This week, we caught up with our 2026 Sunline Trust Scholarship recipient, Niamh Waters, as she reflects on an exciting few months of yearling inspections, sales and world-class racing across England and France, before beginning her next chapter in Hong Kong.
The past couple of months have been incredibly busy, but also some of the most exciting of my Sunline Trust Scholarship so far, taking me from yearling inspections around England and France to Royal Ascot, Newmarket, Deauville, Doncaster and now Hong Kong.
During my time with Goffs, I had the opportunity to travel with the bloodstock team inspecting yearlings for the Goffs Premier Yearling Sale. This took me around England as well as over to France and gave me a really good insight into the selection process that goes into putting together a yearling sale. I really enjoyed being able to look at such a wide range of yearlings and learn more about what the team looks for when deciding which horses will suit the sale.
One of the highlights during this time was also having the chance to attend Royal Ascot. It is one of the most iconic race meetings in the world, and getting to experience it in person was amazing. The prestige surrounding the meeting, along with the quality of racing throughout the week, definitely did not disappoint. It was a fantastic experience and another one of those moments on this trip where I felt very lucky to be there.
From there, I headed down to Newmarket, where I began a month-long placement at George Boughey’s yard. This was my first time properly working on the racing side of the thoroughbred industry, so it was incredibly interesting to see how a successful racing yard operates day to day.
It was an especially exciting time to be at the yard with Bow Echo there. Having the opportunity to watch him work in the mornings alongside George was something I will remember for a very long time. He was such an exciting racehorse, and being able to see part of his preparation before his Group 1 Sussex Stakes win at Goodwood was definitely one of the highlights of my trip so far. It was really interesting to see the work that goes on behind the scenes to prepare a horse for a race at that level.
While I was in Newmarket, I also got to enjoy the racing during July Cup week. Having previously lived in Newmarket, July Cup week has always been one of my favourite weeks of the year, so it was great to be back for it. It was also really nice to catch up with friends from my time living in England and enjoy some brilliant racing.
After finishing my placement in Newmarket, I travelled over to Deauville in France for the Arqana August Yearling Sale. During the sale, I was lucky enough to shadow Damon Gabbedy, Arqana representative for Australia and New Zealand.
I learnt a huge amount from my week with Damon. Being able to look at yearlings alongside him and hear his thoughts on each horse was extremely valuable. We saw a wide range of horses throughout the sale, and it was particularly interesting learning what he looks for in a yearling, how he assesses them physically and what qualities he considers important for horses that may suit the Southern Hemisphere market.
From Deauville, I travelled back to Doncaster for the Goffs Premier Yearling Sale, where I spent the week working with the Goffs team. It was great to be back and particularly rewarding to see many of the yearlings that I had first seen during the farm inspection and selection process earlier in the year.
Seeing those horses again several months later, after they had been through their sales preparation, was really interesting. Being able to compare how they had developed and changed since I had first inspected them gave me another perspective on yearlings and the preparation that goes into getting them to the sales.
As I write this blog, I have just arrived in Hong Kong, where I will be spending the next two weeks with the Hong Kong Jockey Club. I am incredibly excited to experience everything that Hong Kong’s racing industry has to offer and learn about a racing jurisdiction that is so different from those I have experienced so far.
It is an incredible privilege to have the opportunity to be here, and one that I am extremely grateful for. Looking back at everything I have been able to experience over the past few months, from inspecting yearlings around Europe to working in a Newmarket racing yard and attending some of the world’s biggest sales and race meetings, I feel very fortunate to be getting such a broad education across so many different areas of the thoroughbred industry.
