Yards riding for a fall over stable staff shortage
Industry under threat as a tough career loses its appeal and 1,000 more work riders are needed
‘Long hours, low pay and hard work.” That’s the stereotype of the racing industry, James Savage says, and that is all he ever hears. “There is a negative side being put out there, and we are not selling racing well enough.”
It does not take long for Savage to grow impassioned about the crippling shortage of stable staff that has become one of racing’s most pressing concerns. He has spent two decades in the industry, working his way up to become head lad to renowned trainer Sir Michael Stoute in Newmarket, and each day he sees the benefits of a life lived among horses.
“I came into this industry at 17,” he says. “I wasn’t very good at school, not very well educated. But I have since been all around the world, and I have had a great life in racing.”
The worry, for him and so many others in the sport, is that the outside world does not see it this way. For the past six years, at least, racing has been scrambling to confront a major shortfall in stable lads and lasses, or “racing grooms” as the sport’s authorities now prefer to call them.
That change of title is indicative of how racing is trying to confront the issue. It is an attempt to “modernise”, as the British Horseracing Authority described it, and also to scrub away the belief that the job is aimed exclusively at the specky teenager with an alarm clock and a shovel.
“If you say ‘stable lad’, it conjures up an image of a 12-year-old working with a pony,” says George Mcgrath, the chief executive of the National Association of Racing Staff. The semantics and the stereotypes feed into a wider problem that was exacerbated in 2011, when immigration policy changes meant work riders (more experienced racing staff who test a horse at greater speed) were no longer regarded as highly skilled professionals.
As a result, trainers could not hire the non-european Union workers who had become such a vital part of racing due to their attitude and ability with horses.
“Since then, the industry has been really struggling with recruiting,” says Mcgrath, who estimates that racing is short of around 1,000 work riders. Recruiting British riders who are skilled enough to fill the gap is a challenge, not least because of those assumptions about the working culture. As one senior staff member of a stable in Newmarket put it: “No one wants to shovel s--- these days.”
That view riles Savage, who points to improving pay structures and rising prize money as evidence of how the life of a stable lad has changed for the better.
Among the various roles in the racing staff industry, the issue is most severe with work riders, Mcgrath says. “People who are able to ride thoroughbred racehorses. Can you imagine learning to drive in a Formula One car? That’s it in a nutshell. You’ve got 16-year-olds coming through and it can be exhilarating, but it’s b----- dangerous. You are going to crash, and it is going to hurt.”
There is also a cultural undercurrent to all this. The idea of long hours for stable staff may have become a cliche, but it still rings true. A typical day starts between 4.30am and 6am, and goes on until around midday, before staff return at 4pm and stay until 6pm. “You are doing that 12½ days every fortnight,” says Mcgrath. “That is completely unacceptable when you are trying to raise a family.”
Much as the terminology has been modernised, Mcgrath is pushing for working patterns to be brought into the 21st century through the introduction of flexible rotas. “Here is where we have the Catch 22,” he says. “The employers are saying they do not have enough staff to develop a rota, but the reason they don’t have enough staff is because they don’t have a rota.
“If you went back 100 years, you would not find working patterns being all that different to what they currently are for racing staff. But if you can address the working hours and bring them up to modern patterns, you will have one of the best occupations you could wish for if you enjoy being outdoors and working with animals.”
To visit Newmarket, a town more intertwined with thoroughbred racing than any other, is to see first-hand these more appealing aspects of the job.
The breeze rolls around the fields and into the yards, where staff joke around as they tend to the horses. They are enmeshed in a community that runs on horsepower, and they will be at the centre of it as it comes alive in spectacular fashion at next month’s Qipco Guineas Festival.
As one senior stable worker put it: ‘No one wants to shovel s--- these days’
‘To attract staff you have to increase wages. It cripples smaller trainers – it is a vicious circle’
“The staff are the backbone,” says Stoute, who operates from his two yards in Newmarket. “In 1972 when I started, there were about 650 horses in training in Newmarket. Now there are almost 3,000. These are busy times and, without staff, you have not got an operation.”
For smaller trainers than the esteemed Stoute, the prospect of not having enough staff to continue the operation is the prime concern. The shortage has created a “wage war”, says Newmarket trainer Charlie Fellowes, which has, in turn, created a high turnover of staff. “As a smaller trainer, I can’t afford to pay top wages,” Fellowes says. “The most experienced staff all go to the best-paid jobs, and Godolphin [Sheikh Mohammed’s global racing operation] is at the top of the tree.
“Everyone is struggling and there is a wage war going on. To attract new staff you have to put wages up, and make the job as easy as possible. It is crippling smaller trainers, and it is a vicious circle.”
As staff numbers decrease, the workload increases. “Whether we have 40 lads working on a morning or 50, the same work has got to be done,” Savage says. “You can’t cut the horses short on their work because you are short on staff.”
In October, the BHA wrote to the Government’s migration advisory committee, outlining the “critical importance” of having access to the best talent from abroad. It argued the rising average weight of the UK’S adult population meant that work riders were harder to find, and that not being able to recruit international riders posed a severe financial risk to an industry which generates £3.45billion for the British economy.
There is also concern that Britain’s departure from the EU will worsen the staffing crisis, with the BHA asking for a post-brexit immigration system that once again recognises work riding as a highly skilled profession.
While the industry prays for change, the recruitment efforts will continue on these shores. “If you work hard in this game, it can be extremely rewarding,” says Savage. “Lads get a percentage of prize money in the yards and if you are dedicated, you will get on. It can be the most glorious job, I just don’t think we sell it. It’s there – we just need people to know about it.”
Tickets are available for the Qipco Guineas Festival at newmarket.thejockeyclub.co.uk