Cover image courtesy of Racing Photos
“A bit of a surprise”, is how Mike Becker described his reaction to his name being called out at Saturday evening's Thoroughbred Breeders Victoria awards night though everyone agreed that it was a most deserved recognition of his achievements.
It was not the award that Mike enjoyed most about the evening however, but what he saw around him... “The best thing about the night was seeing how many young people were at that function,” Becker said, laughing as he added, “It was not just a room full of dinosaurs like me!
“There are so many opportunities for young people in racing at the moment, the world is crying out for them,” Becker said, noting the variety of experience someone starting off in breeding can enjoy - both here and internationally.
“There are so many opportunities for young people in racing at the moment, the world is crying out for them.” - Mike Becker
It was not the same, he noted, when he kicked off his career in horses though his destiny as a studmaster of a famed Victorian farm was not something he set off to achieve as a kid growing up in Margaret River, Western Australia.
His parents were not particularly horse people but his grandfather always had a couple of mares, on his sole trip to Victoria purchasing a mare from Sol Green (the Australian Racing Hall of Fame member - successful bookmaker, owner and breeder) with whom he enjoyed good success.
Every weekend Mike would hop on his bike and ride out to his grandfather's dairy farm... when it came to horses “he got the bug very early!”
Mike Becker | Image courtesy of Racing Photos
As a 16-year-old in Perth, Mike was enduring 5am starts working at the Elders sale yard with cattle, sheep and pigs. Based at Belmont, he would go racing with mates and it was with one of those that he decided to pack up and head on a trip around the country.
“We made it as far as Port Hedland, the car blew up and the cash ran out!”
Taking a job in the mining sector, Mike had friends who were keen to race a horse so, at the age of 19 (“I didn't know what I was doing!”), he took out his trainer's licence and had great times popping his horse on a cattle truck and heading to far flung tracks such as Marble Bar.
A highlight of that time was sitting around fires listening to station men talk about their experiences with horses - “They were just champion horsemen,” Becker said.
Mike was also playing football during this time and one of his team members was the editor at a local paper, offering him a few gigs writing sports articles. As it turned out, he was quite good at it and it led to work at other papers - leading to a position as a racing writer.
“I was in my element, back amongst racehorses and racing people.”
“I was in my element (as a racing writer), back amongst racehorses and racing people.” - Mike Becker
But it was the bloodstock side that really interested him and for a time Mike worked in the Perth office for ABCOS - during a period when “around 90 to a hundred buyers from Western Australia would head over to the Adelaide sales every year.”
Also working for Goodwood Bloodstock, Mike was in the office alongside Simon Vivian, Damon Gabbedy and Mark Pilkington... “Back in the days when all pedigree work was done by hand.”
Keen to pursue a career as a bloodstock agent, Mike decided to gain experience at ground level - he wanted to see how studs worked and so he headed to South Australia to work for the acclaimed Jim O’Connor.
“The plan was to learn about the stud side and then return to the bloodstock side but out of the blue Stockwell Stud was sold and I was offered the management position.
“Everyone knew about Stockwell Stud and its history - it was too good an offer to refuse.”
“Everyone knew about Stockwell Stud and its history - it was too good an offer to refuse.” - Mike Becker
Unfortunately, it was a baptism of fire for Mike with an outbreak of viral abortion within just a few weeks of his arrival. And within just a few months a couple of the stud's owners had money issues... not an easy time.
Events that made it hard to get Stockwell's new stallion off the ground, the star galloper Our Poetic Prince denied his chance to make a viable start.
“Being such a great racehorse and such a good-looking horse, he had what was then a big book of well over a hundred mares,” Mike recalled. “But our farm became taboo and he ended up serving only 50 ordinary mares - and he never really recovered from that start.”
With Stockwell again on the market (secured by Emirates), Mike moved down the road to the Trescowthick family's property which was re-branded as The Independent Stallion Station - one of the first of its kind in the country.
“We stood up to eleven stallions at a time and at one stage they were covering 25 per cent of the Victorian mare base.
“We were well supported by owner/breeders but sadly that market is gone now,” Becker rued.
Fate would see Mike move back to Emirates which he was eventually able to re-name Stockwell Stud, appreciative of the Ken Cox-owned, George Smith run farm's history... standing the likes of Artie Schiller (USA), Al Maher, Brief Truce (USA) and Arazi (USA).
He has a fondness for each of those horses, proud to home Artie Schiller in his retirement - describing him as an exceptionally intelligent horse who had an uncanny ability to sense when mares were ready to be served (he would often refuse even when vets thought the mares were ready to go... and every one of those served by another stallion failed to get in foal).
Artie Schiller (USA) | Standing at Stockwell Thoroughbreds
Brief Truce and Arazi - who raced against each other at Royal Ascot in 1992 - enjoyed their twilight years at Stockwell, both living years beyond retirement with the latter receiving a regular supply of fan mail from overseas.
“He was not a great stallion though he did better as a broodmare sire,” Becker said. “But he was a champion and it was an honour to have him.”
Arriving from Switzerland having been banished from New South Wales when Australia's 16th leading sire, Brief Truce was not popular at first, Mike worried that with only eight mares booked that he “had pulled the wrong rein.”
But along came True Jewels and Diatribe, winners of that season's G1 Blue Diamond S. and G1 Caulfield Cup, and suddenly Brief Truce was one of Victoria's busiest stallions!
Gallery: Brief Truce's Group 1-winning progeny, images courtesy of Sportpix
“He was a character,” Becker said. “But no vices, he was all bluff! I didn't think he'd go before Arazi who had a heart murmur so loud you didn't need a vet to diagnose but he lived to 32 whilst Brief Truce died at 29.”
Both good ages, testament to Mike's care and attention.
Mr Greeley (USA) is the horse Mike looks back on with regret. Taken with the horse's power, pedigree (“I loved the Gone West sireline”) and performance, he was confident the horse would be a good fit for Victoria.
But local breeders were unconvinced and the handsome chestnut served only a small book, one which resulted in only 20 foals - one of those being the G1 Oakleigh Plate winner Miss Kournikova.
“He ended up standing for US$125,000,” Becker said of the horse well-represented by 64 stakes winners including a dozen Group 1 winners.
Miss Kournikova (lime green cap) | Image courtesy of Sportpix
Mike has recently returned from a trip overseas where he was excited to attend Royal Ascot for the first time. And it was there that he learned a lesson that he'd love to see local racing authorities take on board.
“It is absolutely extraordinary to me that thousands of people will get dressed up, cram onto trains for an hour then walk a kilometre to the track... and do that five days running!”
Asking himself why they did, Mike realised the answer - “It's all about tradition. The same races run at the same time, year in, year out. Great racing, a great week... it was a thrill to be there.
“They are treasuring their racing history,” he added, unsure if that is happening here - citing the moving of the G1 Thousand Guineas to late November as a change that is unlikely to be for the better.
Meanwhile Mike, in semi-retirement as his son Brodie has taken over the Stockwell reins (concentrating on mares and shares in young stallions), is continuing to contribute - three years ago appointed to sit on the AgriFutures Thoroughbred Horses Advisory Panel.
Having also served on the TBV (eight years as president) and TBA boards, Mike is relishing this role - “It is a different perspective, being able to take note of the interesting studies taking place in regards to equine welfare and the improvement of the breed.”
“It is a different perspective (serving as president of Agrifutures Thoroughbred Horses Advisory Panel), being able to take note of the interesting studies taking place in regards to equine welfare and the improvement of the breed.” - Mike Becker
Funded by all breeders via Stud Book levies along with federal government support, the panel has, says Becker “been a bit of a hidden secret - but it is starting to be promoted better.”
Whilst Mike wishes to see a re-emergence of the owner/breeder... “I'd love to see it be better known that you can breed a horse without spending huge amounts”... He is optimistic about the shape of racing and breeding in this country.
“The prizemoney levels and bonus schemes are great,” he said, also encouraged by a recent trend to again stand stallions with a bit of stamina.
Mike has plenty to look proudly back on and he is happy to still be in the thick of things, describing himself as “the man mowing the lawns and keeping an eye on the horses!”
