Oct_146_24Hours_Owner 22/09/2016 14:48 Page 120
24 HOURS WITH… AMANDA SKIFFINGTON
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TREVOR JONES
I
don’t sleep very well, and even less during the sales. But I am still up by six. I let out our two border terriers, Myrtle and Goose, make some tea and then try and chill for a while. At sales time I find myself going through lists, double checking the horses I’m planning to look at and reading through my notes. I like to do that first thing; it’s a time of day when I’m not the most friendly person in the house because my mind is full of so much detail. I get to the sales as early as possible and will do as much work inspecting before grabbing some breakfast. I am a great believer in taking a break whenever you feel you need one, which in my case is several times a day. Another big thing for me is changing my shoes during the day; varying my heel height helps to prevent my feet from hurting. When I feel like some breakfast I find my way to the Newsells Stud office, where they make the best coffee, which I’ll have with a yoghurt and slice of toast. On a good day I’ll inspect 140 horses. My memory is pretty rubbish for most things in life, but luckily I do remember horses. Even if I haven’t seen them for two or three years I can still recognise them when I come across them again. I have somebody with me carrying my phone because I don’t like answering at the sales unless it’s a client. I find any break in concentration is not good. I actually love Fairyhouse because I’ve been so unbelievably lucky there. I usually carry a bit more clout because the Arabs are not in evidence there and I find I have more chance of buying. Other sales are tougher simply because it’s more difficult to buy what you like. It was Fairyhouse where I bought Galileo Gold [2,000
Not being ‘horsey’ has not prevented AMANDA SKIFFINGTON from becoming a top bloodstock agent; indeed, she feels it gives her and her all-female firm an advantage to exploit Guineas and St James’s Palace] for €33,000 and Hawksmoor [German 1,000 Guineas] for €80,000. Architecture, second in the Epsom and Irish Oaks, is another of mine running this season. I got her for £26,000. I also found Toronado [Sussex Stakes and Queen Anne] and Havana Gold [Prix Jean Prat] in the same year and they went on to win three Group 1s between them. So the last few years have been pretty phenomenal. I am very competitive and enjoy the competition at the sales. I take great delight in finding a horse I love; it gives me such a happy feeling. I fell in love with Toronado the minute I saw him. He is the best horse I have ever seen. He has such presence, is a beautiful specimen and
moves like a dream. Luckily for me he was a weaver and that put a lot of people off. Believe it or not, I am not very horsey. I haven’t ridden for years and was never a good rider. But my early days, when I used to have breakfast with Jeremy Tree at Beckhampton on Saturdays during my school holidays, were enormously influential. Jeremy got me my first job in racing and had a great bearing on my life and career. He was a strong character and I loved him dearly. I enjoy looking at animals generally and trying to see the athlete in them. I possibly have a slight advantage not being horsey because I don’t necessarily look at horses in the same way other people do – one different aspect is trying to visualise them
skeletally. The way they move and their balance is also vital in my view. I like to spend as much time as I can going round studs in England and Ireland and my working lifestyle means lunch is whatever I can find, whenever. Being a woman agent is a disadvantage in that some global buyers will never use me, otherwise it’s no disadvantage. When I started in the late 1970s Susan Piggott was about the only female bloodstock agent, now there’s Gill Richardson, Mags O’Toole and myself. My team at Anglia Bloodstock is entirely female. We have about ten horses in Anglia Bloodstock syndicates and the aim is to help racing by attracting new people to the sport, so we buy at the cheaper end of the market for them. I do have spare time between January and June, when I go to South Africa and work the sales there. Away from racing I watch a lot of cricket and have twice been to Newlands cricket ground in Cape Town. A day at Lord’s can be great fun, too. Playing bridge is another enjoyable pastime. We have our evening meal about eight-ish and I love cooking. My favourite is roast grouse followed by gooseberry fool. My husband, Thomas, is pretty deaf and doesn’t enjoy the theatre, but we go to the cinema. Bedtime is about 11pm. I get totally wound up during the sales so when I go to sleep at night I even see horses walking up and down in front of me. It’s really horrendous, even my feet hurt in my sleep! I have been known to walk round the house in the middle of the night studying sales catalogues.
Interview by Tim Richards
THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER