Mitch Beer
TDN AusNZ: Where are you from and what is your earliest racing memory?
Mitch Beer: I grew up in Geelong and Melbourne, Dad was a trainer when I was a kid so I remember trying to get out of stable work from a very early age.
Albury trainer Mitch Beer
TDN AusNZ: Which is your favourite racehorse of all time? Why?
MB: So You Think (NZ), I was working as a stable hand at Flemington and would spend all morning looking out for him, I was too young to see the glory days of Bart Cummings and I guess So You Think was like one of Bart’s that I had only heard stories about.
TDN AusNZ: Do you have a favourite day on a racecourse? Why?
MB: I live for a country cup carnival, the Melbourne spring is always a special time but nothing can top seeing a whole country town shut down and go to the races, for me that’s what racing is about.
TDN AusNZ: Could you tell us how you got into this industry, about your job now and what you love most about it?
MB: I didn’t have much of a choice, to be honest, Dad trained and rode although I was never really too interested until I was about 16. I didn’t ever really think I would be a trainer, and I certainly wasn’t going to be a jockey!
Training is a real roller coaster but being able to share a day with people that they will never forget is a pretty awesome job, sometimes it's easy to take that for granted but you drive away from a country meeting having won a low-grade maiden with a horse that someone has bred and they’ve just watched win, it’s a day they never forget and we are lucky to be a part of it.
Mitch Beer with Logan River
TDN AusNZ: Who do you believe to be a value sire for the upcoming breeding season? Why?
MB: I am a massive Ocean Park (NZ) fan, he has had a huge last 12 months here in Australia and at $20,000 (plus GST) represents plenty of value, they sell well commercially and also have a solid appeal to the Asian market, while still being an affordable option for owner/breeders.
TDN AusNZ: Is there a stallion that you consider to be under the radar?, and why?
MB: Smart Missile and Starspangledbanner are two stallions I would just love to have a barn full of, they don’t stop throwing winners and are the type of stallions that for a country stable give us a good chance of having a city class horse without having to spend an absolute fortune at the sales.
TDN AusNZ: Which stallion, ever, do you think was the best type?
MB: I was lucky enough to see Zabeel (NZ) a few years before he passed, and even in his ripe old age he was just something to be admired.
The late Zabeel (NZ)
TDN AusNZ: Which first-season sire do you believe is most exciting?
MB: I purchased a breeding right in Strasbourg, he is a mirror image of his old man, I thought he was terrific value, with the support of Rosemont and China Horse Club he is a massive chance in Victoria.
TDN AusNZ: What was your favourite weanling, yearling or mare purchase this year?
MB: The Extreme Choice x Camena colt I purchased at the Inglis Melbourne Premier Sale this year for $100,000.
He hasn’t stopped impressing me since he arrived, I have quite high hopes for him early next year.
Watch: The Extreme Choice x Camena colt Mitch purchased from the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale
TDN AusNZ: Who do you think is a rising star within the industry? (Person not horse).
MB: Matt Dunn, I admire his transition from the country to now be a Sydney metropolitan trainer, it won’t be long until he is a leading one.
TDN AusNZ: What positive change would you like to see in the industry?
MB: I would love to see some kind of apprenticeship for training, it’s a long road from starting as a stable hand to becoming a trainer and a lot of good young kids are lost along the way.
TDN AusNZ: If you weren’t in this industry what would you do?
MB: I'm not sure what I would do work-wise, but hopefully something to make enough to own a few horses so I could call my trainers every day and give them a hard time!
