Milangall Park aligns with DPR Breaking

Englishman Daniel Robinson is the name behind DPR Breaking, an equine education service that until recently was based at Windsor Downs, flanking the Hawkesbury River.

In the last handful of years, this district of northwest Sydney has been swamped by flooding once, twice and three times, on occasions to the point of ruin and because of it, Robinson has upped sticks to the Central Coast, to Trevor Folsom’s Milangall Park.

Initially, the move was out of necessity. Milangall Park, close to Kulnura, was dry and hospitable, its manager Danielle Jacklin providing DPR Breaking with a place to shelter during Sydney’s big wet last year. However, a potential alliance between both businesses suddenly looked very good.

We met Milangall Park in January. Formerly the Tartan Fields farm of the Esplin family, it was bought by Sydney businessman Trevor Folsom mid-last year. Since then, he has redeveloped it from a broodmare facility into a spelling and rehabilitation centre for racehorses.

“It was three years in the thinking,” Folsom told TDN AusNZ. “I always saw spelling and rehab as the best entry.”

Danielle Jacklin came with the package after close to eight years as the stud manager of Tartan Fields. The new model was different, moving away from foaling towards spelling paddocks, rehab facilities and such.

And then, when DPR Breaking temporarily moved in, it made sudden sense to consider the education element of the new business.

“It wasn’t in our original plan to have a breaker here,” Jacklin said. “But I’ve known Dan and Ali (Alexandra Robinson) for about nine years now, and when they were flooded out last year, they knew I didn’t have a lot of horses here at the time because it was all just kicking off. The farm had just been sold and was going through a change of ownership.

“We took the DPR horses in and it all just came about through conversation. As far as I was concerned, if you're going to consider having a breaker in the business, you want to be considering Dan and Ali, who are the best in the industry.”

Daniel Robinson is an English ex-pat. He grew up in Newmarket. His father is Philip Robinson, who was a jockey of notable degree in Hong Kong.

Gallery: Daniel Robinson demonstrating some of his work at DPR Breaking

Robinson followed a similar path as his father until biology got the better of him and he was too heavy for race riding. However, he found a niche in the starting and re-education of racehorses, which is how he’s plied his trade in Australia since 2014.

“We weren’t doing any education at Milangall Park prior to this decision,” Jacklin said. “We were only spelling horses. But if you’re going to offer such an important service, we wanted to have the right people to offer a premium service, which is what DPR Breaking has been doing for a number of years.”

Jacklin said Robinson’s way with horses has carved his reputation across racing. Back in the days of Tartan Fields, Robinson came through on a number of occasions to assist with problematic horses and to train staff about handling horses in the right way.

“Dan’s way with horses is incredible,” Jacklin said. “What he can get horses to do through his craft and natural horsemanship is unbelievable. His nature with them is lovely, which is how he educates people too. It’s not just about the horse; it’s the people around him who are working with these animals.”

Milangall Park’s alliance with DPR Breaking pulls the business into a very competitive space. It can now offer education and re-education alongside racehorse spelling and rehab. All of this occurs within two hours of Sydney’s metropolitan scene, and a similar distance from Newcastle and Hunter Valley stables.

Folsom, for his part, has spent a pretty penny on purpose-built facilities for Robinson. There’s a new round yard and over-sized dressage arena, and a 1000-metre track with barriers for the youngest horses. There are also 22 purpose-built breaker paddocks and, on the way, tie-up yards.

“We can offer remedial work on problem barrier horses, which Dan has traditionally done extensively,” Jacklin said. “We can offer all the breaking-in services and, down the track, we may consider pre-training too. But right now, we’re very excited about this new arm of the business, and we’re excited to have Dan and Ali on the property.”

Way of the horse

Robinson officially moved into Milangall Park about a fortnight ago. He and wife Ali, who is so critical to the financial success of their business, are enjoying the pretty surrounds.

Folsom has invested into a new stable complex in the future, with a secondary barn with water and dry treadmills, plus new fencing, walking machines and so on. Milangall Park is promising to be one of the foremost thoroughbred facilities of its kind.

With Robinson’s inclusion, it will host clients like John O’Shea, Champion Thoroughbreds, Proven Thoroughbreds, Cressfield and Torryburn Stud, among others. Annabel Neasham has also committed horses to Milangall Park.

Robinson’s move isn’t a new start, though. He’s seeing it as more of a continuation of a successful enterprise. He has steadily built up DPR Breaking in a competitive sphere of the industry, with education and pre-training services a burgeoning business in racing.

Robinson arrived in Australia as a young man under the instruction of his father, who told him to see the way things are done around the world before settling down to a training career. After two months in Australia, he knew he wouldn’t be returning to England.

“I had planned on coming for six months, but I knew after two that I was staying,” he said, speaking to TDN AusNZ. “I liked the culture and the climate here. It’s a nice way of living. It’s more relaxed, and it’s more enjoyable to be around blue skies than grey skies.”

DPR Breaking is approaching nearly 10 years in business. In that time, Robinson has seen the speciality of starting horses grow in importance in Australia. Particular trainers use particular people for the critical early stages in their horses’ lives, and stud farms the same.

“Trainers are starting to realise the difference between a good job on their horses and a bad job,” Robinson said. “They’re starting to realise what problems they’re running into down the line, and how those problems can be avoidable.

“A horse that is prone to bolting, it might have been said at one time, ‘that’s just him, that’s how he is’, but now they’re actually looking for particular specialities to help the horse settle. It’s the same with problem horses in the barriers. Now, they’re looking midway through preps to try and help with this issue.

“So part of my job is helping with horses’ insecurities, in a way, and handling horses in a good way is a logical thing, but it’s taken many hundreds of years for people to get to this point with them.”

Robinson has that kind, empathetic nature that works well with horses. He is softly spoken with little ego, which is probably in part how he won the ultimate horsemanship buckle, the Way of the Horse, in 2016. This annual event is a horse-starting competition, created in 2005 for the EQUITANA show.

As such, Robinson’s skills are proven, and for the best part of a decade he’s used them on countless good racehorses, including Golden Slipper winner She Will Reign (Manhattan Rain) and Guineas winner Aloisia (NZ) (Azamour {Ire}), among many others.

Moving upwards

Robinson’s relocation has been widely welcomed by his existing clients.

“We’ve never had an A-star facility to work our horses,” he said. “When you think about being competitive, our properties are where we’ve probably fallen short. Our competition has had much better properties and facilities than us, and over the years we’ve got competitive through the skills of myself and my excellent staff.

“We will be giving our clients the same service at Milangall Park, but in probably the best facilities that they can get now. No one has been unhappy about our move. The horses will be in a nicer and safer place to be educated, one that’s full of grass and very relaxing. There are only upsides.”

Trevor Folsom’s purchase and rebranding of Milangall Park also came with a corporate energy. Folsom is a high-level investment individual in Sydney, and that brings a different edge to the property, one that probably differs from people bringing home the bacon on racing alone.

For Robinson, that’s a personal opportunity.

“Business is quite a passionate subject of mine, so I’m hoping Trevor will mentor me a little bit on that side of things,” he said. “I’m sure we’re going to have a lot of interesting talks down the line, and it will be an interesting long-term relationship I hope.

“Trevor seems to be the kind of person who has a mindset that whatever he can do here to make it better for the horses, he’ll do.”

So far, Folsom has valuable allies in the industry. They include Brian Siemsen of Black Soil Bloodstock, John Kelly of Newhaven Park, and John and Paul Messara. The business is burgeoning and it’s not even a year old.