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Published: 14/10/2004 by Alan Lee Courtesy of The Times
RICHARD PHILLIPS, whose wisecracking
image conceals a fretfully ambitious mind, knows he can ill afford
another season as dire as the last, when his winners output dropped
from 32 to 13. To help in the renaissance of his Cotswold jumps
yard, he has recruited the help of two close friends — a sports
psychologist and a champion jockey — and initiated novel means
of motivating his staff.
The tale is told best by Michael Caulfield, the former chief executive
of the Jockeys’ Association, whose day job in psychology is
attracting a growing client list. “I’ve known Richard
for 25 years and we call each other the twin imposters, because
we both came from ridiculously non-racing backgrounds. I’ve
always ridden out there and I just felt the place wasn’t operating
to full capacity. The slowest members of staff were dragging everyone
down to their level.”
It was Caulfield’s idea to recruit Richard Dunwoody as a riding
coach. Dunwoody, who has eschewed all involvement with racing since
his enforced retirement, agreed. “He started last week and
he will be around regularly through the winter. I think it might
have rekindled his enthusiasm for jump racing.”
Caulfield is now listed as human resources manager at the Adlestrop
yard and his input is wide-ranging. The stable has been divided
in three and the separation extends to the horses and all equipment
being colour-coded, to lower the risk of such viruses as ravaged
the operation last winter. Staff now wear team uniforms, four large
clocks chivvy them through their schedule and bold signage gives
an air of self-esteem. “There is competition within the yard
but it’s all about making people feel good,” Caulfield
said. “We had a staff meeting in the local pub and we’ve
now set ambitious targets.”
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