Danielle Bricker on the Goffs UK Breeze-Up Scene

If interest from Todd Pletcher himself attests to the growing credibility of this auction, then his choice of envoy reflects no less well on Danielle Bricker. Still only 26, and with no background in the industry, Bricker has been fast-tracked to a position as bloodstock assistant and 2-year-old scout for the record-breaking American trainer. And her presence at the Goffs UK Breeze Up Sale is a measure of her determination to maintain the dizzy rate of her education.

“If he sees you have potential and are really willing to work, Todd will give you the opportunity,” Bricker said. “He learned under the best–and I'm learning from the best.”

Bricker's trip is the result of an enterprising mission to Florida by Goffs director Tim Kent and GBRI operations director James Oldring. With Royal Ascot increasingly targeted by Americans, and this sale proving a fertile source of early-season juveniles, Pletcher agreed to send Bricker across in the certainty that–whether or not she managed to find a likely type for export–she could only benefit from the experience.

Bricker has not yet been with Pletcher for two years, but it tells you everything that he promoted her from hotwalker to barn foreman in barely six weeks. She had been on her way to becoming a nurse when switching to an equine programme at the University of Kentucky, after which various internships and introductions–above all with Donato Lanni, a cherished mentor–persuaded her that she had found her vocation. Back in Long Island, her parents were aghast.

“My dad's an accountant, a complete numbers guy,” she said. “And when I told them what I wanted to do, they said, 'What are you talking about!' But seeing how determined and hard-working they have always been, I knew I had to be the same. So I'm constantly reading, learning, researching. Dr. Jose Bras allows me to sit in on surgeries, so I can connect everything. Todd said in this position he doesn't want me competing with anybody: I work with everyone, build relationships, I've done business with people like Justin Casse and Jacob West. We all want good horses, and certain agents will want to send them to Todd [anyway].”

Having never left the U.S. before, this has already been an eye-opening trip for Bricker–from getting lost in London on her first day, to visiting the yards of Marco Botti and Roger Varian in Newmarket, to seeing horses breezing through mud and mist.

“It's all very different from 2-year-old sales in the U.S., where everything's in equipment: blinkers, different bits, wrappings on legs,” she said. “I'm viewing it as an experience, but Todd said to see if we maybe could find something for a client who might be interested in a turf horse, or an international pedigree. Horses are exposed to a lot of different things here: having to walk to the track on the side of the road, being out in an open field, that kind of thing. But the biggest difference is that a lot of them are on the smaller side, so you have to use your imagination and decide if a horse might grow–or if it's a European horse, not that big but it can still compete.”

Bricker has also been tutored by her employer's father J.J. Pletcher, such a celebrated judge of young stock. One of her breakthrough assignments was to shortlist an entire September Sale at Keeneland through to Book 6.

“Which is a lot of horses to get through,” she said. “But it was a phenomenal experience. J.J. is just so knowledgeable and Todd still takes his opinion to everything, so to learn under the two of them–well, you can't really ask for better teachers.”

“I don't know if I picked it up from Todd, who sometimes will just walk off to be by himself during training, to really focus on things,” she said. “But I find when I'm watching previews, or at the sales, I prefer to do the same, not to be distracted by everything going on. Because, working for Todd, I don't want to make a mistake: I only want to make him proud and happy I'm in this position. And the only way you're going to do that is if you really focus, if you keep learning and expanding your knowledge.”