IT TAKES A TEAM

Welcome to TDN AusNZ’s ‘It Takes A Team’, brought to you in conjunction with the Australian Stud and Stable Staff Awards supported by Godolphin. Here we highlight and celebrate some of the heroes of our industry. The strappers, riders, stud-workers and people behind the scenes of our champions. The people who are up late into the night foaling or up at the crack of dawn for trackwork, working tirelessly to keep our industry running.

Today, we chat with Ben Gleeson the Assistant Trainer at Danny O'Brien Racing. Ben has had a wonderful start in the industry thanks to his family and has worked with many great minds over the years to land his current role. His day-to-day includes various tasks that all relate back to knowing the horses as best as he possibly can in order to assist Danny with his training.

TDN AusNZ: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you got started in the industry?

Ben Gleeson: I’m lucky enough that both of my parents are in racing and breeding so they fostered my knowledge and passion for the industry. I had always wanted to get into the racing industry, but I went away and studied at university (Business Management), however I was always drawn back into the racing side of things. I got a leg-up into the industry as my mother was a trainer (Merilyn Anderson) and my father Damian Gleeson operated a broodmare farm (Phoenix Broodmare Farm), so I was very fortunate in that respect. They certainly gave me a great platform of knowledge and experience to go on and work for some great trainers and it all went from there really.

TDN AusNZ: What is your role now and what does it involve?

BG: I am Danny O'Brien's Assistant Trainer, my role is to oversee the running of the Flemington and Barwon Heads stable which entails the overall management of the training processes, routine and staff, the maintenance of the horses as well as the operational side of it. So it's a very broad range of tasks but I have a lot of very good staff that work with me and help me do it.

TDN AusNZ: What excites you most about your role?

BG: I think seeing all the hard work, effort and care that goes into training and managing a horse and then the results that come out of it. When you see a horse progress from a 2-year-old through to their first start, seeing the way they evolve into a well-educated and promising equine athlete from everyone's hard work is very rewarding.

TDN AusNZ: What does a normal day look like for you?

BG: A normal day is getting up at 3am, being at the stables at 3.45am to check all of the horses' legs and their feed and all of the one percenters that a good stable strives for. The next part of my morning involves going out and watching all of the horses work, which often involves 50-odd horses cantering or galloping around. I’ll liaise with the riders and make sure they’re happy with the horses they’re riding.

The later part of the morning involves heading back to the stables and being there for the vet work, trotting horses up etc., managing the operations within the stable and staff, whether that's brushing, icing and just looking after the horses generally, these are all what we call one percenters which we’re very big on.

I always go back in the afternoon, so from 2-5pm, we will swim the horses or trot them up and do the afternoon routine. I like to be around the horses as much as I can so that I can liaise with Danny to give him as much feedback as possible in order to assist with the training of each horse.

TDN AusNZ: Do you have any mentors who have helped you along the way?

BG: I always refer back to my mum and dad, they’ve always been really great mentors and I’ve had some fantastic bosses over my time. Lee and Shannon Hope were my first racing job bosses and they were amazing to me, they taught me a lot about work ethic and gave me a great understanding of the industry, following that I then worked for Moody (Peter) who was also very encouraging and taught me a lot of lessons.

At the end of the day I suppose Dan is my most influential mentor as he has given me the biggest opportunities in my career to date. I’m very lucky to have had such influential people in my career so far.

TDN AusNZ: What is one piece of advice you would give to someone looking to make their start in the industry?

BG: Ask as many questions as possible that way you’re always continually learning. This industry needs as many mentors and teachers as possible to ensure the future is bright.

TDN AusNZ: What is your favourite time of year in the industry?

BG: My favourite time would easily be spring carnival.

TDN AusNZ: What are you looking forward to most once everything gets back to normal/new normal?

BG: The crowd involvement and the vibe of raceday. Because that was really the missing thing at spring carnival, the crowd involvement just creates such a good time.