The 11th Godolphin Stud & Stable Staff Awards were held at the Jumeirah Carlton Towers Hotel in Knightsbridge, London on the evening of Monday, February 23, 2015. Three-time British champion jockey Ryan Moore presented the awards with television presenter Clare Balding overseeing the ceremony.
The 11th Godolphin Stud & Stable Staff Awards were held at the Jumeirah Carlton Towers Hotel in Knightsbridge, London on the evening of Monday, February 23, 2015. Three-time British champion jockey Ryan Moore presented the awards with television presenter Clare Balding overseeing the ceremony.
Please find below reaction from each of the winners on the night.
Jessica Fortt, who manages Dunraven Stud in south Wales for David and Dawn Brace, was crowned Employee of the Year. Fortt, also took the Stud Staff Award.
She said "I was in shock with the first award and then just overwhelmed to be the overall winner.
"I'd always wanted to work with horses and when I left school at 16 I was going to go to agricultural college. But I saw an advert from the British Racing School in Newmarket, I applied for it, went on a course, absolutely fell in love with it and that was it. I've worked in racing ever since.
"I met David (Brace) through a friend. I went to manage his point-to-point yard, but he had some broodmares and I loved that side of it. I start at 6am and finish at 5pm but then I watch for the mares foaling as well. It doesn't suit my husband, because I'm up all night watching the mares on my iPad. So I sleep in the lounge on my blow-up bed! This is my favourite time of year.
"I've been doing it for a long time but I never get bored of seeing the first time that a foal comes out and takes its first breath. It's a fantastic sight. I felt privileged just to be a finalist as Dunraven Stud was small to come up against some of the biggest studs in the country.
"David Brace and his wife Dawn, who are also really good friends of mine, were at the Awards as was my husband Matthew, the one who makes me sleep on the blow-up bed!"
The David Nicholson Newcomer Award was presented by Ryan Moore to Tegan Clark, who has worked at Olly Stevens' Surrey yard for two years and is now Head Girl at the stable.
"I'm just grateful for the opportunity that was put in front of me and I have worked hard at it," said Clark, who gave special mention to the efforts of last season's QIPCO 1,000 Guineas and Irish 1,000 Guineas runner-up Lightning Thunder.
"If I had to pick a highlight of my career so far it would definitely be Lightning Thunder, who was just touched off in two Classics last season," she added. "I'll be calling my parents and family after the Awards and I'm delighted Olly and his wife Hetta were sat with me."
The Leadership Award went to Johnson White, who has played an integral role as assistant to Somerset National Hunt trainer Philip Hobbs since 1995.
"I'm very lucky to be working with a fantastic team in a top-class yard. It makes it all so much easier by having a great bunch of staff to work with. I genuinely feel that I'm in a small minority of people who really enjoy what they do for work," said White.
"Jump racing has been in a minority at these awards so I feel honoured to win and I'm privileged to be representing National Hunt racing.
"We've doubled the number of horses and staff since I arrived at the yard in 1995 and going hand in hand with that is doubling the number of problems! But we have a great backbone of staff from the guv'nor and his wife Sarah - who was here at the Awards to support me - through to all the backroom team.
"Looking back, the best day for me was Rooster Booster winning the Champion Hurdle, which was phenomenal, having ridden him myself at home."
Simon Archer, a longstanding team member at Sir Mark Prescott's Heath House Stables in Newmarket, captured the Rider/Groom Award.
"It's not an easy game but the rewards at the end of it are great. We're very lucky. Getting to the races with a horse is the main thing and when they go on to win is even better, that's the icing on the cake," said Archer, who has returned from a spell on the sidelines after a head injury.
"To have got in the top three at the Awards was an amazing achievement, let alone winning. I was up against a couple of great lads who have been in the game longer than me and work just as hard as me. This is not just for me, it's for everyone back at Heath House as we work as a team. Winning means everything. I never thought I'd be here.
"I got injured and sitting at home watching the horses run was not the same as being there and telling people what to do. I was 10 months out of racing and Sir Mark paid my wages and kept me positive and said I would get back. He was right."
Lesley White has worked for Mick Channon since before he started training and she collected the Dedication To Racing Award.
"I like horses who try their hearts out and win - that's what it's all about. I love the game," said White.
"You can't decide you want to shut up shop at six and go out, that's not how this industry works. It is your life and you've got to put the hard work in then you'll get recognition and get rewarded. Thanks to Godolphin for appreciating all the hard work everybody is doing for them. We always have opinions but there's only one that counts, the boss's.
"I think Queen's Logic was the best I've been involved with, she was absolutely awesome. She was the best we've dealt with although Youmzain of course had certain great qualities."
It was appropriate that White received her Award from Moore and she explained: "I've known Ryan since he was tiny. His aunt asked if he could come and stay with me. His one job all week was to brush the leaves up, that was all he had to do. Did he do it? No! The more you nag him the less he'll do it!"
Peter Shoemark, Racing Office Manager for trainer John Gosden, was the winner of the Administration Award. His career in racing began 30 years ago and is described by Gosden as just about irreplaceable, Peter's role encompasses race planning, filming horses on the gallops and liaising with everyone involved in running a successful racing stable.
He said: "Every day at work is different. Obviously, you have entries and declarations every day but there are always different scenarios.
"To go down to the gallops and watch horses work, you can't beat it. To be one of the finalists means an awful lot both to myself and to the stable.
"I think racing is a fantastic industry. I have always been prepared to go the extra yard and you do get noticed.
"You have to always be prepared. Preparation is the word. You have to make sure when the boss comes back after second lot that everything is right. You have to know the form of the horses and the options for them.
"We have been very fortunate as we have had lots of good horses but sometimes it is the lesser horses that give you most satisfaction. The good horses pretty much place themselves, you know where you are going with them from the start of the year.
"If you have a well-bred horse, especially a filly, it means an awful lot to the owners to win a maiden and obviously adds to the horse's value.
"We haven't done much with the horses so far this year but one horse that obviously sticks out from last year is the Chesham Stakes winner Richard Pankhurst. He is owned by Godolphin and his form looks very strong. Another horse I like is called Faydhan, he won his maiden impressively by six lengths and the form is working out well.
"I am from three generations of jockeys but I was useless as a rider - I think I rode out 12 times and fell off 14 times! There are other options in racing though. I started out as a valet at 16 and was then agent to jockey John Reid when I was 19 before moving on to Ed Dunlop's through the Ouija Board years and then moving to John Gosden's. So yes there are options if you want a career in racing."
Chantal Wootten was the recipient of the Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) Special Recognition Award because of her work with Purple Moon, who won the 2007 Ebor Handicap at York and was also runner-up in the Melbourne Cup in the same year. Chantal has successfully re-trained Purple Moon to be a Champion show horse.
She said: "Purple Moon thinks he is human and I probably treat him a bit too much like a human. If he could live in the house with me he probably would and if I could sleep in the stable with him I probably would.
"It was in 2010 that I started working at Fittocks Stud and Purple Moon was actually retired by then. Coming from a show background, he caught my eye as a horse I could take to shows.
"My relationship with Purple Moon is probably the most special I have had with a horse. I think our combination just works well together.
"At times he can be quite difficult, but I think with horses that have been special like he has, you just have to channel them in the right way and get his brain working in the right direction. Then it is all grand.
"If I had the choice of my perfect job, I think I have my perfect job. I get to work on a stud and then re-train horses and show horses in my own time. You could not really ask for more than to work with a horse like Purple Moon, who has been all over the world. He is now 12 but still acting like a three-year-old.
"He won his first show within six months. He is such a clever horse, he really could do anything.
"Sometimes when you finish work, you think you will just watch TV but when you look out of the window and see him there, it is just brilliant. He has just been great.
"Retraining a racehorse is one of the most rewarding things you can do. When you see all your hard work and effort, especially when he is first in line at a show, it really does make it all worthwhile."
