You can find jobs in the racing industry around the country – and the world – but like all industries, there are certain places that have more jobs available depending on what position you want.
If you are wanting to test out a career in the breeding sector, the Hunter Valley and around Melbourne are the places for you.
The Hunter Valley is where three of the last five intact Golden Slipper winners stand at stud with a fourth down the road in the Widden Valley. You’ll also find some of the most famous studs in the world here led by Arrowfield Stud, Coolmore Australia, and Darley Australia.
If stallions don’t interest you but broodmares and yearlings do, the Hunter Valley is home to plenty of broodmare and yearling agistment facilities. Many of these farms both foal out mares and prepare yearlings for sale to give you opportunities to try both if you aren’t sure which way you’d like to focus.
Among the farms like this are Segenhoe – home of Winx’s dam Vegas Showgirl, Bhima Thoroughbreds, and Cressfield Stud.
But New South Wales isn’t the only state that has breeding opportunities. Victoria is home of the world famous Melbourne Cup but also has many farm position opportunities with many located only a few hours from Melbourne.
If you decide to work with stallions in Victoria, you may have the opportunity to spend time with Melbourne Cup winners Americain or Fiorente, Black Caviar’s sire Bel Esprit, or champion Victorian sire Written Tycoon. But much like “the Hunter,” Victoria also has a number of non-stallion farms to give you the opportunity to work with mares and yearlings.
The Melbourne area is also home to pre-training and lay-up facilities that will allow you to work with yearlings and racehorses preparing for the races. After horses end their break in the paddocks, many of them spend time at these pre-training facilities to get back in shape before heading to the track.
If racing is the way your career path is taking you, Melbourne has a variety of tracks around the area from Flemington to Geelong. Many of the racecourses in the area also see trainers stabled there year-round, providing a variety of job opportunities from strapper to exercise rider.
Not surprisingly, many of the same opportunities to work at the track or a pre-training facility are also available in the Sydney area. With Royal Randwick, Rosehill Gardens, Warwick Farm, and Canterbury Park all conducting racing and three being full time training centres as well, if you fancy working in racing in Sydney you have many opportunities.
For those who like the sound of living at the beach, racing in the Gold Coast/Brisbane area of Queensland is the place for you. With racing in the area throughout the year and the Magic Millions sales complex on the Gold Coast, there are multiple job opportunities in different sectors of the industry in the area to check out.
