Dean Harvey Interview
Sep 15 2009
Woodside Park Stud’s bloodstock manager Dean Harvey was recently interview for the thoroughbred trade magazine Track To Track. We reprint the article with their permission.
Fifteen minutes with Dean Harvey and you walk away safe in the knowledge that the sport of kings is in good hands.Young and dynamic, Dean embodies a generation charged with taking the thoroughbred industry forward in an era of fierce competition for the wagering dollar.Recently appointed as Bloodstock Manager for progressive Victorian nursery, Woodside Park, Dean, 35, has already put in the hard yards and is poised to leave an indelible mark.
Dean Harvey loves what he does. Lives it. Breathes it.
Dean, as with many of his peers, recognises the need for the thoroughbred industry to move forward : that merely remaining in a holding pattern will seriously diminish the sport’s grab for market share.
And looking after the ‘players’ would be a good start …
“From an owner and breeder perspective, prize money levels need to be increasing in line with costs,” Dean points out.
“The current issue over the proposed merger of the Sydney Turf Club and Australian Jockey Club is probably just the tip of the iceberg and the outcome of which will be monitored closely in other states.
“If the reduction on administrative costs leads to greater stakes then it’s undoubtedly a step in the right direction.
“In light of the economic climate we need now, more than ever, to ensure that the people who put on the show – owners and breeders – are adequately incited to remain in the game.
“These days it’s more difficult to entice people into racehorse ownership: years ago it was more of a ‘culture’ thing, but now there are far too many diversions.
“It’s hard enough to win a race – be it a Group One or modest country maiden – but without owners believing they will at least have some return on investment, we’ll continue to lose them in droves.”
Like many people who have pulled the racing rein, Dean was around horses from an early age: “My father had bred and raced a couple of horses and I did the whole pony club thing.”
But it wasn’t an all consuming passion and, in 1996, took his ‘show’ on the road: “I went back packing through Europe with a couple of mates … ran out of money pretty quickly!”
“As luck would have it, I landed a job polo grooming in North London with a guy called Andrew Reid … had a lot of fun. Andrew also ran around 10 thoroughbred mares, the offspring of which he sold at Newmarket.”
From a passing interest in matters thoroughbred, Dean stepped it up a gear and an Irishman called Eric Cantilon, who ran the Herringswell Manor Stud and prepared weanlings for Reid, offered the young Aussie a job.
“I was with Eric for around 18 months and covered all aspects of stud work, plus pre training and breaking in.
“Eric is the brother of Dermot Cantilon, who managed the bloodstock interests of the Smurfit family who raced 1993 Melbourne Cup winner Vintage Crop.
“That sort of experience gave me a good footing and when I returned to Australia, I worked with the yearlings at Coolmore and won the Australian Thoroughbred Scholorship at Marcus Oldham at Geelong.
“Horse management courses are wonderful precursors to industry careers and the 12 months I spent at Marcus Oldham provided me with great exposure to the major ‘players’ throughout the country.”
Upon completion of his course, Dean worked for a short while at a stud farm in Torquay before getting a gig with the Woodard family’s Yallambee Stud.
“It’s a tremendous learning curve at farms like Yallambee : you’re tried and tested on all aspects of farm life … foaling down, working with the stallions, yearling prep – you name it.”
Seeing an opening as a pedigree consultant for William Inglis & Son, Dean joined the team in Sydney and, as a consequence, is now grouped with a long list of industry luminaries such as Kieran Moore, Trevor Lobb, John Hutchinson, Glenn Burrows and Darryl Sherer, who ‘graduated’ from the Inglis machine.
“I was there (at Inglis) for nearly three years and thoroughly enjoyed the experience: during that time I worked with guys such as Vin Cox, who now operates a successful agency, Richard Haynes, now at TVN and New Zealand Bloodstock, Rick Connelly who heads up Patinack Farm, TVN Thoroughbreds co-anchor and head scribe for Breednet, Tara Madgwick.
“It was a really energetic young team : all imbued with a tremendous will to move forward. I met a lot of industry participants during my time at Inglis and made some invaluable contacts.”
Dean was transferred to Inglis’ Melbourne office, but the stay was short lived after a too-good-to-refuse-offer was floated from Ollie Tait who, at the time, was heading up the newly formed Darley Australia.
“Ollie called me out of the blue and asked me to pop in for an interview.
“It was quite funny really – when I got the call it was a stinking hot Saturday afternoon and I was out looking for an apartment : all I had on was a t-shirt, shorts and thongs.
“Ollie suggested we meet in the public bar at Flemington and, as fate would have it, this was the day Reset (who would subsequently stand at Darley’s Victorian farm) won the Australian Guineas.
“It was there he offered me the job to run Darley’s Victorian operation and I was stunned. A chance to work for one of the biggest studs in the world and I’m wearing a pair of thongs!”
“This was a great opportunity and the dream of a lifetime. I was at Darley for around four years, building up the new business in Victoria where it progressed from buying Northwood Park to standing four stallions.
“Darley is a terrific company to work for and I managed to see a fair bit of the world, often traveling to Europe, America and Japan.
“The pure scale of that company is mind boggling and the lengths that they go to get the job done is nothing short of amazing.”
Dean sees the “ever evolving globilisation of our industry” as probably the single greatest advance of a generation: “We have access, through shuttle stallions, to every major sire line in the world, thereby attracting buyers from around the world who now attend our sales and race horses in Australia.
“Conversely, we now have locally bred horses racing on the global stage. We’ve relished many successful overseas raids in the last 10 years throughout Europe, North America and all parts of Asia which all serves to focus the spotlight well and truly on Australia.
“The more horses like Scenic Blast, Takeover Target, Choisir, Miss Andretti, Silent Witness and company win overseas, the more people want to buy our horses.
“I truly believe the stigma of selling horses overseas to race in South East Asia or Europe is a thing of the past. These are not some backwaters with our Aussie breds slipping from the ether.
“With so much coverage of our racing these days – be it via TV or internet – our ‘brand’ is recognised in every racing country and the more they keep winning, the more owners and trainers from those nations will turn up at our sales.”
While at Darley, Dean was lured to Makybe as Bloodstock Manager: the opportunity to help mould another ‘start up’ providing the impetus to shift.
Although Dean’s time at Makybe would only be short – some 12 months – the group enjoyed considerable success in the ring, including the sale of a three quarter sister to Makybe Diva for $1.8 million.
Dean is currently Bloodstock Manager at Wadham Park at Tylden and, apart from myriad responsibilities (including the promotion of resident stallions Econsul and Grey Swallow), the young gun is buoyed to be working with a progressive minded, enthusiastic team at a state of the art property which was built from the ground up less than three years ago.
“My advice to young people starting out in the industry is to soak up as much information as possible, at whatever level you are starting at.
“This industry has some very colourful characters that seem to pop up out of the blue from which you can gain some very handy advice.
“I firmly believe that if you have the passion to succeed, there are plenty of opportunities : managing stud farms, training racehorses, working within a sales company.
“Make no mistake … this is a global industry and you must take every chance you are afforded to improve yourself.
“Oh, and one final thing … don’t be afraid to ask silly questions! It’s all a learning curve and the smart people never stop learning.”
