Shane Freer on a Day Running the Kurrinda Farm

0:00 A farm manager's day starts early

Steve 0:00 Episode 19 of Off N Racing. We're here at the farm today. We've got Rorison Media doing some content for us. So we thought we'd do a spend some time here with Shane. Shane's the farm manager. You live at the farm. And mate, good to see you. Yeah, good to have you out here. Something different for the day. Shane's the farm manager. It's a Monday. So normally the horses are sort of coming and going. But interested mate, in the average day, what time do you get up? What's the first thing you have to do?

Shane 0:32 Shane's the farm manager. Yeah, every day is different. No two days will ever be the same depending on what you touched on, horse movements. Monday is normally moving day. We can have horses leaving here anywhere from sort of six o'clock onwards. Today a very rare day. We haven't got any coming or going. It's up around 6.30. Make it up for feeds. Getting them out there. Trying to beat the heat. After that. After that we make sure that ticking all the boxes. Make sure their water troughs are full. Clean. Maintenance on the horse. Going around doing their feet. Checking there's no nicks. Cuts. Bumps. Bruises. all of that, making sure the animals are in good order. They always come first. After that, maintenance, whether that be filling up feed bins, whippersnippin, mowing, 40 acres here to mow.

Sean 1:22 Irrigation.

Shane 1:22 Irrigation, irrigation's a big one. Yeah, there's always something to do, mate, but horses first, then tick the maintenance boxes when we get a chance.

1:32 Checking every horse and Monday visitors

Steve 1:32 The horse checks, I think it's multiple times a day that you check each horse?

Shane 1:36 Correct, yep. Anytime we're in and around the paddock, if worst case scenario, we're having a good look at them as we're going past. But yeah, mate, at least a couple of times a day we're in there, like I say, whether it be cleaning out their feet, oiling their hooves, checking their fly veils, putting fly veils back on. Every time you're in there, like I say, even checking the water troughs. If you're in there anyway, it doesn't hurt to run your eyes over them and just make sure everything's okay. Because I'll guarantee you the one time you don't, you can put money on it, there will be something. They always need your attention.

Steve 2:07 And probably our owners don't even recognise you without your own fly mask on.

Shane 2:12 I don't get out here too often without it. I get overstimulated with it and I cannot cop them.

Steve 2:18 So horses coming and going, what other visitors would come to the farm?

Shane 2:25 So Monday, like I said, Monday's a day where a lot of things take place. Could be feed deliveries. Even after this we'll go and get some hay locally up the road. Pete, our farrier, he's here every Monday. Chiropractors, we get chiropractors out here. And that's just horse movements alone. Like I say, trucks coming, trucks going. That's probably the most of what's out here, but I'm sure I've forgotten some as well.

Steve 2:54 Any random visitors come to the front gate?

Shane 2:57 It's the U-turn capital of Australia for some reason. All the Sydney signs come out here, get lost and turn around here. But no, not too many visitors out here, mate.

3:09 How horses come back from a spell

Steve 3:09 When the horses do come home, I've followed horse racing for 25 years. I never quite knew this, that horses get back from a spell and they're wrecked.

Shane 3:18 Yeah, they are. It's no different to a human. You work hard all year and you might take that week or two off at the end of the year. It's probably not until you've had that time off that you realise just how run down you were. They come back a year and each horse is different, but sometimes they might go backwards for a week where they're not eating too much. And you've got to find the key to what works with them. Taking a rug off, getting some sunshine on their back can help a horse eat more. Putting them in with a friend, make them have competition for their food. Can make a horse eat more. It's finding out the key is what works with what horse. And depending on that, like Sean runs his eye over them and that's how long they're here for. Depending on how well they do and how much they need it.

Steve 4:05 And Sean, you're here most days of the week?

Sean 4:07 Probably, I'd say an average of probably four days a week, maybe. Three or four days, depending on the time of the year and what needs to be done. And like, obviously we're doing a video promoting the farm today that will come out in due course. So like Shane and I last week, it was every day we were just getting all the mowing and rippersnipping and getting it all looking nice and presentable. But we threw two ton of seed down, you know, what, three, three and a half weeks ago. So even just running the sprinklers constantly and moving them and like that's, you know, it's all time. But I'm just here where I can help. And again, coming into the sale season, the first four to five months of the year, I'm away for quite a bit. Yeah. So I need to make sure I can help where I can.

4:59 Shane's favourite horses

Steve 4:59 Shane, you know all of these horses intimately. You must have a few favorites.

Shane 5:05 Yeah, you do have a few favorites and all for different reasons, you know. Like Boston Rocks was always a favorite from an early day, just being a big imposing, he was a bit of a bull when he was young. Just to even look at him, you watch him just striding around the paddock and that alone makes for a better day seeing that, you know. Private Harry, he was just smart from the get go. You know, you always go and catch a horse, put a halter on him, do what you need to. There was never a halter for him. He was always a gentleman. He was always a gentleman. He'd just stand there. You could rug him, he'd stand there with you. Take the rug off, he'd stand there with you. Then you've got Half Crown, he's the exact opposite. He's just an imbecile, he's just an immature. Will never do anything to hurt you, but it doesn't matter how old he gets, he will just never grow up. He's Peter Pan of the horse world. They've all got different characters, but yeah, you love them all for different reasons, you know.

Steve 5:58 And you don't love them all. You know, to put it nicely, there's a couple that rub you the wrong way, but…

6:06 This Ain't Texas, the grey filly

Shane 6:06 Yeah, this ain't Texas. The grey filly. I wouldn't say I was a fan of grey horses to start with. And then when Sean brought her home, I thought, what have you done here? But after two days, mate, she was amazing. I started falling in love with her thinking this is not what I wanted to happen. Come day three, she well and truly changed my mind and I have not looked back yet. If there's a hard way to do something, she'll find it. If there's anything you need to do with her or for her, she will not allow you. Yeah, it's on her terms. It's her way every time.

Sean 6:38 And she'll run for that. We already know that she can gallop. She had a couple of good jump outs and whatnot. But I remember I spoke to Maddie, Maddie Dale, who owns part of her and trains her. And I said, oh, do you want to spill this one at your farm, mate? And I said, just don't let the kids near her. Just having a joke. And I said, yeah, yeah, like just… So we spoke about it. You can spill it down there. I told Shane it was the best day of his life, I think.

Shane 7:07 Straight to the shop, get some Christmas cards for Maddie.

Sean 7:10 And our farrier was happy too.

Shane 7:13 Yeah.

Steve 7:14 So you mentioned Private Harry, a real gentleman. And that's what we sort of hope to see in a cult. But a filly like this ain't Texas. You want a bit of sass. You want them to be a bit like your ex-girlfriend to bring the best out on the racetrack.

Shane 7:30 Yes, I'll tread carefully here. But yeah, no, she's got the attitude in spades. If there's a neck and neck finish, she will win it because she is that headstrong. No doubt she'll be tough as they come. And I love seeing it. As much as she is hard to work with here, I love seeing her win in the first race, you know? And you're right, Private Harry, mate, he's the exact opposite. But there's another example. Around here, there is no sign of him being culty whatsoever. Yeah, all the feedback when he's in training, he's a little bit hard to manage. He's smart. He's smart.

8:03 How much feed the farm goes through

Steve 8:03 You talked about feed delivery. How much feed do we go through?

Shane 8:08 Depending on how many we've got here. The main feed we get, we sort of get in the pallet. At our busiest time, that'll last us one week. At our quietest time, it might last you sort of two and a half. On average, you'd say every fortnight on average, we're getting a new delivery.

8:26 Why the horses are rugged

Steve 8:26 And I'm looking at a few in the paddock here now. Rugs are off, but usually they are rugged. What's the reason for rugged?

Shane 8:36 Different rugs for different times of year. Summertime, we'll have light rugs on them. Keep the flies off them. Most of them are pretty sensible anyway. They might have a run around the morning, a bit of a kick. But other than that, they're pretty sensible. Then in wintertime, obviously it's freezing. This year wasn't too bad, but the year before you'd come out here and some mornings were minus seven. We used equi-rope for our fencing. It's a black rope. You'd come out here some mornings and it was just white. It was just ice hanging off there. So yeah, different times of the year, but maybe just for their own comfort, you'd say that they're rugged.

Sean 9:15 And so the trainers, especially through the summer, they hate their horses going back sunbleached or sunburned. It just keeps their coat really nice. But we've had 34, 34, 35. Today's 25, but then we're back to mid-30s all week. So it's an advantage to get some sun on their back. Flies aren't too bad at the minute. When they are, we'll just put… We've got fly veil rugs too. So we just change it every day, don't we?

Shane 9:42 And the feedback we get from whether it be trainers, truck drivers even. Constantly mentioning how well our horses look when they go back. So the process is Sean set up. Nobody can argue how well they're working. Awesome.

9:55 Magic Millions preparation and favourite sires

Steve 9:55 Magic Millions Gold Coast coming up in January. We've already been preparing for weeks and months really. I know you follow your pedigrees and whatnot. You going to give Sean any advice of which sires to buy into this?

Shane 10:10 I'll stay well clear of that. I'll let Sean be the brains of that. I'll stay here cleaning up the ***. Doing all the glamorous jobs. And no pressure on me then. No, that's all of him.

Steve 10:23 Who are some of the sires that you're following? You watch the races every Saturday. You do all your form. But who are some of your favourites at the moment?

Shane 10:32 Some of the sires I like to follow are not even necessarily the best sires, but sometimes just the best racehorses that you used to see. As an example, like Lonro, one of your favourite… One of almost everyone's favourite racehorses they've ever seen. Could throw a very good horse, but as it's going, the stallion, you wouldn't necessarily have him up there with the elite. But for me, it's not even just the stallions, but even the broodmires. For me, it's the horses that you used to follow and follow on their progeny. And then because you follow them, fast forward, you follow their progeny and racing never ends. It's a never ending circle that will always keep you interested. The next crop are never too far away.

Steve 11:14 And I love personally when the sire throws something similar, like it was an octagonal, beautiful big black horse through Lonro. I'm sure through Denman, you know, again, nice big black horse. Exosphere. Yep. We've got the star turned colt recently fully syndicated, but beautiful chestnut, just like his dad, just like his dad.

Shane 11:38 Very similar type. Yeah, very similar type. Actually can't wait to see him progress and get to the races. He is a beautiful athlete and an amazing horse. When they work with you at the farm, you treat them all the same, but you get more of an interest in them. Because when they stay beautiful with you, you like to see them get the rewards on the track.

11:59 Shane's favourite trainers

Steve 11:59 We talked about sires. What about, you've got favourite jockeys, favourite trainers? You do have favourite trainers.

Shane 12:06 Even the closer that we work with some of them, you know. Just even hearing phone calls with Sean getting around the farm. David Fyfe is someone I always thought was a good trainer. Yep. Then you hear some of the phone calls that he has with Sean and, and instead of just being a good trainer, you hear that he's a good bloke and a bit of a knockabout character. So I take to people like that. Matty Dale, he's another one. I've had a bit to do with him, with Malibu. And again, just seeing him check all the 1% of boxes, you can't help but appreciate the work that goes into them. But yeah, most of my favourite trainers would have to be the ones that we use.

12:47 The future of Kurrinda Bloodstock

Steve 12:47 And what do you think the future is for Kurrinda Bloodstock?

Shane 12:51 Oh mate, honestly, their potential is endless. Five years ago, seeing Sean buy a farm out here that had cows on it and grass that was up above your knees. You take your next step and you'd be falling over. There's holes everywhere. There's not one hole in the whole property now. The grass is well manicured, looked after, spruced up, trees right around the driveway. And even the level of horses that we had back then. Like I know Sean would come here kicking stones if we had a bad day at Musselbrook. No disrespect to country racing, it's thriving in New South Wales. But it's rare for us to ever have a runner there now. And Sean can sometimes get bit down on himself if we have a bad day in town or a horse doesn't race well in a highway. But again, it's only five short years ago we would have given anything to have a horse at a highway. So the future for Kurrinda, I can't see it being anything but successful. Horses like Private Harry now, like where's the ceiling, you know?

Steve 13:53 Amazing. Sean, any final thoughts?

13:56 Sean on what owners do not see

Sean 13:56 No, nothing. I'm just enjoying seeing the horses and it just gives people another insight to what goes on here. It's not rosy behind the scenes. A lot of owners see the horses at, you know, the racetrack when they're looking the best, they're shiniest and their feet are polished but we see the worst here, you know? We see them looking the muddiest and whether they're injured or getting rehabbed or… All the work starts from here. They don't look shiny and they don't present well unless we do our job here. So that's the main thing and the most important thing.

Steve 14:37 Well that's great insight. Thanks Shane, thanks Sean. We had a great open day earlier this year. It's close to 100 owners.

Sean 14:45 120 I think.

Steve 14:46 Okay, and we'll do the same this year. So it's really great insight just to come out and see the behind the scenes. It is very different to race day. So episode 19 of Off N Racing, thank you.

15:04 Newcastle Cup dead heat with Carael Boy

Sean 15:04 And fitting the day, the 99th Newcastle Cup was an absolute classic.

Shane 15:09 High C and Carale Boy, the old bloke won't give in Carale Boy. High C's running in off the track. High C and Carale Boy hit it absolutely locked together.

Sean 15:18 In a photo it was judged a dead heat between the Cummings trained High C and Carale Boy, the first tie in 99 years of the Newcastle Cup.

Shane 15:27 He was almost one. Dead heat's better than nothing I suppose.

Sean 15:31 Carale Boy paid $10 for the win while High C was worth $1.80 and the Waterhouse trained Crossbar finished third.