Trainer communications

An open question maybe someone can give there views on this.

I have some horses in training at 4 trainers. They are all over the country. Every trainer I have is in the top 20 in the country last year. Training fees are very similar within 10% of one another. All the trainers have unraced 2 and now 3 year old horses with one exception who have two raced 3 year olds.

The feedback I get varies greatly. The best of the lot phone me every two weeks on a Thursday between 2pm and 4pm. It is regular like clockwork. I get a breakdown of where the horses are in there work and what the way forward is. I like it like that.

The others dont phone me at all. I get stable letters from two every month with maybe two or three lines on the horses i own. the stable news are a big pr on the winners the stable have. with the email come the account. that is regular like a clockwork.

the fourth i get an account only.

my views are this. the owner is the trainers customer. i think a call every second week to give updates is the minimum that should happen. it seems that when i discuss this with other owners they tell me they have similar scenarios. am i ridiculus in asking for regular feedback?

something i forget to mention. the trainer who give the telephone feedback does it for all his owners even the 10% owners. he tell me he make over 100 calls when he does this. as i say he are in the top 20 in the land so does not have small strings.

why i say this is because i dont want to talk to the poppie sister who is always on tv or the good looking smooth brother who is the "pr" manager of the yard. i want to speak with the boss.

adios

in my line of business i communicate with my customers each and every day. this is not a good comparison as i have a small customer base and deal in fmcg.

you dont answer my question.

M/M YOUR DEAD RIGHT,THEY SHOULD LET YOU KNOW,ON A REGULAR BASIS.MAY I SUGGEST THAT YOU MOVE YOUR GEE/GEES,TO THE TRAINER WHO GIVES YOU THE BEST SERVICE,ITS PEOPLE LIKE YOU WHO KEEP THEM IN A JOB.HOPE YOU GET A COUPLE OF WINNERS SOON.CHEERS

Lord Jim

my patience is tested. let me tell you one thing, I will move the horses if they do not perform. I will wait to see how they perform first.

I can tell you I was at a table in the Elevation room on Sunday being invited by a friend. There were 5 different owners in this discussion. It seems trainers do not believe they need to communicate. the one guy say he gets a call before the horse run and it is always the same story. your horse runs in race x, he is well, lets see how he goes. he would go to another trainer if he were mine.

adios here is another school of thought, people buy there horses to race because the want enjoyment. there are few cases of owners recewping there monies on horses. so make it enjoyable by keeping them involved by telling them whats the story with the horses.

my wife says to me the other day. what would you do if the private school we send our kids to dont give any report card or feedback on the brats? i say i will send them to another school. so she say, why do you act diffrent when it are your horses? it make you think doesnt it?

MM, not sure how practical this is for you, but I am in the fortunate position to live close to Randjies, so if I want to know how my 'investments' are coming along, I just drop by the stable.....much better than a phone call imo.

But I agree with you that in general trainers seems to be poor communicators, I suppose it comes back to the suggestion that one should go where one is comfortable; if you feel that a regular phone call is important to you, move your horses to the guy that will comply with this.

adios you miss the point. some of these trainers bills are 20k per month. i want to now how my investment are doing. the trainer who phone talk for 90 seconds and i am happy.

MM is it a jhb based trainer that gives you no feedback at all?

If they are doing all this 'communicating' where are they supposed to find time for golf????

hi oscar no the worst is in the cape

mike.... send me your number I can call you!!!


Since I tend to over communicate (those that know me know this) I want to know what do you guys expect from a trainer???????

Is it okay to get a sms to notify you have a runner, or an e-mail, or do you want a 1 on 1 with the trainer???

What does the owner expect from the trainer and his staff (or family members in some cases) on a race day???

Sometimes (actually most times) no news is good news!!! ...... also very hard to create news about a horse every 2 weeks!

Mu suggestion Mad Mike.... why not call the guy in question and tell him that you are a little annoyed and open the lines of communication with him??