Cover image courtesy of Silverdale Farm
The Hunter Valley may be Australia’s Thoroughbred breeding hub in terms of production scale, but a region south of Sydney has been gradually cementing a reputation for turning out not just good horses, but good people too.
The Southern Highlands is home to studs such as Silverdale Farm, Rheinwood Pastoral, The Chase, and Milburn Creek, but perhaps more critically, it is also home to the innovations that are bringing more people into the industry.
A bit of Southern hospitality
Steve Grant, owner of Silverdale Farm, chose the Southern Highlands for the climate it provides; a higher rainfall than further north in the state and less extreme temperatures makes the ideal growing environment for horses.
“We believe that the horses do particularly well here,” Grant said. “A lot of people might say that the Southern Highlands gets too cold, but in Japan, the horses are walking out into deep snow, and it’s much colder in Kentucky and Ireland than it gets here.”
Autumn Glow | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Grant, previously a successful macadamia farmer in Australia and South Africa, began building his Thoroughbred empire in earnest 15 years ago, and he credits the region’s volcanic soil, undulating pasture, and mineral-rich springs - as well as the rain - for the success of horses born and grown out in the area.
“We have been lucky enough that our first crop turned out a Group 3 winner and in our second crop, we produced the Golden Slipper Stakes winner Fireburn.” - Steve Grant
“Milburn Creek has an exceptional record for turning out top horses, and we have been lucky enough that our first crop turned out a Group 3 winner and in our second crop, we produced the Golden Slipper Stakes winner Fireburn,” he said.
“Since then, we have had some great horses come off the farm - Eneeza, Kaizad, Autumn Glow were all raised on the Silverdale hills. We are just lucky that we can put so much work into these horses to ensure that they are given every chance to succeed.
“The first time I went to Coolmore in Ireland, it rained every day,” he said. “It might just be a sprinkle, it might be a storm, but every day I was over there, it was raining. I asked one of the Coolmore guys why they had cattle in with the horses, and he said, ‘we have to keep the grass down somehow’.
“That’s something that has always stuck with me. When I was growing macadamia trees, we used to say that the volcanic soil is so good, you could grow babies in it. That’s the same kind of soil that we've got down in Silverdale.”
“When I was growing macadamia trees, we used to say that the volcanic soil is so good, you could grow babies in it. That’s the same kind of soil that we've got down in Silverdale.” - Steve Grant
Brigid Kennedy, proprietor of boutique farm The Loch Equine, has been orchestrating the development of a regional association called Southern Highland Breeders to represent the interests of breeders in the area.
Steve Grant | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“We have a great record with our mare fertility down here, high above the national average, and the region produces wonderful sales results,” she said.
“Averages for the region at the recent Magic Millions sale exceeded the sale’s average by almost double as well. We have a wonderful community of studs and farms down here, and many could choose to move elsewhere, but this is where they enjoy being and this is where they are producing results.
“We have got to ask the question if there is enough demand here for our own association, and hopefully that is on the cards for this year.”
An economic stimulator
Kennedy is also the president of Southern Highlands Grow, part of the Moss Vale Chamber of Commerce, and has a deep understanding of what the Thoroughbred industry gives back to the region.
“We have produced a white paper on how horses in general underpin the local economy, and there are over 9000 horses in the region, including over 100 at any time at Bong Bong Farm,” she said. “That’s a lot of vets, bodyworkers, riders, studhands - a lot of jobs circulating around the horses just in this region.
“On the first level around the horse, there is around $100 million in the circular economy, and then out from that, there is $400-500 million in the economy that is spent on additional factors like landscaping and building. That’s a huge contribution to the economy in the region.”
“On the first level around the horse, there is around $100 million in the circular economy.” - Brigid Kennedy
Kennedy pointed out the region’s proximity to both Sydney and the Victorian border made it an appealing hub for racing, highlighting in particular the success of Ciaron Maher out of Bong Bong Farm.
Brigid Kennedy | Image courtesy of Southern Highlands Grow
“The Southern Highlands is only six hours from Euroa, for example, so it’s easy enough for Victorians to bolt up in the car and be here by lunchtime, and potentially go home the same day,” she said. “And for Ciaron Maher, it’s not far to bring his horses either from Sydney racing or from Victoria to recover, and he has had exceptional results.”
Happy staff, happy farm
Something that both Grant and Kennedy acknowledged was that the thoroughbred industry is still facing a staffing solution - but both recognised that there are plenty of strategies to turn that around, if farms and facilities are willing to implement them. Something that has been built into the structure of Silverdale is ensuring that the farm looks after their staff as well as they do the horses.
“For years, I have been building facilities for people and observing how they invest, and I have realised how important it is that your staff are happy and committed, and feel like they're part of a team,” said Grant.
“I want to make sure the facilities and social side of the job is the best it can be. A lot of people want to work in areas where there's lots of horses, and in the Southern Highlands, there's not as many horses per town as in the Hunter, but what you've got down here is a greater ability for the people to enjoy their time off.
“I have realised how important it is that your staff are happy and committed, and feel like they're part of a team.” - Steve Grant
“The beaches are only 45 minutes away from us. Our manager Rob (Petith)'s kids go to Nippers swimming on a Sunday, it’s a 45-minute drive and then they get home at lunchtime. If we have horses racing, we can feed up of a morning, be in the city for the early 2-year-old races, then be back in time for the afternoon.”
The proximity to amenities ensures staff don’t feel isolated or unable to socialise outside of their coworkers, with Grant pointing out that the farm was only 20 minutes away from major shopping centres.
Silverdale Team | Image courtesy of Silverdale Farm
“We have a couple working on the farm from Western Australia where their turnaround to their general store was three and a half hours, so their life has really changed coming here,” he said.
“We have a bus stop right outside our farm for the school kids. We're so proud of the fact that it is an old-fashioned farm as far as our philosophy of looking after people goes, but it's got a new spin on it.
“We're so proud of the fact that it is an old-fashioned farm as far as our philosophy of looking after people goes, but it's got a new spin on it.” - Steve Grant
“We have the facilities on-farm too - we have a tennis court, we are building a swimming pool for staff and a staff recreational area. I think it's very important to invest in, because if it was my kids that were working at someone's farm, I'd want them to have all those things. I want them to love what they do.
“It's a great industry to work in. You're out in the sunshine, in a beautiful area, you've got all these things to enjoy, and it's sort of incumbent on us as employers to have those facilities up to current standards.”
Education is the key
Retaining staff is one thing, but Grant is keen to be a driving force behind bringing more staff into the industry. Silverdale Academy offers internships in equine and horticulture, but it started much more simply, with bus tours of the farm.
“The investment in the next generation can’t be underestimated.” - Steve Grant
“The investment in the next generation can’t be underestimated,” Grant said. “We started with bus trips from local schools, we would bring them out here to Silverdale and show them all of the jobs that are available in the stud industry.
“Then we would take them to a race course and show them all the job opportunities available there. I think it's so important for the industry to be doing that, and we should be doing a lot more of it, so we get to tell our story first to these kids.”
Silverdale Academy Schools Equine Internship program | Image courtesy of Silverdale Farm
“The first bus tour we had, the government funded it and we expected 15 or 20 kids to come on a little mini bus. Well, it was a big bus with 35 kids on it. It was great to take them around, and then we had a sit-down lecture with them and we asked them if there were any questions? Eventually, two girls said they had heard that the industry was cruel to horses, so I asked them, ‘what did you learn today?’ And they said, ‘well, that’s not the case, you love the horses and you look after them very well’.
“And my point to the regulators and the clubs and the other stud farms is that we can all do that. We can all open up our farms and facilities to kids and show them what we do up front. It's so important that we tell our story first and that we show them what is available.”
“This is an area with a lot of kids who love horses,” said Kennedy. “You need to capitalise on that, so for Steve to run the Academy is brilliant. There have been over 250 kids go through the internships at Silverdale.”
Connecting the governing bodies and the Silverdale mission has been key to expanding the latter and offering nationwide accreditation for graduates.
“In my position in the Chamber of Commerce, I was able to liaise with TAFE for Silverdale, and also we could do the research to find that the top two farming pursuits in the Southern Highlands were horses and cattle,” said Kennedy. “We were then able to say to TAFE that this is an area that would benefit from these specific skillsets, and there has been a huge turnaround in investment since.”
Mitchell Beer | Image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
Mitchell Beer, who trains out of Kembla Grange with George Carpenter, shone a stark light on the difficulty with upskilling in the industry, which he credits as a key reason why young people do not last in the workforce.
“As an industry, we don't retain enough of our younger, good staff,” he said. “Getting a job as a stable hand and learning the ropes, going to the races and strapping is only the start. Once you conquer that, the gap between that and becoming an industry professional is so large, and the gap is so big that we lose people because we don't have pathways. There isn’t the appropriate people to walk them through that.
"There’s no apprenticeship. The gap between mucking out a box and celebrating your first winner, or to chairing your first meeting as a steward, is too large. For every 10 teenagers that leave school and get a job in the stables, you fast forward three or four years and there’s only one or two still in racing.”
“The gap between mucking out a box and celebrating your first winner, or to chairing your first meeting as a steward, is too large.” - Mitchell Beer
Beer was complimentary of the Silverdale Academy, and was quick to point out that the support for those programs needed to come from higher up if the industry hopes to bring the next generation on board with horse racing.
“It’s the closest and the best thing that’s happened in our area in quite a long time,” he said. “But it’s not industry-supported, and unless it’s industry-supported, it will struggle to exist.”
All that the Thoroughbred world can offer
Both Silverdale and Kennedy played large roles in the recent National Thoroughbred Week, with Kennedy pleased to report that all seven events in the Southern Highlands region - which included a live demonstration of the breaking in process at Thenford Farm - were sold out.
“We have 14 events already planned for the 2026 National Thoroughbred Week,” she said. “Given there were so many events all over the country, it was great to have that response in our area.”
“National Thoroughbred Week was the perfect opportunity to (promote our heritage), and to show that we have nothing to be ashamed of in our industry.” - Steve Grant
“We had a bus of kids from the Kings School come to the farm on the day, and when we were visited by the Melbourne Cup, we spent an hour and a half at the Kings School showing them the cup and talking about the race’s heritage,” Grant said.
“We have to do more of that, we have to promote our industry’s heritage. National Thoroughbred Week was the perfect opportunity to do that, and to show that we have nothing to be ashamed of in our industry.”
National Thoroughbred Week at Silverdale Farm | Image courtesy of Silverdale Farm
One thing that Grant keeps coming back to is just how many doors can be opened by knowing about horses, and how those jobs don’t necessarily have to be hands-on either. It has been an important part of the Silverdale Academy’s mission from the start to open the eyes of participants to the variety of roles available in the industry.
“Something I say to all the young people that come to do training with us is that once you understand the horse, you can get a job anywhere,” said Grant.
“Part of the advertising for our horticulture course is that you can have a go with the horses and get more involved if you are interested, but if not, at least you have the understanding of the horses.
“Something I say to all the young people that come to us is that once you understand the horse, you can get a job anywhere.” - Steve Gant
“When I built the first pavilion at Rosehill Gardens, for instance, that was one of the first times I was working on a racecourse where horses were being worked. We had the likes of racecourse manager Lindsay Murphy and John Hawkes working closely with us, so we were mindful of how the horses would react to everything we were doing.”
Grant shared that there are graduates of Silverdale's programs working at the Australian Turf Club in administration and in foreperson jobs all across the country, as well as starting to make an impact overseas.
“Understanding the horse can lead to an events management job or track maintenance, or a number of roles in the industry," he said.
“It starts with inviting the kids to come to a farm or a track, whether it’s at Wagga or Cootamundra or anywhere in the country. For example, one of our graduates Harrison Everett went on to do the Godolphin Flying Start and now he is working in Abu Dhabi leading the design process of their new racecourse developments. We are turning out great people.”
