It Takes A Team
Welcome to TDNAusNZ’s ‘It Takes A Team’, brought to you in conjunction with Thoroughbred Industry Careers. 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 to trackwork, working tirelessly to keep the industry running.
Today we talk to a graduate of the Godolphin Flying Start program, who has used all of the contacts and experiences offered to him through the course to gain a leg up in the industry. Dane Robinson is the Racing Manager of Highclere Racing and attributes the success in his career so far to the Flying Start course and the mentors he has met along the way.
Dane Robinson - Highclere Racing Manager
TDN: Can you tell us a bit about yourself, how did you get started in the industry?
Dane: I grew up in a family of horse men and women on the South Coast of NSW. My grandfather Kevin Robinson and father Terry have been training for decades. Pop was a legend in his day in harness racing and along with the help of his family, steered the stable towards thoroughbreds in the 90’s, before his passing in 2005. Dad still trains thoroughbreds out of his Shoalhaven Heads property where we have access to Seven Mile Beach to work the horses. In my opinion, it’s one of the world’s best surfaces and environments to train a racehorse.
While sport and school took priority, I got involved doing weekend stable shifts and took every opportunity to be at the races with either Dad or my uncle Robert Price, who trains with my cousin Luke out of Kembla Grange.
