When Brian Taylor, a flying groom, won the “dedication” category at last year’s Godolphin Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards it was not only recognition of his 40 years in the role but it shone a light on the crucial but unseen work this small band of people carry out both on the ground and at 35,000 feet.
When racehorses fly anywhere, their everyday grooms, the people who know them best, go by ordinary passenger flight and their often multi-million-pound charges are handed over to specialist flying grooms such as Taylor for their flight.
While the horse is in transit, flying grooms become an essential cog in the wheel and can be the difference between winning and losing. While a good flight is not going to make a horse quicker – though some appear to thrive on travelling – a bad flight can cost them a race.
As it is for the humans attending the 41st Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar in California, a 12-hour flight away, the first obstacle facing the 44 European runners – indeed all of the record 80 international horses pre-entered to take on the Americans in races totalling $34 million this weekend – is getting there.
“In the old days, the stalls were open top, you could stand there and see 45 horses’ heads looking out,” Taylor explains. “The problem with that was that, occasionally, one would jump out. Now the stalls have been developed with a roof and groom’s compartment, so you can stand with them.
‘When I started, the planes were diabolical. You’d freeze to death’
“When I started, the planes were diabolical. You’d freeze to death. We had a loose one on a plane coming back from Australia, but it just had a few cuts.
“Modern aircraft are great, you can regulate the temperature and air flow, but the problem is they are purpose-built freighters so there is no room for people and we’ve had to halve the number of flying grooms. For the Breeders’ Cup, we’ll be seven guys and two vets looking after 38 horses to San Diego.”
Horses have been flown for nearly a century. In 1928, a racehorse called Wirt G Bowman was flown 500 miles north from San Diego for a race at San Bruno, California.
The next milestone was in 1946 when the first transcontinental flight for horses from New York to California took place. The same year, the first transatlantic flight with horses on board went from Ireland to California, a laborious 24-hour trip in a DC-4 with two stops on the way.
It was generally believed that the horses travelled well on that first transcontinental journey but John McCabe, a flight engineer on it who went on to become a pioneer of this mode of horse transport, thought otherwise.
“It was a disaster,” he told the Thoroughbred Record in 1981 before saying he had seen the future of horse travel. “Nobody knew what to do, nobody had any horse sense. Nobody knew how to ship horses, nobody knew how to handle them. It was just a messed-up deal.”
What was needed was the specialist flying groom, an air steward, as it were, for equines, and over time Taylor has become hugely respected in the industry.
If his name sounds familiar, it is because his father, also Brian, won the 1974 Derby on 50-1 shot Snow Knight.
“I always wanted to be a jockey, like all jockeys’ sons, but I was bigger than him when I was 12 and, though I could ride, I didn’t have his talent anyway,” says Taylor, 59. “But I was brought up around horses and until I was 16 I thought everyone had a sauna in their house!”
Taylor was on a stud management course in Newmarket when his father, who was seeing out his last contract in Hong Kong before retiring, died after a fall at the end of a race.
“I actually found out that he’d died on Teletext,” recalls Taylor, who works for bloodstock shipping agents Luck Greayer. “Two minutes later there was a knock on the door and Johnny Winter [the late Newmarket trainer] had come to tell me.
“I was 19 at the time. Afterwards I wanted to get out of racing and away from horses, so I went to sell houses. That didn’t last long. Then I bumped into Robin Wakelam, one of the best flying grooms around, on the high street and he asked me to give him a hand. Once he saw I could handle horses at the sales, I went flying.”
‘Someone will give you a colt and tell you it’s a fruitcake but as soon as the plane engines start, it settles down’
Taylor is now one of the most senior and experienced flying grooms in the world, a safe pair of hands on a flight full of very fit, often highly strung, unimaginably valuable bloodstock.
“They fly in jet stalls on pallets, developed over the years, which are just like the insides of a modern horsebox,” he explains. “You can have three, two or one in there. They either face forwards or backwards. If you fly them sideways they fall over.
“Loading and unloading is probably the most difficult thing. The jet stalls get put on the plane using a hydraulic lift just like ordinary general cargo. They do look a bit sideways going up. Once locked in, they begin to settle.
“Sometimes, someone will give you a colt and tell you it’s a fruitcake but as soon as the plane engines start, it settles down. Ironically, as soon as someone tells you it’ll be no problem, it usually is.”
Horses travel with a hay net and are fed according to trainers’ instructions, otherwise on a 12-hour flight they could be missing two or three meals. Maintaining weight and hydration is very important. They are watered regularly and their fluid intake monitored.
“Horses can get travel sickness – even on a ride in a horsebox – so air temperature and air flow is monitored,” Taylor adds. “A good environment with their heads down and plenty of fluids is a must. Trying to make it stress-free for the horses and the two vets on our flight is our main aim.”
The drama in the 1978 film International Velvet is when a horse on a flight goes berserk and has to be shot. “Doesn’t happen,” says Taylor, rolling his eyes.
“In the old days they used to carry a humane killer but they never used it. If one panics, being calm around them is key. The trick is to catch them before it happens. Occasionally people panic on a plane and sometimes horses do. A reassuring presence probably works best for both.
“We do carry a sedative for a worst-case scenario but in the last five years I wouldn’t have had to sedate 10 horses. If they’re racing you can’t but, generally, you know the problem ones when they’re loading.”
‘Since Brexit, I can’t put Irish or French horses on the same pallet as British ones even though they’re on the same flight’
As with so much international travel, there is plenty of red tape to untangle. “I sort all the plans out, decide where horses go,” Taylor explains. “The colts and fillies have to be separate and, since Brexit, I can’t put Irish or French horses on the same pallet as British ones even though they are on the same flight. We also have to use different trucks at the far end.
“I recently took two horses to Canada, one French, one English – each had to go in separate containers and then go to the track in separate trucks. It’s daft, we could quite easily have stuck them in together. And then at Del Mar there’ll be a British barn and another for the Irish and French.”
At Del Mar, Taylor will not just be hanging around waiting for the return flight a week today. He will be giving a hand to anyone who is short, carrying gear, helping out on race day, giving the benefit of his experience to grooms who are on a first trip abroad. “I’ve made a career carrying a bucket,” he jokes.
“It does become Team Europe though, it’s the most amazing thing. All the lads will help each other out, muck in, muck out, root for each other’s horses.
“It takes a certain type of horse to fly 15 hours, do 48 hours quarantine, and then run the race of its life,” he adds. “I used to fly Ouija Board everywhere and she was one of them. She used to go to sleep on the flight.
“The first time I flew her was to the Irish Oaks, and they were a bit worried about her. When the box arrived there were two horses on board. They’d decided to bring a travelling companion but I wasn’t set up for it. Ironically, we ended up having to sedate him. Quite a weird situation.
“I once saw an elephant on a plane, 40 years ago. But I don’t fly them, they’re just on the plane. These days you’re more likely to see fruit and veg for Tesco, flowers, cars, other jet engines, and the horses are all in between them. They are just cargo but not a cardboard box you can leave in a warehouse for two days. Come Valentine’s day, it’ll all be flowers. You wouldn’t believe it.
“City Of Troy will be on an aircraft but one of Aidan [O’Brien’s] lads will be looking after him unless there’s a problem. The Breeders’ Cup is my favourite trip. We [Britain and Ireland] have had success but haven’t won the Classic yet. We nearly did with Toast Of New York but if City Of Troy wins, I’m claiming it.”
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