Mark Ford ready for fresh start at Widden Victoria

Cover image courtesy of Widden Stud

On Wednesday, Widden Stud announced that Mark Ford would take the reins at Widden Victoria as the new stud manager, overseeing the nine-strong Victorian stallion roster at Riddells Creek. Originally from Zimbabwe, Ford brings over 30 years of experience across the thoroughbred industry to the table, and is ready for an exciting season ahead.

An upbringing around horses

Ford has always been involved with horses, but as a young man, the spark was ignited with Anglo Arabs at his family’s cattle ranch in Zimbabwe, before he attended the University of Cape Town to obtain a Diploma in Veterinary Science. The degree seemed the logical next step to getting a foot in the door with the thoroughbred industry.

“When I finished school, I decided I wanted to get more into the horses, and thoroughbreds were the only place where there was a livelihood to be made,” Ford told The Thoroughbred Report. Pursuing veterinary studies allowed Ford to build a wide skillset he could practically apply to stud life; in South Africa and its surrounding counties, veterinary help could be far away.

“It gave me a great grounding in the breeding side of things, and it just gives you confidence, because any number of things can go wrong all the time, and unlike today where everything’s at the end of a phone call, you could be pretty much on your own (in many situations).”

After graduating, Ford undertook an year-long apprenticeship in stud management to round out his skill set, before being headhunted to run Bob White’s RB Ranchers, Zimbabwe’s second largest thoroughbred stud, for the following five years. The operation was a mirror image of Australia’s bigger studs, with 130 mares and three stallions at its peak.

“We used to produce 60 yearlings off of the property every year,” Ford said. “They had a lot of international success, racing in Dubai and South Africa.”

In 2001, Ford’s interest was drawn to training; the Zimbabwean government seized a lot of properties back, and Ford became an assistant trainer for trainers Neil Bruss and Lisa Harris.

“They were probably the biggest racing stable at the time,” Ford said. Ford spent seven years under the wing of Bruss, seven-time Champion Zimbabwean Trainer whose career spanned four decades and across the globe from England to the Middle East. Bruss prepared Zebra Crossing (SAf) (Jallad {USA}) to win the G1 J&B Met among a litany of top flight victories, and trained the third and fourth placegetters, Paris Perfect (SAf) (Muhtafal {GB}) and Muller (Arg) (El Compinche {Arg}) in the 2009 G1 Dubai World Cup.

“That was good, because up until that point, I'd only been on the breeding side to be honest. I'd raised a few of my own, but I hadn't actually trained anything, and learning to train is a different aspect of it.

“It was good, because I got to experience both sides of the coin. You need to understand the racing in order to fine-tune the breeding. Ultimately, they are bred to race, so it gives you a good idea of what's expected. I found that quite interesting.”

Ford cultivated the beginnings of a training career in Zimbabwe with stakes-performed horses, and it stood him in good stead to take the leap to Australia in 2008.

The move to Australia

Ford arrived in Perth and took a couple of years away from horses, focusing on crop farming, before the draw of racing was too great. He returned to the industry and worked hard to acquire his West Australian trainers’ license in 2016, achieving his first black-type runner from his small team in 2021 with Rubick gelding Greatness Awaits. He also prepared pretrainers before accepting a role at Trevor Delroy’s Wyadup Valley Farm in Lancefield two years ago.

The breeder of Group 1-winning stayers Ethiopia (Helenus), who won the G1 Australian Derby, and Oaks victress Gondokoro (Zabeel {NZ}), Delroy acquired G1 Criterium International winner Johannes Vermeer (Ire) to stand at his Victorian property in 2023, and Ford was the perfect candidate for the operation. The son of Galileo (Ire) has 60 foals on the ground, with his eldest crop about to turn three.

When the role at Widden Victoria was advertised, it seemed the perfect opportunity for Ford to step back up into the world of commercial farms and make use of his extensive farming knowledge in combination with his skills as a horseman.

“They were looking for someone who didn't just have horse experience, but also knows all about farm management,” he said. “I think that was the appeal of my application. I just applied through the normal channels, and the rest is history. I’m really looking forward to it.”

The importance of pasture management and farm maintenance is at the forefront of Ford’s mind as he takes up the role.

“They say ‘no hoof, no horse’, but the farming element is really important too. ‘No farm, no horse’.

"There's a nice roster of stallions here and a good group of people. It'll be nice to get onto a big mainstream farm again. I'm really looking forward to that."

A horse for everyone

Widden Victoria’s majority young roster gives Ford lots of cause to feel excited about the season ahead, particularly the new addition of Southport Tycoon for 2025. Ford knew there was plenty to look forward to when he saw the son of Written Tycoon racing.

“He's a really nice horse,” he said. “And the nice thing about him is that he raced on. Not many of the Australian colts race till they are four, so that’s another feather in his cap.”

The dual Group 1 winner will stand his debut season for $38,500 (inc GST), after a standout season that saw him rated by Timeform as the best 4-year-old of his generation.

“It’s going to be a tough season for everything, so I think Widden have been very sensible with their pricing for him, and that will make a big difference.”

In addition to Southport Tycoon, the 2025 breeding season will herald the arrival of G1 JJ Atkins Plate winner King Colorado’s first foals; the son of Kingman (GB) covered 97 mares in his debut season and will stand his second season for $16,500 (inc GST). The combination of blue hen Fall Aspen’s (USA) (Pretense {USA}) lineage with Kingman gives breeders a lot to look forward to, Ford feels.

“He's an exciting horse,” Ford said. “It’s exciting to work with him. I think he will do very well, he’s very well bred with an international top class pedigree and is very reasonably priced. He’s very affordable.”

Doubtland, Dirty Work, and Russian Camelot (Ire) all had their first juveniles hit the track in this last race season, with a respectable nine winners between them from limited numbers on the track; Dirty Work’s Do I Feel Lucky has been a standout 2-year-old in Western Australian racing, winning the R. Listed Magic Millions Perth 2YO Classic for Sean and Jake Casey.

The best is yet to come for all three in the next racing season, where they will be joined by the first juveniles from Group 3-winning Bruckner, who ran second to Home Affairs in the G1 Coolmore Stud Stakes.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Ford said. “I think there’s a horse for everyone on the roster.”

The steady stream of bookings hasn’t worried him too much as the season draws closer.

“I think people are thinking about it (breeding) and not rushing into anything, and they're really going through these stallions. Ultimately, it can only be good for the industry. The drought has everyone a bit nervous, but I think once the season picks up, it will be fine. It’s just a glitch.”

To the breeder looking to expand Australia’s gene pool in the future, Ford would suggest more people look at adding more South African thoroughbreds to the breeding population.

“You have a lot of these deep, old pedigrees there that are untapped,” he said. “South African horses hold their own breeding-wise. The quality is there - In The Congo is out of a South African mare, and a good mare is a good mare, doesn’t matter where she is from. The South Africans use a lot of American stallions on good English mares, so you’re getting the best of the best blended together.”