Wild Goose Long Flown The Nest

Despite being born and raised in Sutton, County Dublin, there is very little of the native twang audible from Geoffrey Russell these days. Thirty-five years living in Kentucky would have that affect, but Keeneland's director of sales operations hasn't forgotten his roots and he was back on home soil recently to collect an award at the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders' Association annual awards ceremony at The Heritage Hotel in Laois. Russell was the recipient of the 'Wild Geese Award,' which is presented to Irish emigrants who have made their mark in the international bloodstock industry.

His rise up the corporate ranks at Keeneland since he landed in America in 1982, not knowing anybody, is certainly testament to his professionalism and work ethic, though it was a different style of work ethic that was put to the test at the awards night on Jan. 29. As Russell explains, “That was the first time I've been up until 5 a.m. for a long time, although they did warn me it would be a long night. In fact I was quite shocked when the lights came on and we were all told to go to bed–time just flew by. But it was great to catch up with so many friends from Ireland and the industry and it was a proud night and I was honoured to be selected.”

The Wild Geese Award is a relatively recent initiative and Russell is in good company with previous winners including Japan-based Harry Sweeney of Paca Paca Farm and Russell's fellow adopted Kentuckian Pat Costello of Paramount Sales.

“Pat was in here only the other day and we were talking about it as he won it two years ago and John Troy won it last year so it is an honour to be among those names,” said Russell.

Achieving a high rank in the global bloodstock industry without any family connections to ease open doors is not a straightforward task, but it was something that Geoffrey Russell tackled head on when he embarked on his career in the early 1980s. “I came over to Lexington for a summer internship with Fasig-Tipton in July of 1982 and I've been here ever since,” he explained. “I honestly had no firm plans to stay beyond that summer but I was quite fortunate that my stay coincided with a time when the commercial sales market in the U.S. really took off. I remember the November Sale in 1982 doubled from a three-day sale to a six-day sale and they needed people to help out. I always maintain I was in the right place at the right time.”

Russell's hometown of Sutton wouldn't be regarded as a hotbed of Thoroughbred activity and it was frequent family trips to Leopardstown which whetted his appetite. “My best friend growing up was John Cuddy and his father Michael owned racehorses, so I attended race-meetings with them on a regular basis,” he explained. “I guess you could say they cultivated my interest in the sport. When I look back now though, I consider myself so fortunate to have been exposed to racing at an early age. I work in a job that is also my hobby, I even get paid to read the TDN; other people have to do that on their own time.”

Russell's early years in America saw him based with Fasig-Tipton while he also did a stint working for Elmendorf Farm in Kentucky before joining the sales team at Keeneland in 1996. For a company that sold almost 6,500 horses in 2016, its unusual aspect is that this quantity of horses changed hands over the course of just three different sales throughout the calendar, a small number considering Tattersalls and Goffs each host nine auctions per annum. This does not mean, however, that there is an excess of leisure time for Russell, as an enormous amount of work goes into preparing for these sales between inspections, assessments and cataloguing of lots, with more than 11,000 horses catalogued last year.

“Both the September and the November Sale are the largest of their kind in the world,” Russell noted. “The November Sale had just under 4,800 lots catalogued and the logistics of organising such a sale are quite extensive. At Keeneland we also have an important responsibility to market the sport and to engage with buyers and investors, both domestic and international, to ensure a maximum attendance at each sale.”

Keeneland is equally synonymous with racing as it is with sales, and the company received widespread credit for hosting an excellent renewal of the Breeders' Cup in 2015, overcoming a number of challenges, most notably accommodating a crowd far in excess of the track's regular attendance figures. While not directly involved on the racing side, Russell is wise enough to know that one can't separate them completely. He said, “We'll all help out with the racing if needed because ultimately there are a lot of the same clients involved. The trainer and owner who come to buy a yearling at the September Sale are just as likely to be racing at Keeneland in the spring. There is an obvious synergy involved and as it's very much a people and relationship based business, it is so important to have a presence at the races.”

That presence also extends to Ireland, where Keeneland sponsors the G1 Phoenix S. run at The Curragh in August, a race won two years ago by Keeneland yearling graduate Air Force Blue (War Front).

Immigration is a contentious issue in America at the moment and back in the early 1980s Russell was just one of a great number of Irish men and women who sought a new way of life in America, seduced by the sheer scale and breadth of opportunities available to those not afraid of hard work.

“When I came over here in 1982 there was a huge population of Irish people working here and while some returned to Ireland when the economy began to roar over there at the turn of the century, a core group remained,” he recalled. “Many of that core group–people like Pat Costello, Gabrial Duignan, Adrian Regan, Fergus Galvin, Michael Hernon, James Keogh and several others–they have all graduated from mucking out stalls and mowing grass to being highly influential people in the U.S. bloodstock industry. They've all sort of looked out for each other also over the years; there's good camaraderie, even though we all laugh and joke about each other in typical Irish fashion.”

Every year Russell gives a talk to the Godolphin Flying Start trainees and one piece of advice he offers them, and indeed anyone else starting out in the industry, is to travel. This is despite his journey ending at its first pit-stop. However; Russell is keen to stress that there are so many opportunities for people to carve out a rewarding career in the bloodstock and racing industries.

“If I was starting out again, I would travel, get as much experience in different aspects of the industry and by doing that hopefully figure out which part of our industry suits best. That's one of the great things about the Thoroughbred industry. You can be any number of things: you can rear your own horses, be a stallion man, be a bloodstock agent, be an insurance agent, be a sales-company official, the list goes on. However very little can be achieved without hard work and that is something that is very evident here in the States. If you're willing to work hard opportunities will continue to present themselves,” he notes.

One of the reasons Russell ultimately settled in Lexington was the familiarity he felt about the place. “There are a lot of similarities between central Kentucky and Ireland. The hospitality here is wonderful and the people here are so warm and welcoming. I knew nobody when I arrived but people here made me feel at home straight away. I guess that's one of the reasons why I don't miss home all that much. Then again I've lived here longer than I have lived in Ireland so I guess it's time I started referring to Lexington as my real home,” he said.

The bloodstock industry has become a global community and it seems to matter less these days where one bases oneself. Nowadays horses race with frequency in both hemispheres and racing professionals can be at the Breeders' Cup one day and at the Melbourne Cup the next; likewise on the sales circuit where no doubt there were some who took in sales in Australia, South Africa and Newmarket all in the space of four weeks this year. Keeneland is another such venue that brings together all these players from all walks of life and they are fortunate to have someone like Geoffrey Russell on board ensuring everything runs like clockwork.