Working Lives - The Bloodstock Agent

Charlie Gordon-Watson, 44, is one of Europe's leading bloodstock agents and works for a string of winning clients. Among the racehorses he's bought is last year's Derby winner. Here he describes a hectic week at the Deauville yearling sale.

Thursday
The search for talent begins

I'm staying at the Royal Barriere Hotel in Deauville - I arrived last night by car. I come to Deauville every year. It's my favourite bloodstock sale because it's very civilised and there aren't too many horses. I've also been lucky here and bought some good winners.

There's a bit of a party atmosphere in the town because there's racing going on. A lot of people just come for the weekend and aren't involved in the sales, but I always get here on the Wednesday. There are fewer people around and it's easier to get through all the horses.

It's a ten-minute walk from the hotel to the sale ground. Initially this morning there aren't too many horses to look at, so I go through the catalogue and work out which ones I'm going to look at during the day.

They're all stabled at the sales complex. You go over and get them out of the box and look at them walk up and down. You write your notes and then on you go.

Basically I'm a talent scout. I have to assess horses and predict what's going to happen in the future. You need intuition, experience, common sense, knowledge, plus plenty of luck. And a lot of hard work. With a yearling, you're looking at a horse who is between 14 and 18 months old and you've got to picture what it's going to grow into, how it's going to mature. You're dealing with raw material and you've got to imagine how it's going to be as the finished article.

It's partly a talent that you're born with, but whatever you're born with, you have to develop it and apply it and work at it. You learn more every year - about the families and the genes and the characteristics.

In the afternoon I look at about 50 horses, just to make a start. Then I meet a friend of mine, André Fabre, who's one of the most successful trainers in Europe. He's playing in a polo match, and my friend Diego Zavaleta from Argentina runs his polo team, so I go to watch - in the pouring rain.

In the evening I go out for dinner with them and André's children. Then I get a relatively early night - which is rather unusual in Deauville.

Friday
A day at the sales

I'm up early and start looking at horses at about 8.30. Today I'll be at the sale ground all day and will see about 120 horses. It's tiring, because you have to concentrate all the time, and it's quite hot. You have to stop every now and then because your eyes get tired and your body gets tired and the horses all start to look the same. So I have a cup of coffee and make a few calls and then start again. I prefer not to speak to other people when I'm working. I'm focused. I'm there to do a job, not to chat to people.

You could say I was born and bred to racing. My grandfather was a leading breeder in his time and all my cousins are involved in it. We bred horses at home in Dorset, so it was a natural thing to do. I left school at 17 and worked for a trainer for a year. Then I spent a couple of years travelling and working for Lloyd's in the City. After that I went back to racing and I've been in it ever since.

After a few years spent learning about training, I went to work for Robert Sangster in the Isle of Man. At the time he was the leading owner in the world, so that was great experience and I learned a lot. But I didn't see eye to eye with my immediate boss, so I had to leave. Afterwards I sold bloodstock advertising at Pacemaker magazine, which taught me a lot about the commercial side of the business.

When I got to 25, I reached a crossroads. I wanted to go and work for one of the bloodstock agencies but none of them would have me. I was maybe over-qualified for my age. I think they thought that if I went there I was only going to pick up what I could for a couple of years and then disappear on my own. I was unemployable, so I had to employ myself and that's how it started, in 1985.

The first three years were absolute hell. There was a credibility issue - why should someone trust you, aged 25, with their money to buy horses for them? But I worked away and latched onto a few people, then somehow I got lucky and showed I had some idea of what I was doing. In 1988 I had my first big winner, which was Pass The Peace, the champion two-year-old filly. That sort of launched me, really.

In the evening I go out with Martin and Nicole Myers from Mountgrange Stud and his trainer Roger Charlton and his wife Claire. We go to a place called Chez Hervé, which is very well known and very good. It's quite a late night.

Saturday
Meetings with clients

Another early start. I meet up with Nicolas Clément, a French trainer I'm buying some horses for, and compare notes. Then I have to meet Peter Savill, who's my longest standing Deauville client. He's just retired as chairman of the British Horseracing Board. He really got me started at Deauville, buying for his French trainers. I show him about 20 horses and we discuss them and narrow the list down to six.

Then I have to get a vet to look at the horses' x-rays, and a few of them fall by the wayside at this point. Young horses can have problems like chipped bones, which aren't conducive to racing. You also have to look down the throat and examine the larynx. The movement of the larynx is very important for the airways - if a horse can't breathe properly, it can't gallop.

Afterwards I meet another client, Jaber Abdullah from Dubai. I once bought Queen's Logic, the champion two-year-old, for him at Deauville.

I suppose I'm one of the top agents in Europe. There are about 50 people doing what I do. It's a small pool and it's very cut-throat. I'd be the first to admit that I wouldn't include many of them as my friends. It's a highly competitive world, because there are only so many good horses you can buy and only so many good clients.

Last year I bought 70 horses for about 25 clients for a total of around £10 million. My clients all have different requirements: some want horses that are going to be long-distance, some want sprinters, for instance. Some clients pay me a retainer and some pay on a commission basis of around five per cent. The most I've successfully bid for a horse is 1.2 million guineas (£1.26m).

Knowledgeable owners understand that success isn't guaranteed. We're dealing with animals, not engines. Who knows what goes on in that horse's head? The one thing you can't account for is temperament.

In the evening I have a drink with Michael Stoute, who trains for Saeed Suhail. Then I go out for dinner with Richard Gibson and his wife Sybille. He trains horses in France and I've always worked closely with him. At the dinner is Tony O'Reilly, of the Independent Newspapers group, who I've never really met properly before. He used to play rugby for Ireland so it's fascinating talking to him about the game, as I know nothing about it, being more of a football man.

Sunday
A mystery client…and the sale begins

Not such an early start today. I meet up with a few clients and then I go to the races. I don't really bet on racing more on football. I maybe know too much about it. I think you get to a stage when you can know too much about something, so you just get confused.

While I'm there I meet an old pal of mine from Monaco called Mike Charlton. A year or so ago he rang me and said he might have a very good new client for me who's interested in buying yearlings. Nothing happened at the time, but today he tells me he's got some good news and that the man in question is here. I can't say who he is, because he's very private. Mike says that he might want to buy something.

I go back to the sale ground about four o'clock to have a last look at some horses. The sale is due to start at 5.30. I get a call from Luca Cumani, who trains in Newmarket, and he tells me Mike's contact is here and wants to know what I suggest we show him. So I show him some horses and he decides which ones he likes best. Between the three of us we come up with a couple of possibilities and talk it through and put a value on them.
Then it's time for the sale to begin. The auction room is like a theatre, with banks of seats, and it's very crowded. In the morning I saw a horse I particularly liked which I showed to Peter Savill. He liked it too. It's Lot 2, and we buy it for €180,000. The horses are unnamed at this point - the owner names them after they've been bought.
Lot 4 is a filly and I get it for €60,000 for Jaber Abdullah. It will be trained by Mick Channon, who I've had quite a bit of luck with over the years. We had two Cheveley Park winners in three years - it's the number one race for two-year-old fillies. Then I buy Lot 57, which is the horse for the mystery man with Luca Cumani. It's a filly for €200,000.

By the end of the first night of the sale, I've bought five horses and I've been outbid on two others, out of 80 lots. I'm happy with that.

Monday, Tuesday
Winding down

Today the sale starts at two o'clock and I buy another seven horses for various clients - Nicolas Clément, Jaber Abdullah, Richard Gibson, Peter Savill and Saeed Suhail from Dubai, who's part of the Maktoum group.

My ambition when I set out was always to buy a Derby winner, and I did it last year with Kris Kin, which I bought for Mr Suhail. I also bought King's Best for him, which won the 2,000 Guineas four years ago - that was another big moment. I'm actually the only current English bloodstock agent to have bought the winner of both the English 2000 Guineas and the Derby so the others have some catching up to do.
The next day the standard has dropped off, but I find two horses that I like and buy both. I've now bought 14 horses, which is six more than I bought last year at Deauville, and I've spent quite a bit more money - €1,562,000 in total.

In the last few days I've looked at about 300 horses. Next week I'll be in Kentucky and I'll see about 1,200 there. Then I'll see another 500 in Ireland and 1,000 at Newmarket. In one season - which lasts from the end of August to the beginning of December - I'll be looking at about 3,000 horses, with a view to buying 50 or 60. So far it's been a very good start.

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