Betfair Official Blog

A Typical Day at the stables

So what really happens down at a training yard - our insider spills a few beans...

Considering the unending monotony of stable life, it's amazing how fascinating some assume it must be.

I guess it's different. And if you spend your life office-bound, surrounded by suited-types, the thought of spending your life encircled by horse manure must be intriguing.

So whenever meeting new people from outside racing, I prepare myself for the inevitable prodding and poking enjoyed by any circus-side-show freak.

Lots are astonished to learn there is a whole industry dedicated to training horses to run faster, and that there are wealthy individuals who will pay a lot of money to make it happen. To try and get their heads around the craziness of it all, they always ask for a typical day.

Well, for their edification, here was yesterday.

3am. Awoken as conditional and apprentice jockey come home after night out. They are demonstrating that perfect mix of amateurism and arrogance that will serve them well in their chosen careers.

3.40am. Re-awoken by loud repetitive banging in room next to mine. The apprentice has obviously taken heed of advice to exercise and has found a willing partner. Unusual, because his girlfriend, who also works at the yard, is away on holiday.

3.41am. Every jockey wants to come first and, in probably the only sphere of his life that he'll ever manage it, our apprentice succeeds. At least I'll get back to sleep quicker.

6.00am. Awake at scheduled time to feed horses. Some horses, especially colts, get excited when feed comes. And there's nothing quite like trying to waltz your way around a 500kg horse who wants to devour what is in your hands, but doesn't seem to mind taking a piece of anything it can get.

7.45am. An owner is visiting and accompanies us to the gallops. A lot of time was spent last night selecting the "right" gallop companions for the show-and-tell. Unfortunately, most of the owner's horses are so slow that it's difficult to find suitably bad partners for them. So the trainer uses the old trick of putting the stable jockey on all the owner's horses, whilst the gallop partners get the overweight part-timer.

9.30am. Owner departs as the majority of morning exercise is done. Despite best efforts, two of the owners' horses still worked dreadfully. Luckily the trainer was on hand to say how thrilled he was with their performance. All the best horses, apparently, are "lazy" at home. So the owner drives off safe in the knowledge that he has a Classic winner on his hands.

10.00am. Finish race entries and declarations, undoubtedly the most farcical display of ineptitude and underhandedness in any racing stable. For those who haven't seen it, at about 9.50am, trainers begin ringing each other asking whether their entered horses are going to be declared. This way they can work out whether the race will cut-up enough for their own horse, or whether they should wait for another opportunity. I hope this hasn't shattered any illusion of free-market competition you may have had.

11.00am. The apprentice's girlfriend has arrived back on the yard, having already heard, despite being on holiday 50 miles away, of her beau's indiscretion. The trainer feels, that as a girl, I am best placed to deal with the situation.

1.00pm. Eventually get rid of crying girl from my room. Apprentice skulks in to put his case. I want to go to sleep and don't care. But it doesn't stop him making a pass at me. You have to admire his lack of short-term memory.

4.00pm. Back out for evening stables. The trainer hasn't come back from lunch. So spend the next two hours trying to marshal the staff to work. This is grooming time, which typically means that the staff go and hide in a box doing nothing for 20 minutes, before they move on to a new box.

6.00pm. Finish some admin and leave for the day. The apprentice and conditional are getting ready to go out. So the day should start nice and early tomorrow.