Generation Next: Arvin Chadee

Cover image courtesy of Darley

Like many of our previous Generation Next talents, Chadee doesn’t come from a racing family, however, he would fall in love with the sport of kings as an 8-year-old when on course with his father to witness Galileo (Ire) salute in the 2001 G1 Epsom Derby.

While Chadee’s father ignited his son's passion for racing, he never envisaged that it would prove the catalyst for a drastic and seemingly sudden change in career trajectory.

“My parents are quite strict on education, so they wanted me to follow the trajectory of finishing high school, get your degree and then get a job,” Chadee told TDN AusNZ.

“But I remember in my second year of university when studying sediment erosion; I was in a river in Wales collecting pebbles during December thinking that ‘this is terrible, I absolutely hate this’, so I made the decision to drop out.”

Chadee, who at the time was ‘clueless’, with no idea what he wanted in life, opted to take a gap year.

On return, the then 20-year-old, realised he had only ever been truly passionate about two things in life - Liverpool FC and horse racing - and after quickly acknowledging he was ‘too old, slow and not good enough’, to play centre forward for The Reds it was clear as to which direction he was headed.

“So, I googled ‘how do you get into horse racing’, which led me to the BHA’s careers in racing website, and it was honestly a life-changing website, it was brilliant for me,” Chadee said.

“I then went down to the National Horse Racing College in Doncaster, had a look around and got to touch a horse for the first time, which led me to enrol in the 12 week foundation course that taught me all the basics from mucking out to putting on a head collar.”

The start of something new

It wasn’t until eight weeks into the course that Chadee’s parents became aware he had made the decision to pursue a career in racing, with his mother recognising him when stumbling across photos of foundation course participants on social media.

And while it was a tough phone call to answer he knew he had pulled the right rein.

“When they first gave me a head collar I didn’t even know which way around it was, and while it was hard to begin with in some ways it was better because I didn’t have any other discipline behind me,” Chadee said.

“Everything they taught me is what I knew, so I wasn’t clouded by holding the reins in a different way because I was a blank canvas and as soon as I sat on a thoroughbred's back I knew it was what I was always destined to do.”

After completing the 12-week course, which consisted of many ‘thrills and spills’ while learning to ride, Chadee would go on to work for a summer as North Yorkshire-based trainer Karl Burke’s racing secretary.

Despite ‘loving’ his time with Burke, Chadee’s newfound passion for riding led to him departing for Michael Appleby’s yard, where he would ride out daily for the next 18 months.

“I loved that role at Karl’s (Burke), as before anything I'm a racing fan, and seeing how he would place his horses was really fascinating to me,” Chadee said.

“At the time riding was my main ambition, so I probably didn’t appreciate my role at Karl Burke’s as much as I should’ve because I was so blinded by wanting just to ride.”

The next step

While looking to take ‘that next step’ Chadee became aware of the British Horseracing Associations development program along with the Godolphin Flying Start.

With both courses requiring tertiary eduction he would move back to London and complete a business management degree while working for trainer Dean Ivory during that four-year period.

In his final year of studies Chadee applied for both the BHA development program and the Flying Start - he was accepted onto both but opted to take up the latter.

"My experience had been predominately riding out for trainers over the space of six years, but the advantage of the Flying Start is that no matter what industry background you come from you’ll see where your CV has shortcomings,” Chadee said.

“So, in the group of 12 trainees it’s probably better to have people from a diverse background, as we could share knowledge between each other.”

Chadee, a member of the 2019-2021 Flying Start class, began his two-year tenure in Ireland, and during this period he would ride out for Johnny Murtagh before gaining an ‘eye-opening’ insight into the breeding industry at the National Stud.

This was followed by an ‘amazing’ experience on home soil when riding out at Newmarket and attending the Tattersalls sales before jetting off to America.

“Kentucky was one of the phases I was most looking forward to, and during that period I met one of my biggest influences in Gerry Duffy at Godolphin’s Stonerside Farm, he is an amazing man and was a brilliant teacher,” Chadee said.

“He understood young people wanting to learn, and he always passed a lot of information on and spent the time to teach us all new things.”

The Australian phase of Flying Start saw Chadee assigned to Vicky Leonard’s marketing company Kick Collective.

While working for Kick Collective he also took it upon himself to ride work for Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.

“That was probably the best externship I did, Vicky (Leonard) has an amazing mind and one of the most intelligent people I have met,” Chadee said.

“Her business acumen and what she does in terms of promoting our sport and the animal is quite extraordinary along with some of her other projects such as the transparent Kick sales platform.

“And being able to be a part of that was just incredible, it was a very rewarding experience and I felt like I learnt a lot from working with her and her great team.”

Darley dawns

In January this year Chadee joined Darley’s nominations team. His fascination for pedigrees stems back to before he began working in the industry, as he would always pay attention to the breeding of each horse while betting on them.

“I understood our (Darely's) stallion roster really well even before I got the job because I had spent time with Vicky (Leonard) helping to do the marketing campaigns," Chadee said.

“And with the shuttlers I understand their race form and pedigree because I’ve spent most of my life working in and watching British racing.”

The presence of exciting young shuttle stallions such as Blue Point (Ire), Pinatubo (Ire), Palace Pier (GB) and Ghaiyyath (Ire) is what excites Chadee the most about his role at Darley.

“My motivation is to help educate the Australian market about the value of shuttle stallions, I enjoy the challenge of helping people understand what they can do to help enhance their mare and broodmare bands,” Chadee said.

“We know there’s a huge tendency to support colonial speed, but the Australian thoroughbred industry has been built off the back off a shuttler called Danehill and amazing horses like More Than Ready and Street Cry.”

The next generation

On reflection, Chadee is delighted that the decision to follow his heart worked out for the best, saying it's imperative to take risks if you feel strongly enough about something.

“You’ve got to be brave, you’ve got to take risks and I’m very glad I did it even in spite of all the doubt and naysayers,” Chadee said.

“I fell in love with our industry because of the horse, but I’ve stayed in the industry because of the people I have met.”

The way in which racing educates and showcases the career opportunities that are available within the industry is paramount to its prosperity, according to Chadee.

“It is about educating parents and the general public to show that there is an abundance of opportunities, whether that be in a stud, a stable or within an administrative body,” Chadee said.

“As when I first got into the industry as a naïve 21-year-old, I genuinely thought there was two jobs, and that was to be a jockey or a trainer, which I can’t believe I am saying out loud.”