good power from behind.” be an intrinsic feature of his new role, one which Kent is set to begin Regarding the assessment of immediately at the upcoming Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale. a yearling’s walk, he continues: “Sourcing the right yearling is half of the battle,” he says. “As any “A good walk sells, but I don’t Mick Price SPORTPIX trainer will tell you, it’s far easier to train a V8 than it is a Mini. You want to think that has a direct correlation find those elite athletes and once you’ve got those in your stable, it makes with a good galloping action. We all love a good walk, but what is a good life a lot easier.” walk? When asked which qualities he primarily looks for in a yearling, Kent “You’re looking for overall balance, proportionality and athleticism. replies with his customary forethought. But as every agent will tell you, it’s a game of chance and we’re just trying “I spend a lot of time thinking about this. I love going to Group 1 races to minimise the risk and increase the odds of buying a good one. You’re and seeing what the best horses have in common,” he says. looking for athletes that look fast – you just want fast horses.” “Most horses are different shapes, so to speak, but I try to work out Kent’s eye for a yearling is matched by a broader understanding of the what similarities the best horses share. For instance, you don’t see good market as a whole, particularly in a culture of syndication whereby trainers horses with short necks or a short length of rein. The best ones all have a are buying on spec, without an order, and the potential to be left with a hefty large girth and shoulder area and a big chest cavity.