How Sincero inspired a career for Vinery’s Roach

Vinery Stud's Sales and Nominations Harry Roach has forged a career in racing off the back of an $8000 yearling his mother had a share in.

Coming from a background without any horse experience, Roach fell in love with the sport after watching Sincero win two Group 1s, the Stradbroke H. and George Main S., for trainer Stephen Farley, and has since become one of the rising stars in the industry two years into his time at Vinery.

“I actually didn’t grow up with horses or have any horse experience but my mother and her partner had a 10 per cent share in a horse called Sincero,” Roach told TDN AusNZ. “He was an $8000 yearling and he went on to win two Group 1s and after that, I thought ‘geez, this is pretty enjoyable.’

“So at that point, I basically just fell in love with the sport."

Roach then toiled his craft, working at a number of different operations including Widden Stud and John Thompson Racing while completing his Bachelor degree, before making the move to Victoria and joining Shea Eden’s team.

“One of the owners was in that horse that I worked for as a labourer, and he turned out to be one of my biggest supporters, he was quite a prominent owner and it all sort of took off from there really,” Roach said.

“I worked at Widden Stud for a little while, just earning my stripes and getting as much hands-on experience as I could and then I spent a bit of time working in John Thompson’s stable while I was in university.

“I finished up my Bachelor of Business majoring in Sport Management degree and I moved down to Melbourne to do some bloodstock work for Shea Eden.

“I helped out selling yearlings and owner communications and that was a really good opportunity to cut my teeth and gain a bit of perspective in the stable side of things, as well an opportunity to sell bloodstock and yearlings and watch them progress into racehorses.

“After about 12 months down there I had the opportunity to meet with Peter (Orton) and Adam (White) from Vinery and I was fortunate enough to get a job there and now here we are.”

Your passion as your job

Roach said the thrill of winning Group 1s is what initially drew him to pursue a career in racing, as well as just a love of the horse.

“I probably didn’t have a full understanding of how special it actually was to win Group 1s, but I think being able to compete at the elite-level was something that appealed to me, and the prospect of being able to do that in such a new and exciting industry is something that piqued my interest,” he said.

“It probably wasn’t until I was halfway through university that I understood I could make a career of it, purely not knowing of the opportunities in the industry.

“I love the animal above all. I sort of fell in love with the animal and being able to have your passion as your job is something that is really important to me, so I guess that is what drew me most to it.”

As a Sales and Nominations Manager, Roach’s day-to-day job covers a wide range of things. From keeping track of the horses’ progress to helping set up matings, he is across multiple aspects of the business.

“Day to day, normally I try to be at the paddocks from around 8 o’clock onwards and just try to keep up to date with my progress notes on the foals and yearlings,” Roach said.

“And then leading up to the breeding season, I have plenty of contact with breeders just to try and get as many nominations as possible for the stallions and just make sure that breeders are making the right decisions, like ensuring that they’re breeding to the right horses and breeding the right type of horse.

“As well as obviously preparing for the Sale at this time of year and making sure we’ve got all of our information and preparation sorted, the selling and buying and assisting Adam and Peter as much as I can.

“Just having a feel throughout the business and keeping a close tab on our racing team as well.”

Two years into his time with Vinery, Roach has experienced More Than Ready’s (USA) final season in the Southern Hemisphere, Exceedance (Exceed And Excel) winning the stallion-making G1 Coolmore Stud S. and the stud securing dual Group 1 winner Ole Kirk (Written Tycoon), and he said he still has to pinch himself sometimes.

“Surreal would be the most obvious way of putting it, I still have to pinch myself sometimes when I’m in situations whether it be when I’m at the office or walking into the Vinery office, it’s still all very surreal for me,” Roach said.

“Being able to work as closely as I do with the people I do as well, as the horses I do, is something I definitely don’t take for granted. I certainly recognise the significance of all of that.

Taking nothing for granted

“In the first breeding season I had it was More Than Ready’s final season at stud in the Southern Hemisphere and then we had Exceedance win the Coolmore, and the following year we’ve secured Ole Kirk to stand here once he retires, so three rare occurrences that not many people will experience in their lifetime let alone in their first two years.

“I certainly still have to pinch myself sometimes walking into work and walking past All Too Hard in the stallion barn, so it’s certainly still a surreal experience but one that I am eternally grateful for and I'm loving every bit of.”

Looking ahead, Roach said he still doesn’t quite know where he wants to take his career in the future and is mostly just focussed on doing the best job he can at Vinery.

“To be honest, I’m probably still feeling my way through where I’d like to end up,” he said. “I certainly enjoy the human side of the job as well as the horse side.

“I still have a very big passion for racing as well so I’m not sure, maybe somewhere down the track I might be able to have a role back in the racing side of things but for now, I’m just trying to work on doing this job the best I can and to enjoy it.”

Adjusting to difficult circumstances

With the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale set to get underway on Tuesday, Roach said the Vinery team have done plenty of adjusting to the difficult circumstances presented over the last nine months.

“Obviously it’s been well-documented, the struggle of the past nine months,” Roach said. “But we’ve got through it really well which is probably a credit to everyone at the farm for thinking so dynamically and outside of the square.

“I think heading into this Sale, based on what the nine months have brought, we’ve certainly been on the front foot. We’ve been a lot more proactive with digital sharing of information, whether it be videos or as much information as we can on each lot.

“We gained a significant amount of on-farm inspections this year and comparing numbers of inspections on the complex from last year, they’re stacking up quite well as well.

“Taking all of that into account, we’ve got high hopes that our quality horses should sell accordingly.”

Vinery Stud will offer 21 yearlings over the course of the next week and Roach said he is looking forward to the quality crop of horses hitting the sales ring.

“The quality of the horses are certainly looking outstanding physically and that’s a credit to Denis (Griffin, yearling manager) and the yearling team,” he said. “We’ve got a really great cross-section of stallions and there’s something for everybody in there.

“I generally don’t like to narrow it down to one or two but there are three colts in there that stand out for me.”

Roach’s first standout is Lot 314, who is a colt by champion stallion Snitzel and is out of Fit And Ready (More Than Ready {USA}), the dam of two stakes winners, including G3 Festival S. winner Outrageous (All Too Hard), from three foals to race.

Roach also pointed out Lot 20, a colt by Written Tycoon out of Group 2-winning Bel Esprit mare Afleet Esprit, and Lot 577, who is by I Am Invincible and is out of a half-sister to Starspangledbanner.

“The Written Tycoon out of Afleet Esprit colt, he’s a strong and good-moving colt with plenty of scope and is bred on the same cross as Ole Kirk, out of a stakes-winning Bel Esprit mare,” Roach said. “And the I Am Invincible out of Mousai colt, he’s a first foal and is well-grown and imposing.”

The work is done for the farm and Roach said the Vinery team are ready for the selling to get underway.

“I think we’re certainly as prepared as we can be with an extra day of inspections,” he said. “Numbers have been fantastic and we’re ready for the Sale to kick-off now, get things underway and hopefully have a successful sale.”