Young Guns With Claudia McDougall

Young Guns is a series where we endeavour to find out more about some of the young professionals in the industry. Today we speak with Claudia McDougall, nominations executive at Darley Stallions.

TDN: What was your path into the industry?

CMD: My mum dabbled in pointing during the 80s and has always been a National Hunt fan so as a child, if I wasn't on a horse, I was watching them. I left school to do Equine Management at Writtle College and progressed to a degree at Hartpury, where I spent mornings working in a breaking yard. Needless to say, after spending more time sat on the floor than in the saddle, it was probably a wise decision to move into stud work. Hartpury is fortunate enough to be next door to Tweenhills, which is where it all started really. Stints freelancing at the sales followed alongside working for the Cumani's on their Fittocks Stud. From there, I got a job with Godolphin working on one of their foaling farms and the rest, as they say, is history.

TDN: Who has been the biggest influence on your career?

CDM: I can't not mention my mum, she's my number one supporter and pulling her 1987 Stallion Book off the shelf as an 8-year-old is no doubt where my love of pedigrees started. Rob Speers has also been incredibly helpful and pushed me to reach my goals, whilst I owe an awful lot to my boss Dawn Laidlaw who gave me some great opportunities to shadow a number of good judges when I worked on the farms.

TDN: What does your role involve?

CMD: My main role is selling nominations to our 38 European- based stallions which encompasses various tasks such as discussing mating plans with clients, pedigree research, contracting and showing our stallions to clients to name just a few. We are also present at most European bloodstock sales and spend a lot of time during the spring and summer on the road visiting clients and viewing our stallions' stock as well as sometimes representing the company at the races. I love the variety of the job, no week is ever the same.

TDN: What challenges do you face in your role?

CMD: Selling nominations in a stallions' second and third years at stud can be notoriously difficult. Generally, everyone wants something new or they want a proven sire. Luckily for us, we're fortunate enough to have high-quality stallions such as Golden Horn that naturally sell themselves.

TDN: What advice would you give your 16-year-old self?

CMD: Keep your head down, work hard and travel while you can. Don't be disheartened by disappointments, everything happens for a reason and life has a funny way of working out in the end.

TDN: What do you think is the biggest challenge facing the industry and how would you solve it?

CMD: Bloodstock wise, our increasing need for stallions to produce sharp precocious juveniles. As Federico Tesio said, the Thoroughbred exists because its selection has depended on a piece of wood, the winning post of the Epsom Derby, yet we dismiss these horses if their first crop does not fly as juveniles. There is definitely a place for both at stud but we need to be conscious of not being completely biased, consequently causing detriment to the breed.

TDN: How do you think the general public perceives horse racing?

CMD: My friends outside the industry love going racing because it's such a vibrant social occasion and events such as Newmarket Nights create a great opportunity to get more people through the gates and hopefully gain a new legion of fans. Animal welfare is also a major concern to the general public so initiatives such as The Horse Comes First can only be good for racing's overall image.

TDN: How would you attract more young people into the workforce?

CMD: We all need to make a conscious effort to advertise what an amazing industry we work in to the next generation. I'm a committee member for The Thoroughbred Club, an initiative by the TBA aimed to educate and inspire the younger generation to feel actively involved in the industry. Godolphin is also a big supporter of the Racing to School project and we regularly host college visits at the stud. It's amazing the number of young people who have never considered a role in the bloodstock industry, hopefully we can inspire a few.

TDN: Who is your favorite racehorse of all time and why?

CMD: It has to be Attraction. She was my favorite when I was a teenager, a complete underdog who proved everyone wrong taking five Group 1s. I remember being totally star struck when she walked off the lorry where I used to work and still count foaling her son Elarqam as one of my proudest moments. She's turned out to be quite the broodmare too producing 7 winners, three of which are black-type, with a nice Dubawi 2-year-old still to run.

TDN: Tell us something about yourself that not many people would know.

CMD: Being nearly six feet tall, I'm more suited to sitting in a dressage saddle than a racing one so I'm having a go at this whole dancing horses malarkey, with varying success.

TDN: What would you like to achieve in the next five years?

CMD: To continue to develop my knowledge. The wonderful thing about horses is there is always something new to learn.