It would come as no surprise if you have listened to trainer Mick
Price being interviewed, to know there is little room for sentiment.
Black is black, white is white and there is no room for any shades of
grey.
The persona is as perceived. Matter of fact. Hard isn’t the
right word, focused and still driven, even at the age of 63 years young
is Mick Price 2.0, embracing life, business and continued success.
Which
is why you get a mention of the Jeff Bezos flywheel model as
inspiration, and perhaps explains an Amazon like approach to buying and
selling new products from around the globe.
It
is well known when Price closed his Caulfield training base and moved
to his self-designed Cranbourne facilities last November, the only thing
that came were the horses and staff.
Some 25 years of trophies and memorabilia that documented the rise
from a stable foreman for the Freedman Brothers at Epsom to one of the
dominant players in Australian racing, were binned.
“I just
chucked them out, they went into the skip, probably about 100 of them.
It was a new stable, a new beginning, a new assistant trainer and I
wanted to put the foot down,” Price says in his typical punter loving
banter.
“It just gave me a totally fresh outlook, I was never looking back, my brain was focused on the future.”
So
those 2218 wins as Mick Price were more just a noted statistic, the 35
Group 1 wins starting with Rustic Dream in the 1999 Futurity, a measure
of talent and a dot point on the CV.
Now it is Price and Mick
Kent Junior, just Junior will do in conversation, and already that
partnership has spawned 401 wins, three group 1’s the latest in the
South Australian Derby last weekend with Jungle Magnate, but that was
last week, that’s in the rear-view mirror.
A
Group One win with Jungle Magnate and Illation wins a Listed race,
making it 3 in a row for the most handsome horse in the stable!! What a
day! Super proud of Mick!! ???? ???? pic.twitter.com/ZBmnNeORTz
— Shona Drechsler ???????????????? (@ShonaDrechsler) May 14, 2022
This
week it is chasing the Group 1 Goodwood in Adelaide again with his
latest excitement machine Extreme Warrior, while Lombardo is more than
just a back-up.
I remember talking to Price, probably some 15 years ago, about being a “lifer” in racing. As ever he was practical about it.
“It’s not as though I’ve got a business to sell,” he said.
But Price 2.0 has got much to still achieve and as much drive to get there.
And
Cranbourne, Junior and new life partner (and bloodstock manager) Shona
Dreschlar, are alongside to make that ride as fast as one of those 1000
RR motor bikes, he likes to slip around Phillip Island on to “relax”.
“I have always been scared of failure, but it is not in me to be complacent in business,” Price said.
He rolls out the Amazon Jeff Bezos “Flywheel” for reference.
It’s all about momentum, apply enough force and energy to start the
flywheel moving and keep it rotating, keep building all the time and
then it should feed itself, things have to be working 52 weeks a year,”
he says.
Not
that Price wants to be the biggest trainer, his Phillip Island
quasi-Moto GP rival Ciaron Maher, can have that despite their regular
trips to the Island to pretend they are Valentino Rossi. (“He’s 70kg,
I’ve got 93kg of ballast to deal with,) he jokes.
Price is happy
with the 80 boxes he has filled in the stables he has designed and
speaks glowingly of, but it is more where these horses are coming from
and the shop front attitude that excites him.
And with that shop
front, you need product on the shelves, so that explains why, with
Junior playing the seniors scout role, they bought two yearlings from
the Arqana Ready To Run sale in France last week. They have also bought
from America (try Green Belt) in the last 18 months along with their
local buying spree to keep the boxes filled, owners fulfilled and a
steady stream of new talent emerging.
Purchased last night.. Two Arqana Breeze Up colts sprinting up on the course proper in France. ???????? ????
Type ✅
Turn of foot ✅
Stride length ✅
Vet ✅
Lot 97 – Oasis Dream – €140
Lot 151 – Sea The Moon – €170
Ownership opportunities available! pic.twitter.com/eV7IqwNs6V
— Price Kent Racing (@MickPriceRacing) May 14, 2022
“As good as you think you are going, you have to have a youth policy, whether that is horses or staff,” he said.
“Football
teams have a youth policy and sometimes buy the wrong recruits. But
Junior is a good recruiter, he’s not just a good assistant trainer, he’s
good with horses and the people and allows me to concentrate on the
training, but there is a lot of time spent on assessing the horses and
we have good people advising us.
“But I am out there taking the
risk. I’m the one out there specing with my money, I don’t have an
owner, Junior does the groundwork, but it’s like walking into a shop,
you need to have product on the shelf. There is of course risk, trainers
are out there with their 90 days interests free but when that runs out
and the interests kicks in, it adds up and becomes a real burden.”
Price
is quick though to praise the new home ground for his recruits and
thinks the shift to Cranbourne has been significant in his rebirth, or
regeneration.
“Cranbourne is undervalued in terms of our stable. I never considered
Pakenham. When I came here (Cranbourne Turf Club CEO) Neil Bainbridge
outlined a prime spot and allowed me to design the boxes, they are big,
airy and clean.
“Caulfield had bird dropping problems, you could
never bird proof the stables, and that led to problems. I have found
with these stables we have a lot less issues with EIPH (internal
bleeding) and less mucus problems.
“We have breezy stables,
rubbered walls and floors, miles of grass gallops, no competing race
club to use them, it’s a dedicated training facility with all you need,
plus the deep sand and trails through the bush. It’s just perfect for me
and I can’t see why this won’t become the best training centre in
Australia.”
While Price admires the business model and size of the Maher/Eustace
stable, they are neighbours again, while keeping his 80 boxes full is
always the aim, a life balance remains as important, and with Dreschlar
by his side, he has found more than just a business ally.
“Ciaron
has got fantastic management, but those two boys are single, have no
ties, look it is a very competitive game and owners need to see success
and they do a terrific job and are very driven,” Price said.
“But
I am very comfortable with where we are at. And Shona has been a
massive part of that, the owners love her as well, she is brilliant in
looking after them, as well as me.”