Bureaucracy in training - how trainers are coping with the added paperwork they now need to produce for racing authorities
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By Lissa Oliver
Conny Whitfield, a small-scale German trainer based in Iffezheim, shares one of German racing’s best kept secrets. “Elsewhere in Europe, most stables have a secretary, but here in Germany, most trainers do not. There are 15 trainers based here, three with over 50 horses in training each; and none of us have secretaries.”
As the office work elsewhere in racing yards increases, it’s perhaps bitter-sweet to learn that some jurisdictions have honed an efficient online system that can actually save trainers time in the office.
“We have 10 horses in training, and I do all the office work myself, although I do have the help of an accountant,” Whitfield reveals. “I find all the paperwork and documentation required on a daily basis to be straightforward, and it has not really increased in recent years. The difference now is that it is all online, and I find it simpler. Moving online has been a great help. What used to take me an hour now only takes 10 minutes. The only paperwork needed is collecting receipts.”
Whitfield has a lot of runners in France and notes, “There’s much more paperwork required by France Galop!” She admits that recruiting and dealing with staff is a bigger issue than office work, as finding good staff in Germany is a major problem.
There are always exceptions, and Cologne-based Peter Schiergen is assisted with secretarial duties by his wife Gisela. He also has Valeria Holinger working on his website and social media, but he does have over 70 horses in training. Christian von der Recke, with 43 horses, has introduced Stefanie Sambale to his team—the first person in his office for many years.
Producing good riders and grooms is the necessary priority for the racing school in Cologne, but the mounting office work faced by most other trainers means that courses for Racing Secretaries are becoming an equal part of the curriculum at Europe’s horseracing academies.
Ireland’s Racing Academy and Centre of Education (RACE) is the latest to introduce such a course—the part-time racing secretary course new for 2020 and delivered via Zoom (due to pandemic restrictions) in six afternoons over three weeks. Among the six modules covered are Racing Administration, Payroll and Health and Safety, which have increased significantly in recent years.
Racing Secretaries courses are designed to provide aspiring secretaries and newly appointed secretaries with a comprehensive understanding of the role of the trainer’s secretary, the structure of the racing industry and racing administration. Clare Breadin was seeking work within the racing industry when she recently completed the Newmarket-based course and found it was an even mix between those already working in a racing yard office and those, like herself, looking to change careers.
“I see the role of the racing secretary as quite demanding,” Breadin observes, “as they cover Health and Safety, Human Relations, declarations, bookings, owners, accounts, payroll and so on. Attention to detail is a must. Also, now everything has to be on social media, which is another additional task. I feel the job could be very stressful, and secretaries are needed seven days a week.”
Breadin, who now works in a leading flat racing stable in Britain, found the software programmes for accounts and billing easy to use and straightforward, so it would seem the traditional tasks have been alleviated somewhat by the digital era. But new responsibilities for employers regarding data management, working hours and the health, safety and general wellbeing of employees have brought a tougher new dimension to the office.
“Some trainers have several secretaries, as some do the book-keeping and some deal with the racing side of things,” Breadin notes. “I think maybe with the increase of racing, and also more international runners, the role has increased.”
This is borne out by Hannah Watson, racing secretary and PA to British trainers James and Ed Bethell. “Over the last year, the emphasis on the trainer's secretary to carry out more and more administration duties and paperwork has increased dramatically,” Watson says. “Weatherbys have now changed several things. VAT Summaries are now online, and we must go through them all monthly and print them out. The naming of the horse online now is done by us, and Weatherbys just send us a sticker for the passport once confirmed. We must make sure of the correct spelling, etc.
“Unfortunately, due to COVID, we now must declare all racing staff online and then do the race day declaration. Previously this would be done by a member of staff at the races in the weighing room. This takes time, and it is so important to get all the information correct, such as whether the horse needs to wear a red hood to the start, etc. It's our responsibility to make sure all our owners and staff have passed the COVID questionnaire before attending racing; we then organise the badges via the PASS Card system.
“I am lucky, as I have worked on and off in the racing industry as a trainer’s secretary for many years. I have had no formal training and taught myself along the way. Weatherbys do have a help desk if we are ever stuck.”
Martine Ricard, secretary to Henri-Alex Pantall in Beaupréau, France, joined the team in 1983, and has followed its progress, being responsible for all the administration and management of the business. “It is with pleasure that I could talk about the job of racing secretary, I’ve been practicing it for 35 years and it’s true that there have been a lot of developments,” she says.
“The job of stable secretary has evolved considerably since I started, 35 years ago. Everything has become enormously professional and centralised at France Galop. The number of race meetings, now several meetings per day, has increased a lot and as a result the workload of entries, forfeits, declarations of starters, climbs too. Then there is the organisation for owners and transport for this. “Fortunately, the internet is there! And the France Galop site greatly facilitates our work, it has become an essential tool for our work, but also much more specialised and demanding, it is also our reference.”
Pantall’s stable is well-established and successful, as Ricard points out. “With the exception of this particular year, we have on average more than 1,000 starters per year, plus those abroad who are also ask to complete special formalities. In addition, there is staff management, and in France social laws are constantly evolving, and all the billing. “In conclusion, one or more secretary in a stable is more and more essential, to free the trainer from this increasingly time-consuming administrative work and she or he must have a great capacity for adaptation.”
It would seem that with any volume of runners, a trainer simply cannot devote the necessary time to the administration involved in running a larger racing stable, even if he or she possessed the required skill set and interest. Few people get involved with horses in order to immerse themselves in office duties, least of all trainers. For many British stables, having two office staff is fast becoming the norm.
With over 250 horses in training, Middleham-based UK trainer Mark Johnston has a team of seven in the office; four secretaries complimented by a dedicated human resources and transport manager, an accounts manager and a partnerships manager to deal specifically with shared ownership horses. …
