An integral part of the Arrowfield Stud team since 2010, Susan Archer has been a racing fan since childhood, achieving the rare dream of breeding one of the best horses ever to race in Australasia.
What advice would you give to a 20-year-old just starting out in racing today?
“I would tell them what I wish someone had told me at that age - that it is important to sit down and write down what you want to be doing at 30 and think hard about the training, the skills and the experience you will need to get there.
“I would tell them what I wish someone had told me at that age - that it is important to sit down and write down what you want to be doing at 30 and think hard about the training, the skills and the experience you will need to get there.” - Susan Archer
“And to think about the people you want to work with and learn from - choosing the right people sets you up for your career and for your life.
“And I'd say do the same thing again at 40, 50 and 60! I learned a lot from people older than me and now I am learning from people younger than me - and I love that.”
Are there any figures in the racing industry who you feel deserve more recognition for their contribution?
“I have strong views on this - it's the people with thoroughbred industry experience, knowledge, courage and vision, who love the sport, know exactly what they want to achieve and are thoughtful and constructive challengers, prepared to ask hard questions and spark thorough debate and discussion on industry committees and boards. Unfortunately, they are often shut out of governance roles precisely because of those attributes, and we end up with highly qualified but passive head-nodders who achieve little or nothing.
Image courtesy of Arrowfield Stud
“Over the last 20 years or so we've had this trend of going outside the industry for board members who don't really know, or care deeply about racing and breeding.
“I’m sure they are well meaning and want to do a great job, but this is a very deep, complex industry and we need people who are courageous and passionate and ready to get stuck into the job without needing a year or two to figure it all out.
This is a very deep, complex industry and we need people who are courageous and passionate and ready to get stuck into the job without needing a year or two to figure it all out.” - Susan Archer
“I have no doubt that we can learn from other industries and other sports and can benefit from skills from other areas, but too often boards – and not just in racing - fill up with people who are simply not equipped to make a real, positive difference to the industries they lead.”
What has been the biggest obstacle you faced in your career?
“When I was young there was a complete absence of a clear career pathway into racing and breeding. Especially for a racing- and breeding-mad girl from a small town in Southland, New Zealand who wanted to write about horses rather than ride them!
“As a result I didn’t really begin my thoroughbred industry career until I was in my 30s, and in some ways that was a good thing, but I would love to have started earlier.
“I grew up in a racing and sporting family, my parents bred and raced horses, we were always going to the races and I loved it. I read the New Zealand sales catalogues from cover to cover and when I was 13 and I began writing a tipping column for the local paper. However, there was just nowhere for that enthusiasm or interest to go in the 1970s.
Susan Archer
“I think that the current older generations are more aware of the need to encourage young people and it’s wonderful how many more opportunities there are now. Organisations like Godolphin Flying Start and Thoroughbred Industry Careers, and a number of breeder-supported scholarships have created career frameworks that help young people – and their parents - find their way in racing and breeding.”
Can you share a story that had a lasting impact on you?
“The parental stories I grew up with gave me a love of teamwork, competition and achieving very big goals.
“At the age of seven my father Robin decided that he wanted to be an All Black and beat the Springboks.
“And he achieved that, becoming All Black No. 563 and playing in the great 1956 series against South Africa. He had a 14-year career in first class rugby - a sport he profoundly loved and understood.
Susan's father, Robin Archer was a former All Black
“My mother Muriel’s sporting passion was basketball. She played in a national title-winning team, coached championship teams and was the president of the local basketball association.
“She led an amazing group of volunteers who built their own stadium - obtaining loans, raising funds and building it in 1975 – an incredible achievement that allowed the sport to blossom and thrive in our community.
“Both my parents showed me that you can have big, hairy ambitions, and that you can make them happen. Muhammad Ali was right!”
“Both my parents showed me that you can have big, hairy ambitions, and that you can make them happen. Muhammad Ali was right!” - Susan Archer
Referring to his famous quote: “Impossible is just a word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
A decision made by her parents also proved fateful for Susan: the $12,000 purchase as a yearling of the two times winning stakes placed McAngus (NZ) (Alvaro {GB}).
“Mum and Dad realised soon after that she traced back to a full sister to Phar Lap and my dad said 'one day we will breed another great champion from this family.’”
Another impossible dream fulfilled - McAngus producing the stakes placed Songline (NZ) (Western Symphony {USA}) who is, of course, dam of one of the true greats of the Australasian turf - the mighty Sunline (NZ) (Desert Sun {GB}).
Michael Martin and Susan Archer with Sunline and her last foal, a filly by Hussonet | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Bred by Susan and her husband Michael Martin.
Quite the contribution but there was another. The couple, as managers & members of the Fencourt Farm Partnership, also bred the Group 2-winning mare Triassic (NZ) (Tights {USA}), dam of So You Think (NZ).
Four G1 W.S Cox Plates between those two horses - quite a record!
What person influenced your career the most?
“I have to name five people who have been especially influential in my career.
“My first boss Don Ellis owned a small publishing company where I started when I was 20, staying for three years. He encouraged creativity and embraced innovation, and each month he got me to write down all the costs we’d incurred and all the sales we’d made. It was great training in the basics of business.
“Arthur Ormond (president of the NZTBA) was one of those people unafraid to confront the critical issues, he had a bold vision for the whole industry and remains the best chairman New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing never had. It was he who employed Michael (who ended up working for the association for 23 years, 21 of those as chief executive) and me at the NZTBA, and I will always treasure the years we worked together.
Arthur Ormond
“Adrian Clark gave me a shot at Trackside TV and he was terrific to work with - incredibly supportive. We hosted the first live coverage of a yearling sale anywhere in the world and he also had me presenting the Ford Report (a New Zealand version of 'Bred To Win.')
“John Messara rang me one day in 2010 and said he had a job for me in Sydney. I have been at Arrowfield ever since - he makes every day exciting, stimulating and challenging and he’s the most exceptional human being I’ve ever met, full stop.
“And then there’s my fabulous husband Michael. When John offered me a role at Arrowfield I was unsure about taking a position in Australia but Michael just said - 'do it, you will regret it if you don't.’ I think Michael is now as much an Arrowfielder as I am!
Susan Archer and John Messara | Image courtesy of Joan Faras
“He’s encouraged me in everything I have done both within, and outside of racing, and I’ll always be grateful to Sunline for fulfilling so completely our dream of breeding a great racehorse together.”
