Young Professionals Q& A - Ben Shoare

Get to know Ben Shoare, nominations manager at Ace Stud, as he shares with us his path into the bloodstock industry.

Take us back to the beginning - what was the moment you knew the thoroughbred world was where you wanted to be?

The first sale I ever went to was the 2017 Tattersalls July Sale. The buzz around the place caught my attention. 

What has been the biggest learning curve for you so far?

The steepest learning curve was certainly going to work on a stud farm with no previous experience. I was useless, and I didn't like that! It set me up well, though. I learnt quickly, and it certainly taught me to learn from my mistakes.

Who has had the biggest influence on your career, and are there any mentors who have helped shape your path?

David Redvers was my first boss and gave me a great introduction to the industry. He opened my eyes to many of the opportunities available to someone just starting out. A few years later, Ed Harper took me on when I was feeling a bit stuck and unsure about my next step. He helped me enormously, and I would say that my two to three years with the team at Whitsbury have had the biggest influence on my career so far. During that time, I gained a much deeper understanding of the industry, as well as of myself and what I wanted to achieve.

Walk us through a day that you'd consider perfectly typical - what does the reality of this job actually look like?

A normal day during the breeding season would see me in the covering shed for the 7:30am cover, before sticking my headphones in and listening to Nick Luck Daily while getting a few steps in. After that, it's all about keeping in touch with breeders and making sure the team outside know which mares are coming and when. I'll be in the shed for most of the covers to help where needed, and it's also a good opportunity to catch up with breeders who bring their mares themselves. Now that the breeding season has finished, my attention is turning to the first-crop yearlings by Shaquille. It's great to be out visiting breeders and pinhookers with yearlings by him, and I'm delighted with what I've seen so far.

What's the moment you'll never forget, and what's the one you'd rather not repeat?

Same answer for both parts - Waldgeist denying Enable a 3rd Arc in 2019. The silence was deafening!

If you could go back and give your younger self one piece of advice on day one, what would it be?

Keep grinding - there's no rush.

Where do you want to be in ten years, and what would success look like to you personally?

The ambition and vision shared by the whole team at Ace Stud makes it an incredibly exciting operation to be part of, and the potential of where we could be in ten years' time only adds to that excitement. My focus naturally revolves around the stallions, so success for me will come through the success of our stallions and the breeders who support them.