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| profiles |
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| Jason
Fulford -
Racecourse
Manager |
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| Jason
Fulford never was sure of what he wanted to do as a school
leaver but opportunities presented themselves that destined
him to be a Racetrack Manager... following in his Dad's
(Harold Fulford) footsteps. |
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| Coming
from a farming background prior to his Mum and Dad taking
on the job of managing the Otaki Maori Racing and Training
tracks, Jason left school to go milking cows. However
this did not fit in at all well with playing rugby so
he had a variety of jobs that did! Eventually "the
racetrack" lured him to take on a job working for
his Dad at Otaki Maori, where he spent 4 years as the
"Crossing Keeper" of which he places great value
as it was an excellent place to learn the pros and cons
of the game from trainers, jockeys and track riders. During
his time at Otaki he also gained some qualifications by
doing his racecourse maintainance apprenticeship through
the Open Polytechnic. |
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After
eight years it was time to assess just where he was
heading and what he really wanted to do, so off to Taupo,
a change of scenery, a job and something new! It was
only 12 months before Jason went back to the racetrack
taking a job at Ellerslie, where after only 31/2 years
he showed the talent, initiative and leadership skills
to be promoted to Track Manager in October 2001. It
was during those first years working at Ellerslie that
he really started to feel a passion for what he doing
and knew that this was what he really wanted to do with
his ultimate goal to get a track ready for either the
Melbourne Cup or the Japan Cup!
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| To
achieve a goal like this Jason realises he must continue
his learning and further improve his qualifications. Accordingly
he is currently studying to complete the 'on-the-job'
level 4 Racetrack Management qualification. Block courses
to support the 'on-the-job' learning are held through
the NZ Sports Turf Institute. |
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| Jason
places a great deal of emphasis on gaining overseas experience
and if he has any regrets at this stage it is that he
had not done his "time" overseas before going
to Ellerslie. Not surprisingly his words of advice to
any aspiring Track Manager "I would suggest they
travel for overseas experience, especially where horses
are trained. This will give the most confidence in their
future work as a leader in racetrack management." |
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| Despite
not working on an overseas track Jason has learnt a tremendous
amount here in New Zealand and as already mentioned attributes
much of his success to listening to the people who use
the track on a daily basis. While at Otaki he learnt about
the demands of horse trainers and the requirements for
training facilities. While interacting with the more experienced
trainers there, he was given an insight to horse training
and horse performance which has been beneficial while
observing races with the effect of different track surfaces
in mind. Obviously Ellerslie is a different kettle of
fish with no training facilities but a large number of
race meetings held throughout the year in a particularly
inclement climate which has been quite a challenge to
continually provide the best racetrack surfaces in the
variety of conditions. Jason says it is always a thrill
to receive positive feedback from the senior riders after
a race day to know you done a job well done! |
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