Here is the Transcript from a very interesting Interview I had with Internationally Acclaimed Bloodstock Agent – Craig Rounsefell.

Mark Burckhardt: Hello and welcome everyone to another episode of The Racing Show. Now this is one of my very first interviews where I interviewed my very good friend and business partner Craig Rounsefell. Now Craig is one of the leading bloodstock agents in Australia if not the world. He’s brought racing success to just about everyone he’s touched. It was a real pleasure catching up with him and I hope you enjoy the interview. Craig, good morning, it’s really good to catch up with you today. You’re quickly rising as one of the highest regarded judges of horse flesh in the industry. Can you tell us a little bit more about your background and where it all started?

Craig Rounsefell: Hi Mark, yeah so I was sort of born into the industry in a way, my family on both sides have been involved in the horse business. My father has an insurance company and part of that was bloodstock insurance sales. So I was attending races and sales from an early age and my interest grew from there. To the point where every holiday I would spend working on farms and spent time over in Ireland working with John Oxan. I got lucky break when I started University meeting Gai Waterhouse and I worked for her for three years and during that time George Smith, who is world renowned especially here in Australia as one of the top judges in the last 50 years. I got to spend a lot of time with him so that was a good start for me and as time with Gai as I finished University I finished with her and was lucky to get on the Darley Flying Start programme. So travelled around the world for a couple of years and learnt my trade before spending some time in America in the training side before starting out in my business.

Mark Burckhardt: How do you rate that Darley scholarship? I mean I’ve heard a lot about that and there’s been a lot of people who’ve done extremely well going through that particular scholarship. Did that really help you grow, in regards to your trades?

Craig Rounsefell: Absolutely, it’s a two year programme fully sponsored by Sheikh Mohammad the ruler of Dubai. Who we know here in Australia runs Godolphin, who owns Godolphin, and they select 12 people from around the world. Each day is broken down, the first part will be hands on and the second part will be theory. You spend two years studying in Ireland, England, America, Japan, Australia, and Dubai. You get to work with all the leading trainers, veterinarians, all the leading feeding programmes, every aspect of the thoroughbred industry. You got immersed and taught by the leading professions from around the world.

Mark Burckhardt: What a fantastic experience. I believe that didn’t you take the very first course that was ever offered, wouldn’t that be correct Craig?

Craig Rounsefell: I was on the third intake and graduated in first position. It was sort of a goal of mine from the start we had a great group a lot of the guys I went through with we are still very close friends. And even now a few of the guys now are training in their own right in America and I’ve been buying horses for them so it’s come full circle.

Mark Burckhardt: That’s fantastic, so along your journey thus far what would you say your greatest inspiration has been, or who has your greatest inspiration and support along the way? If you had to name one, if you could?

Craig Rounsefell: Well, it would probably be hard to narrow it down to one. My family has been are very close unit. My parents have made a lot of sacrifices early on to give me every opportunity to explore my paths of interests. More recently I met my wife and we got married 8 years ago. And she has been a huge inspiration and my biggest cheerleader along the way, but within the industry it would be my father-in-law, my wife’s father. He is one of the leading trainers in America and when I first started my business he really got behind me and gave me some support and just to see how he built his business up from nothing and is now one of the top players in the game. He was a big inspiration for me.

Mark Burckhardt: So would you be able to share with us maybe just a little bit about your systems and routines that you go through, you know prior to going to a sale to identify those quality horses for your clients. Would you be able to go through with us?

Craig Rounsefell: Yeah, it varies from sale to sale. A sale like a Magic Millions for an eastern sale or say like the main sales in Australia the January Classic, the classic sale, the Melbourne Premier and East those sales all you’ll do research work in the book leading up to the sale. I like to mainly not get too bogged down in the pedigrees I like to get more, just keep up to date with statistics on the stallions, try and find any trends there. And then you will visit the farms and try to see the horses in their natural environment and the more you do that leading into sales you get to see where these horses are getting grown up. You know spending the early parts of their life. Then when the sales come around I’ll nearly 99% of the time at the sale I’ll look at every horse in the catalogue. I just think that you do yourself an injustice if you don’t do that. You never know where the good horses are going to come from. So it is important to look at every horse and when you’re looking at them look for the traits that you’re looking for that most successful horses have. And then depending on the clientele you have, the budget you have to play with, then you sort of break them down and look at what the client wants to achieve and try to find the right horse for them.

Mark Burckhardt: Thanks Craig, So you have achieved the success at the highest level of racing with horses in recent times like obviously winning the US Breeders Cup. But of course Scales of Justice the group one sprinter in WA. But you’ve also had plenty of success as you mentioned before with Gai Waterhouse with horses such as Dance Hero which won the Magic Millions and then went on to win the 2 year old triple crown which also includes the Golden Slipper. However is there any particular horse that you selected that is special to you? And what would be the characteristics or reason why that particular horse was special to you.

Craig Rounsefell: It would definitely be Obviously, the horse I purchased, it was early on in my business, my father-in-law as I mentioned previously. One of his bigger clients, he got the backing from them to send me on a mission to find them a horse in Europe. And I selected Obviously and brought him to America to California, and he was just an absolute marvel. He raced, he only recently retired, he raced over five seasons every year he ran in the Breeders Cup. And, he won ten  Stakes races, and two group ones, and then finally last year with the crowning stone where he won the Breeders Cup Turf Sprint. He is just such a genuine horse, he would, he was just one of those horses that would just get out in front and run very fast sectional times and just break the other horses heart. He loved to train and he just loved game day. Just a pleasure to be around, just a true professional. He had a big heart and even recently I took my son who’s only six months old and took him around to the barn and met him and he is just like a little teddy bear. When it is game day he has his game face on and he’s ready to take on the world. But he also has that kind heart and I just he is just a very special horse to me. He did a lot for my career early on and just one of those horses that you will be forever grateful.

Flavien Prat celebrates after riding Obviously to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint horse race at Santa Anita Park, Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016, in Arcadia, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Mark Burckhardt: Well you’ve already achieved so much in racing but what’s the greatest goal, motivation that keeps driving you now Craig?

Craig Rounsefell: I think you want to continue to build. Racing is a game where you never stop learning. So I really enjoy it. I spend a lot of time travelling working with various styles around the world and that is what drives me to keep on. You know I want to be the top of the game as an international agent, one that does very well in Australia and overseas, and I want that sort of stand where they know that if you buy horses with me then they know that if you buy a horse with Boomer than he believes in that horse and want that horse to reach that highest level and win Group Ones. The thrill of winning any race is when you start winning the big ones it takes it to a whole ‘nother level and I just enjoy being around good clients and good horses and I just hope to continue to build that in the years to come.

Mark Burckhardt:That’s fantastic Craig, look I know you’re an extremely busy man. You’re always jetting across all different countries selecting thoroughbreds etc. But you know life needs balance. So might I ask what activities you like to do in your down time? If there is any, and do you follow any other sports or hobbies apart from racing?

Craig Rounsefell: Well, before we had our son this year my wife and I every year we’d travel somewhere new. We love to travel to various places around the world, And do little trips. I do love fishing so we try sort of cross it in when we can. We did a great trip to Alaska, my wife and I a couple of years ago and we try and get that in. It is obviously hard to do but we also, my wife and I are quite strong in the Christian faith. So we have been trying to build in more where we can give back to the community and trying to get involved in more of that. My mother-in-law she does quite a few mentoring works too in Asia so we want to sort of be involved in things like that and try and give back. But, yeah it is one of those times now where our time’s even got a fuller plate, we’ve got a little 6 month year old child so he’s got us on the run and we just really enjoying the family time now.

Mark Burckhardt: Look Craig well thanks so much for your time. Very much look forward to strengthening our alliance and growing with you along your journey. I really appreciate your time today Craig.

Craig Rounsefell: Great thanks mate.

RACEHORSES FOR SALE

Here is the Transcript from a very interesting Interview I had with great Trainer Peter Gelagotis. I hope you may enjoy it!

Mark Burckhardt: Peter, good morning and welcome. It’s so nice to catch up with you today. Your passion for the industry, determination and willpower to succeed is second to none. Can you tell us a little bit more about where it all started?

Peter Gelagotis: It started obviously from our parents who were migrants from Greece. They left their home country in difficult times and they come to Australia and they hung onto those strong values that they had in the post-war era. Particularly my dad, he was a very hard taskmaster, got a very passionate racing man, loved all codes and dabbled in each one and the latter being the thoroughbreds. He started the business. He was an owner and the property that we currently train from at Moe, was fairly set up for horses when Mom and Dad bought it. They decided, “I’m gonna have a go at this myself,” and the business just grew from there. Then we are where we are today.

Mark Burckhardt: Look, you’ve achieved success at the highest level with some horses and recent times even with the Group One Weight For Age Champion Mourinho, Champion three year old Havistan and of course Malaguerra. What would you say would be your favourite horse you trained? What made those characteristics special to you?

Peter Gelagotis: Look, I’ll always say Mourinho because obviously he’s my first one, and it was a horse that we purchased ourselves as a yearling. It was always a tough battle with him. He showed great promise and delivered some early blows with victory, particularly in the Tasmanian Derby, which was, I think, probably the most second stakes winner at the time. I had a couple pride of that at least at level. But he was my first for the group winner. Tasmania. It was still great achievement. The horse had a lot of issues along the way. Sustained a tendon injury. He had that ability to regain soundness and also had longevity with him and to achieve what he did over a long period of time was sort of sits high up on my list of personal achievements and it’s given me a lot of confidence going forward into handling these top end horses.

Mark Burckhardt: You’ve achieved so much in racing, but what would be your greatest goal or motivation that keeps driving you now? Is there any specific race that you’d want to win or is there any specific thing that you’d like to achieve that just keeps you driving, because all successful people or at least … Most successful people have this goal that they place out there. Something to work towards. What would yours be if I were to ask you that question here and now?

Peter Gelagotis: Honestly, my motivation comes from the people that surround me. I’m very fortunate and blessed to have some very, very solid family people who have amazing persona, amazing work ethic, and I feel like I’m obligated to do well for these people because I see such success in what they do and how they present themselves and their families above foremost and above all else. I think you go to the rawness of life and life skills, it’s an acquired skill. You lead and you experience and you become a better person and I find that’s my motivation to do well for the people who believe in me, who support me unconditionally and I’ve been very fortunate over the years to have that comfort to train under those circumstances because it’s a very tough industry to do it solely and holey, so we’ve always had a backup in our own business. There were years we were very self supportive of our horse business, but as we’ve gained success we’ve gained the support of some very good owners and those people are successful people, motivated people. That’s all rubbed off on me. Given me that drive to be who I am today.

Mark Burckhardt: I totally respect that Peter. That’s one of the things that draw me towards yourself. It’s a passion that you show and a sense of obligation that you’re talking about for the people who are around you, who work with you, who were raced with you. I had that same feeling for myself and it goes beyond the actual horses themselves or your own personal goals. It’s about the people around you who really make it special, isn’t it? Yeah.

Peter Gelagotis: Absolutely. My parents always had these little sayings. God bless my father. He’s passed away now. Nearly five years since he passed away. Him and mom always had little sayings. My father used to always say, “Son, one piece of string breaks very easily, but if you combine ten pieces of string, they don’t break. It takes a lot more to break.” What I’m alluding to is strength in numbers.

Mark Burckhardt: Yes.

Peter Gelagotis: When you’re a united group you are a force to be reckoned with and if you have people supporting you that way it’s amazing. And from a managerial side of things, my father use to say to me, and obviously my mom, “Don’t let money be your motivation. Let your actions speak for you.” So you know, put in an honest days work and you’ll always get an honest days pay. So these are the things I stuck to Mark – Simple/Stupid, and it works. It’s been a key and a catalyst in my rise in the ranks in this wonderful and colourful sport we all try to participate and be successful at.

Mark Burckhardt: We’re really excited to have that alliance we’ve built with you now. With Regal Bloodstock. I’m really excited to bring these horses across to you. Our Reward for Effort colt and our Testa Rossa Filly. What do you think about these two yearlings that have come across to you? You were there with me at the sales. Were you quite impressed with what you saw?

Peter Gelagotis: Absolutely. And the bonus is that they’re VOBIS GOLD qualified horses. So you’re covering bases. You’re giving prospective clients from your behalf I believe, the opportunity that if you have the pleasure early, you can make some solid in roads to return on your capital. Both of these horses at the moment are at the Breakers – Julien Welsh at Booralite Park. From all reports, they’re going along nicely and everything is positive. I think that sale is a very lucrative sale. Obviously Malaguerra came through that sale and there’s these opportunities there. I think on your behalf, it’s very, very clever purchasing to give them, your prospective clients, the opportunity to possibly get a little bit better average return on investment. And the fact that you’ve chosen us, I hope in time we can only enhance what you’re trying to set out to achieve and we can do it again. United. Together. And be a force to be reckoned with in our own right, or in your own right for that matter.

Mark Burckhardt: Well certainty and I do remember from that sale, we did go … as we were talking about the team thing, I do remember we all went in as a team to bid for those two horses at the styles and it certainly was a great result. Peter, I really thank you so much for your time today. It’s just really great to have you on board with us at Regal Bloodstock.

Peter Gelagotis: I would say that’s reciprocated by many and myself. I think the way you conduct yourself and the way you’ve gone about your business is very professional and I think anybody that wants to get associated with yourself and your brand, I think they can’t go wrong. Like I said before, we thank you immensely and hopefully there’s a little bit divine intervention above to give our horses the longevity and soundness above all and foremost. And if they got the ability, we’ve been in the game long enough now that we can do a job and happily present these horses come race day and enjoy some success together.

Mark Burckhardt: Well I have no doubt you’ll be able to get the best out of them. And thanks again for today.

Peter Gelagotis: Mark, it’s a pleasure. Thank you.

Mark Burckhardt: Thanks Peter. Thank you.

RACEHORSES FOR SALE