Horsey Project

[Bachelors Hall]

Background
Read through all of my posts from the beginning. The genesis of Horsey Project.

Targets
2024-2028: Aim to become the best researcher in the business.
2028: Start trading as bloodstock agent. Possible ownership, syndication and breeding in due course. TBC.
2034: Saddle first runner as trainer at specialised and tailor made fascilities.
????: Train a Grand National winner before I die.

Report - 31/5/2024
>Stepping back from being the undisputed champion of Juvenile Hurdle research in order to broader my scope to investigate long term prospects.
>Will probably maintain said championship by sporadic juvenile content for the sake of it. Would love to be challenged some day.
>I am a Corinthian student of the game... I think my subconscience is still carrying the disappointment of dropping out of Durham, even if it was the correct thing to do.
>I believe I am capable of achieving all of my goals, but I will need to learn from others what I cannot learn by myself.
>I will state right now that I am going to be the best bloodstock agent in the field of long term prospects in less than six years. By the time I have saddled a winner, nobody will be able to name anybody better.
>I will be at Hexham this Saturday. If you have ambitions in racing, I think my time would be an asset. Worth having a chat just to be on the safe side.
>It will also be my first holiday with my womanfriend so I am only allowed to spend 39% of the day on business matters.
>I do not share names without explicit consent, and only if it benefits all parties.

 

[reet hard]

Good luck,BH - certainly seem to put in the hard hours.

 

[Desert Orchid]

Good luck in this venture, GH.

(I don't know where you get the time.)

 

[barjon]

Good luck, sir

 

[chaumi]

A fascinating project. Given your skills in attention to detail and obvious ability to focus, analyze, and present findings, BH, you'd think the initial research/researcher part is 'easily' achievable. The rest (without trying to understate or underestimate) would seem to be a mix of learning, ongoing research, and experience (and finance, no doubt, alongside several other skills).

And what's the focus?

Specifically long-term hurdling prospects, or hurdles to chases, or both/all?
And what does 'long-term' mean in your plans? From babies up to 4/5/6, or further, or 4/5 year olds up to 8 or 9? (I'm guessing that some specialisation might be needed, but maybe the clarity around that only comes with the research/experience).

 

[luckyme]

Best of luck Mate I always loved reading your maiden hurdle views.

 

[jinnyj]

I wish you the best of luck. Never hurts to have a plan to achieve a long term dream.

Out of interest, how much hands on involvement have you had within the training/equine industry so far?

 

[NewApproach]

Best of luck, BH

 

[Bachelors Hall]

Good evening all,

I will start with a report from Hexham and the interim. Afterwards (although I do not set deadlines on myself), I will address the replies above.

One aspect of writing this report will be difficult as per the OP

>I do not share names without explicit consent, and only if it benefits all parties.

While I want to keep track of personal progress and so forth, for growth and posterity, I will be fiercely protective of names to the point where I endeavour to avoid any reasonable deduction that might threaten the anonymity of someone. This may require my being somewhat cryptic.

>Brought my partner. It was Dan's first proper race meeting (after attending Tabley).
>I promised no more than 39% business and was happy to not speak to anyone and just enjoy the day.
>Dan saw two things that were most important IMO
>Dan saw me networking. Previous knowledge came from reported accounts so while my bookishness has been apparent for a while, a live performance of me "in action" was something new.
>Also on display was Dan's first witness of an equine fatality. The sight of the stricken horse's lass sprinting across the racecourse in forlorn but indefatigable hope was immensely sad to see. However, it taught Dan two things. Firstly that accidents happen in the best of circumstances. Secondly, and of most crucial importance, IT IS ALL ABOUT THE HORSES. Every thought, action and emotion. In every dream, whether we are staring into space or tucked up in bed, a horse is involved in some way or another. Their power over us can only really be described in ethereal terms. The love of horses, both as individuals and as a body, define our strongest and weakest moments.

In terms of contacts, tasks and aims, I shall merely state that I am busy and will slow down on opening new channels for the time being. Although circumstances are always at the whim of context.

I have also decided to actually read this book... Or at least try...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1798047979078848959

 

[Bachelors Hall]

Talking Horses Pre-Presser Presser

Good evening friends. Tonight, I am catsitting. This leaves me with a lot of time and only some hills and a conniving cat with a cone desperate for escape for company. I will be getting my first lesson in animal management for a while (a must if I am to saddle a Grand National winner), along with an opportunity to do some bloody work once the thrills of nature and sociopathic balls of fluff wear off.

It also gives me the opportunity to get some media training. I had a little under the tutelage of Colonel Harumph at Horsey College, who taught me to slow down when speaking to people slower than me, and carefully project myself. Apparently, being abrasive can be rewarding in certain circles… There was also breeding icon dude at the rehab place who taught me that if my personality can be detrimental in front of a camera, I should have someone ring me and keep me on the phone for at least half an hour after a big race win.

If reality is to match my ambitions, I should prepare ahead of time. And where better to learn than at the site of my embryonic horsey education. This place was one of my earliest schooling grounds after leaving the breeders (who taught me nothing about racing; I was autodidactic). Those with exceptional longevity and memories might recall Kotkijet and Brave Inca. I have also had other pseudonyms at other places over the years and a few that remain today. While some might describe these iterations as sock puppet accounts, and it is true that some were, they are all still lights shining through the kaleidoscopic sphere that is our personality/character/soul/being/whatever.

These grounds have taught me more or less everything I know about horse racing that I could not teach myself. More importantly, it taught me how to teach myself what I did not know. I was and still am a prolific, single-minded and seemingly wilfully ignorant poster. However, for every word I wrote, I thought about every response and everything on the periphery manifold. I also consider everything that isn’t said, which will be utterly crucial when dealing with huge sums of money. Not all of it was or is conscious. But if you are around a language long enough, you pick things up subconsciously.

Everything I have achieved to this point, and whatever I accomplish in the future, is a substantial consequence of the contribution made to this and other forums by everyone who participates. I try to live by the virtues and if I value the virtue of temperance, I will not forget this unequivocal debt of gratitude.

One way I can redeem myself is by offering you fine people the opportunity to be journalists, writers, advisors, nosey anoraks and /or garden variety angry members of the public. I cannot offer any set timeframes due to time being just… like… a construct or something, dude. Nevertheless, when I do my next report, I will cover all previous comments as well as any fresh ones. I will try to be transparent whenever I can, however, I also have to protect myself and the interests of anybody I am in contact with. Hopefully I can strike a balance that will satisfy everybody.

 

[Desert Orchid]

I also consider everything that isn’t said,

This reminds me of something one of my French lecturer/tutors said at uni all those years (nearly 50) ago: always consider what the writer didn't say as much as what he did say.

It's something I've never forgotten.

 

[Bachelors Hall]

Good luck,BH - certainly seem to put in the hard hours.

Good luck in this venture, GH.

(I don't know where you get the time.)

A couple of OGs kicking it off...

I have a busy day ahead so can only really answer these two at the moment. However, this kinda ties into my response. The real PP in racing.

Productive/proactive Procrastination.

As someone blessed with ADD (neurodiverse conditions can become weaponised for the better), I get "bored" very easily and very often. I use quotation marks because it is not so much the thing I'm bored with becoming uninteresting. It is that something more interesting in that moment has caught my attention.


In my younger days, it was a bit more erratic in its movement (i.e; this song is boring, oooh there could be a riot/that person is arguing with their partner, I can help the person who wants to cheat and expedite the situation/I wonder if I can outdrink this homeless alcoholic). Then it became more mundane (this chore is boring, I will watch telly). This switching in attention was initially very interesting but often risky, before becoming something that accelerated the ticking clock of our finite time on this planet.

When I started doing the first Juvenile Hurdler thread during COVID (there were a couple of precursors around 2012-ish), my hyperfocus (another element of ADD) saw that window of aggressive/passive procrastination narrow and focus on more positive efforts; namely cycling and doing a lot of research on a very interesting (for me) niche subject. It went from fixing boredom with thrillseeking or instant gratification to fixing boredom with a bike ride or reading about the Grand National when I should have been collating dosages.

I am still doing what I should not be doing in order to get away from a task. However, I am not doing so to my detriment. I have several projects in my life on the go at any given moment. Some related to work, some to my friends/family/community, some to exercise/fitness, some to horses. While I would typically jump from one project to another (bored with Juveniles, go for walk), even within the same projects, there are cures for boredom. Tired of French 3yos? Work on maturity rates by source location. Can't be arsed with Church group? See what the Residents Association is up to. Partner moaning about how my flat is always untidy? Tidy the flat to take my mind off things.

These days, I have so many dopamine options, I very rarely watch any created media while alone. Youtube subscriptions and video games lay utterly dormant. Yesterday, I was sat on the couch watching football. While I promised myself a bit of rest and was very happy to look after the cat, I found myself feeling pretty bored and quite eager to look at a spreadsheet or something.

For me, it does not feel like finding time because time is always there. Nor does it feel like work because it's essentially procrastination from another usually productive task. While it might sound a bit woo woo to describe time as a construct, if I have no deadlines on the things within my control (which is a lot more than most would realise) then there is always something to do when bored and stuff is always getting done because I'm always procrastinating.

 

[luckyme]

Bh
I do admire you and loved reading your threads but I recall reading you writing years ago, I think you said you hardly ever backed your selections, I do put too much time into horse racing however that's to make money. I do love the racing but if I didn't make money now and again I would be looking for another hobby.