Generation Next: Alison Brassil

Cover image courtesy of Bronwen Healy

While the Irish born and raised Brassil grew up around horses she didn’t come from a flat-racing family, with her veterinarian father involved in point-to-pointers.

Despite her passion for showjumping and eventing, it wasn’t until 2006 that Brassil’s love for racing was solidified, after her father’s cousin Martin Brassil trained Numbersixvalverde (Ire) (Broken Hearted {GB}) to English Grand National and Irish Grand National glory in the same season.

And while this paved the way for Brassil to start following flat racing, she never envisioned making a career out of the sport.

That was until the then 17-year-old, who was hoping to follow in her father’s footsteps, found out about the Godolphin Flying Start during the first year of her equine science studies at the University of Limerick.

“In school I never really imagined that I could have a career in racing because outside of my experience with my cousin's training, I couldn’t really see a pathway to it,” Brassil told TDN AusNZ.

“I then began learning about more opportunities within racing but I still didn’t really see how I could get there, until I found out about the Godolphin Flying Start, which I thought was only a dream to get on something like that at the time.”

Coolmore calls

Brassil’s second-year university placement at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud opened her eyes to the breeding industry and ultimately changed the trajectory of her career.

During her time in Kentucky she would mix with a host of Flying Start trainees, which reaffirmed her desire to one day get onto the course.

“I was at Coolmore for a whole breeding season, a yearling prep and a sales season and it was there that I really became aware of all the different opportunities within the industry,” Brassil said.

“I then became obsessed, I was a bit like a sponge trying to soak up everything that I could. Any bit of information I could get my hands on about pedigrees, breeding and the stallions.

“That was a turning point for me where I decided that I wanted a career in the racing industry and to not pursue the veterinary route.”

Brassil described the Coolmore placement as an incredible experience, saying it was a steep learning curve being thrown in the deep end due to a shortage of staff at the time.

She said everything was done to the highest of standards and being around such elite stock and astute operators inspired her to increase her knowledge and understanding of the breeding industry.

“I had the responsibility of overseeing a barn and was lucky enough to learn off Dermot Ryan and Brian Tormey, who were both very good teachers,” Brassil said.

“Dermot was always challenging me to learn, he would always quiz you on the breeding of the horses that you were working with everyday.

“He always expected you to have a deeper understanding of what you were doing and that was greatly beneficial to me at the time and he does it to every young person that comes through.”

Building her resume

On returning to Ireland, Brassil worked for various vendors and consignors in an attempt to improve her resume and skillset.

During this period she would complete her studies while working for top breeder Paul McCartan on the weekends and in university holidays.

She gained a wealth of pedigree and conformation knowledge from McCartan, who only the year prior had produced sprinting stars Harry Angel (Ire) and Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) from the same crop.

“Paul (McCartan) was incredible to work for, I learned so much off him as he is a very astute horseman and a very good breeder,” Brassil said.

“I started working for him as his farm was in close proximity to where I lived, but it turned out that he had one of the biggest influences on my career.”

Despite graduating with a BSc in Equine Science Brassil felt as though she needed more industry experience before applying for the Flying Start, and in turn would complete an internship with Horse Racing Ireland before joining Shadwell as a nominations and marketing assistant.

Gallery: Some of the sprinting stars Paul McCartan has produced

“I spent almost a year at Shadwell and while I was so green, I was really keen on pedigrees and interested in the stallion side of things, which I wanted to learn more about,” Brassil said.

“It was a wonderful learning opportunity and while I was green at the same time, I also got thrown in the deep end and learnt a lot from the likes of Richard Lancaster and Angus Gold.”

Up and Flying

In 2017, at the age of 22, Brassil managed to achieve her goal of getting onto the ‘life-changing’ Godolphin Flying Start program.

During the two-year course Brassil did sales with Angus Gold, Mick Flanagan and Peter Bradley before completing her American placement with Becky Thomas of Sequel Thoroughbreds and the Irish leg with bloodstock agent Michael Donohoe of BBA Ireland.

However, it was her time with Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott that inspired her move to Australia after the course.

“I did my Australian placement with Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott; I did the Magic Millions yearling inspections in the Hunter Valley and spent the rest of my time at Randwick,” Brassil said.

“I learnt so much from Gai and Adrian and that just cemented me wanting to work in Australia after the program. I just fell in love with Australian racing while working for them as it is so vibrant and, in many ways, ahead of the game and I wanted to be a part of that.”

Arrowfield answers

Brassil’s newfound love for Australian racing and the local industry saw her seek out a role at Arrowfield Stud, which she was afforded after writing a letter to Jon Freyer during the latter stages of the Flying Start.

She was ‘lucky enough’ that Arrowfield had an opportunity to join the team in a nominations and sales position ahead of the 2019 breeding season.

“I wanted to work for Arrowfield in the beginning because I wanted to work for the best, the quality of their bloodstock, stallions and broodmare band is second to none and John Messara has had one of the greatest impacts on the thoroughbred industry in Australia.”

Brassil has loved ‘every minute’ of her time working under Jon Freyer and Sally Gordon at the John Messara-owned operation.

She is always striving to be the best and is motivated by maintaining the standard of excellence that has seen Arrowfield rise to the forefront of the breeding industry.

“I’ve loved every minute of working at Arrowfield, while it’s a big operation it’s very much a family operation and the Messara family treat you like one of their own,” Brassil said.

“Even though other people have been very influential at different stages of my career, John, Paul and the team I work closely with at Arrowfield have without a doubt had the greatest impact on me.

“He (John) never stops thinking about how to improve, how to keep moving forward and his passion and enthusiasm is unrelenting.”

Magical Maurice

My chat with Brassil wouldn’t be complete without touching on the outstanding stallions standing at Arrowfield Stud, particularly rising star Maurice (Jpn).

The Champion miler currently sits atop the second-season sires’ standings by earnings, having sired three-time Group 1 winner Hitotsu and G1 Doomben 10,000 hero Mazu.

“Maurice’s results have been outstanding considering he started off covering relatively small books of mares in comparison to his competitors,” Brassil said.

“It is incredible what he is achieving, to sire a Derby winner and a solid Everest contender from his first crop shows the versatility he has and sets him on the path to being a Champion stallion.

Brassil and the entire Arrowfield operation couldn’t be happier with how The Autumn Sun’s first crop of yearlings were received at this year’s sales.

She said the feedback they’ve had from trainers and breakers has been overwhelmingly positive.

“They’ve got great temperaments and are doing everything right, above all they have quality about them and we’re thrilled by the amount of positive feedback we are hearing,” Brassil said.

“He’s got probably the best chance of anything that has retired to Arrowfield in a long time off the back of the mares that he received and the quality of the stock he has produced with them.

“So, I think that we’re in for an exciting couple of years.”

The next generation

The advice Brassil has for the next generation of participants hoping to leave their mark on the breeding and racing industry is to make the most of the opportunities currently before them as luck will follow.

She said it is important to try and surround yourself with successful people who share similar interests and values.

“Try and surrounded yourself with the best company and successful people, learn from them, watch what they do, ask as many questions as you can and ask why things are done a certain way,” Brassil said.

“Work hard at the current opportunity you have and try to get as much experience in different areas of the racing industry that you can, so that you are multifaceted.”

While Brassil acknowledges the staffing crisis as a major issue she believes retaining and supporting current participants is equally as important.

She said educating those starting out in breeding and racing about the opportunities for career progression will ensure they aren’t lost to the game.

“We’ve got to really pay attention to the staff that we do have, they work long hours, at times it can be an unforgiving industry with the hours and people don’t do it unless they have the love of the horse,” Brassil said.

"So, we need to look after them and educate them by giving them the opportunities to progress as the most important thing is education and I think we all need to do a better job in that aspect.”