A Race in the Life
Any given mounting yard report for us follows something of a routine, but with a healthy dose of unpredictability ensuring what might be a relaxed task at times can quickly become a mad rush to the finish. To give you an idea of the timeline that FTY experiences on a twice-weekly basis, I have attempted to document the mounting yard process from the Bletchingley Stakes at Caulfield, July 27, 2025. Note this will hardly be a comprehensive look: wielding two phones in an attempt to both enter data and take photos simultaneously is not something I’d want to be doing regularly, let alone in a bigger field. But for those curious, we hope you get an appreciation of how much can go in to a day’s work!
At this point, we take a mad dash! Up the stairs out of the stabling area, around the grandstand, to take up a position along the mounting yard fence. Caulfield has a much quicker route than bigger, more spacious tracks such as Sandown Park and especially Flemington.
This would certainly be one of the more limited parades in the stabling area. Typically at Caulfield, three-quarters of a small field could be analysed in some detail before they head through the tunnel towards the mounting yard. That’s the luck of the draw sometimes, especially when the gap between races is 35 minutes or less.
Note: we now realise that we neglected to get a proper photo of KIN. Not for the first time, she entered the parade late, possibly due to Godolphin having three runners in this field. FTY finishes assessing the runners in the field, entering final data in to the phone. The trumpet fanfare plays, the jockeys mount their charges, and they head out on to the track.
1620: the remaining five minutes, is spent watching the available television angles broadcast on the big screen, ensuring there’s no late vet-checks or behavioural changes. FTY also enters the current Betfair price to the Master Template, which produces a set of recommended backs and lays according to the template settings.
1625: there’s no late changes. And they’re off!
