In today's instalment of 2021/2022 Rapid Reflections, we feature a quickfire round with Newgate Farm's Managing Director, Henry Field.
TDN AusNZ: Favourite racing moment of 2021?
Henry Field: It would be a dead heat between winning the Golden Slipper with Stay Inside and winning the Golden Rose with In The Congo. All in all it’s been a phenomenal year for the CHC red and yellow colours. We have shared some great times and developed some great memories with our colt syndicate partners.
TDN AusNZ: Whose progeny have impressed you so far on your Magic Millions inspections?
HF: I think Russian Revolution has a really strong line of yearlings headed towards the Magic Millions. Interestingly, I think it’s probably a better crop than he had last year. He has kicked off his stud career really well and we are bullish about his future.
TDN AusNZ: If you could be someone else in the industry for a day who would it be, and why?
HF: Arthur Hancock of Stone Farm in Kentucky, he is one of the greatest breeders and raisers of racehorses North America has ever seen. Tom Ryan and I were lucky enough to spend a day with him a number of years ago at his farm, it was a light-bulb moment for me and has totally shaped our methodology as to how we raise our horses at Newgate.
When most other stud farms in the US started hot-housing their yearlings by overfeeding, overcorrecting and overpreparing them, (like has been the trend all over the world), Arthur stuck to raising his horse’s organically and naturally and as such consistently outperforms most others on the racetrack. So I would be him for a day so I could tap into more of his knowledge.
TDN AusNZ: Who is your favourite racehorse of this year?
HF: I loved seeing Verry Elleegant win the Melbourne Cup. One of the first horses that made me fall in love with our sport was Let’s Elope. Verry Elleegant reminds me so much of her. She is the kind of horse that reminds us all why we love horse racing.
TDN AusNZ: Who is your favourite stallion, and why?
HF: Snitzel has been very good to our partners over the last few years. Having purchased Group 1-winning colts Russian Revolution, Invader, Wild Ruler and In The Congo by him as yearlings, he is a stallion that we are very fond of!
Snitzel | Standing at Arrowfield Stud
TDN AusNZ: Which stallion do you believe is the best physical type?
HF: I think the best-looking stallion or stallion prospect we have ever had anything to do with is Captivant. He really is quite an impeccable horse physically. I remember looking at him literally every day in Senga Bissett’s draft at the Magic Millions Yearling Sale in 2020 almost worrying that he was too pretty. Fortunately we bought him and he has proven a great investment for our partners!
TDN AusNZ: What was your best purchase in 2021?
HF: We purchased multiple Group 1 winning mare Nettoyer for 900K. She’s got a great pedigree and has let down into a stunning broodmare. From a global perspective, she’s probably the most undervalued elite racemare sold anywhere in the world in 2021. We have subsequently put her in foal to Capitalist.
TDN AusNZ: Name an emerging human talent in the industry, and say why?
HF: I’m not sure if you could call Jim Carey emerging, but my goodness he is some operator. We also have a young man on our team at Newgate called Adam Daly who is one of the most talented and hardworking young people I’ve ever come across.
Henry Field
TDN AusNZ: What kept you occupied during this year's lockdowns, aside from work?
HF: Thankfully this year's lockdowns didn’t affect us too badly and it has been business as usual. We have been incredibly fortunate that racing has continued all the way through this pandemic. As an industry we probably under appreciate the job that our administrators have done getting us through these tough times.
TDN AusNZ: What positive change would you like to see in the industry in 2022?
HF: Sydney needs to be able to accommodate elite trainers wherever possible, particularly with stabling. I’m not entirely sure how much consideration a guy like Jamie Richards gave to coming to Sydney over Hong Kong, however it was a massively missed opportunity not being able to recruit a young Champion trainer like him to our shores.
