Name: Merrita Jones
When did you become a manager? In 1993, when I was granted a public training licence by the Jockey Club.
What does management mean to you? Every day is unpredictable. We're working with thoroughbred horses and anything can happen. My main task is to develop a happy working environment for the staff and horses: on the whole, horses are easier to manage than people.
I have 10 staff including my secretary and husband, who is assistant trainer. I'm up at 5.15am every morning to make sure feeding is underway by 6am. The priority for an individual day is the daily training schedule; I work on this with the 'head lad', organising a workload for staff.
The job of training includes race planning, monitoring horses' form, booking jockeys, keeping owners informed. I also administer finances, deal with vets, racecourses and suppliers, and make sure owners are looked after on race day.
What do you love/hate about it? I love winning races, seeing horses, owners, staff and jockeys rewarded for their efforts. I hate losing a horse through injury. It's always devastating - I can cope with most things apart from that.
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