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From fairways to furlongs: Reid's journey to Strathalbyn

The Strathalbyn Racing Club is on the hunt for a trainee curator to join forces with the team at the picturesque setting and work alongside newly appointed Track and Facilities supervisor Haydn Reid. 

Reid has been in his new role for a little over two months after spending the majority of his horticulture career looking after golf courses.

And the change in surfaces hasn’t been as daunting as you’d imagine.

“There’s a massive difference in the length of grass here you have to maintain. Obviously to put 500 plus kilos of horse going around at a fair rate of knots and what it does to the turf is a lot different to what a golfer will do to your turf,” he said.

“But the practices are very similar in terms of looking after what’s on top and what’s underneath the turf, and the root zone in your soil as well so very similar in some ways.”

Reid got into turf management straight out of high school when he started an apprenticeship at the Flagstaff Hill Golf Course. From there he won a scholarship and worked on golf courses in America before returning to the Flagstaff Hill course for the next decade. He’s since worked for horticultural companies but is relishing the chance to return to his grassroots – and that’s managing turf. 

“There’s nothing better, it beats going into the city every day and dealing with the traffic, I’ve got a 15 minute drive over the hill to home so it’s nice and relaxing and very enjoyable.

“I’ve got two full timers underneath me as well as a casual and it’s certainly a challenging environment to work in with 100+ acres of land to maintain and keep looking neat and presentable throughout the race season so certainly no dull moments,” he said.

“The ultimate goal is to provide a race track that will see us through the season and a race track and facilities for our trainers that train here on a regular basis that’s going to help them get the best out of their horses.”

Strathalbyn is one of four racecourses across the state which hope to benefit from track curator traineeships created by Racing SA designed to encourage more people to pursue a career in thoroughbred racing.  

“At the moment we do have a traineeship role through Racing SA and we’re trying to fill that position,” Reid said.

“It’s a role where you’re outside, you’re in the weather, you’re in the elements but it’s a very enjoyable role with a very supportive team that are working to offload our information to give that young person a chance to really grow and develop in the industry moving forward.”

As Haydn well knows, the traineeship could be a foot in the door of a career that could take you to the best golf courses or race tracks in the world.

Contact Strathalbyn Racing Club 08 8536 2248 or admin@strathracing.com for more information about the traineeship.

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