FEATURE STORY
He said at each sale, about five per cent of horses meet his criteria. Once he’s got his horse, it’s then about finding the right client if he doesn’t have a set order. “The large part of the work is to find the right horse, then find the right client. If I see someone at the sales who has raced a relation of a horse I’ve bought, I’ll see whether they want to buy this one.” Mills said he doesn’t buy a lot of horses at a sale and he’s keen to keep up his good strike rate. “I’ve got clients looking for quality and that brings extra pressure.” Mills said last year he purchased 10 to 12 yearlings for his clients. He also does work for Bluebloods Syndications and bought between 15 to 20 yearlings for them. As Archie Alexander’s racing manager and also bloodstock consultant for Roll The Dice Racing, Jeremy Rogers said what he’s trying to do is find the diamond in the rough. The key ingredients for finding a yearling for Rogers includes their physical makeup, movement and attitude. “Physical makeup is the number one aspect I want to see. I want to see a good strong hindquarter, good girth, and a good rein. “I’ll look at 500 horses in a sale and I might narrow it down to 10 in the end. That’s the challenge and that’s what makes it interesting.
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