The future Breckons

The future of harness racing is dependent on initiatives and people to drive racehorses, and one such initiator and driver is twenty five year old George Breckon.

George is the son of Ken and Karen Breckon of Breckon Farms and he’s dead set keen on getting young people into a sport that he has a genuine love for.

His mantra is for young people not just to be having a good time socially and a few drinks, but being educated on the way through so they get a full understanding of horse racing, which can be complicated to newbies.

George who grew up in Auckland City has been around horses all his life.

“I always say to people that I grew up watching harness racing and Trackside rather than the Wiggles,” he said.

One of his defining moments was when his mother and fathers’ horse I Can Doosit won the 2012 Rowe Cup at Alexandra Park. George as a twelve year old and was handed the microphone to make the acceptance speech.

“Mum and Dad were in South America for work and my grandparents took my brother and I to the races. They weren’t going to do the speech so I got up and did it. There were heaps of people in the car park and in the stand. It didn’t faze me at all. I’ve never had a problem public speaking after that. That was a pivotal part of me growing up around horse racing.”

George went to Kings College and his interest in horses took its next step.

“When I was fifteen I started to take more interest in the horses and one of my mates at school was William Thompson. His family is Richhill Stud so we were always giving each other a hard time about which code was better. That started to spur the interest for me.”

After finishing his secondary school education he enrolled at Victoria University and now has a BCom majoring in International Business and Asian Culture with a minor in marketing.

“Understanding how the rest of the globe works, particularly Asia, which is our largest trading partner was vital to what I’m doing.”

After finishing University he worked in food distribution and as a warehouse manager.

“When I left food distribution I went into the shipping team at Hydroflow for about two years. Now I’m a sales rep there which is where I ultimately wanted to end up because I love the product and talking to people.”

Hydroflow is a family business that Ken and his late brother Peter set up in 1985.

“I did do a few years sweeping and putting bar codes on things (laughter).”

George’s younger brother Andrew is also in the plumbing business.

“He wants to end up in Hydroflow too but he’s a plumber. We were two very driven kids and as much as we’ve loved what Mum and Dad have done, we just didn’t want to be feeding off them. That was instilled by them as we grew up. As Dad has stepped back I think I’ve brought to the business what he used to bring – his personability and ability to hunt sales. Sales comes naturally for me and I love talking to people and finding out what problems I can solve regardless of whether it’s our product or someone else’s. I’m also interested in the civil side of the business doing the airport jobs and wastewater management.”

Back to harness racing, it was during the Covid period that Breckon was approached by people and asked if he could help heighten interest in the sport.

“The best way for me to get people involved was through ownership. Everyone was keen on the idea but no-one offered any assistance. I’d spoken to Mum and Dad but it was something I wanted to do independently. Glenys and Phil Kennard came to me and asked if they could help.”

With the Kennards help, Breckon put together a plan for buying and syndicating a horse.

“What we decided on was that Philip and Glenys were going to buy a horse at a predetermined price range which was $50,000. We got input from Tony (Herlihy) and Mark Purdon. Glenys and Phil were prepared to buy the horse as long as I could syndicate it. We ended up selling 77% of the horse to my mates and young people who wanted to get involved.”

The Kennards kept the remaining shares in the horse.

“The whole thing would have been impossible without their support.”

The syndicate model targeted young people who didn’t have a lot of disposable income nor a lot of knowledge about racing horses.

“We had to make it as easy as possible. Before we bought the horse we predetermined how much they were going to pay. They didn’t have to buy (into the syndicate) until we bought a horse.”

The cost ended up being $1,000 for one share and $60 per month for upkeep.

“We wanted to make it a number that didn’t leave anyone with any surprises.”

And Breckon said he found it an easy sell.

“A lot of people were interested in getting involved. I could have sold a 100% but I wanted to make sure people that bought in could afford it long term and understood that a horse isn’t an investment. It’s more about buying the experience of racing a horse and if you make money it’s a bonus.”

The horse they purchased was Double Parked (Downbytheseaside) who after running second on debut and third at his next start, won at Alexandra Park on the 1st of November for trainer driver Tony Herlihy.

“They’re loving it. The ecstasy when we won was insane. It was electric and the sound was unbelievably loud. When we haven’t won people have been very understanding which comes from communication. Because people have understood what’s going on, the ride’s been fun.”

The ages of the syndicate members range from early twenties to mid fifties with most in their twenties.

Breckon’s girlfriend Charlotte Stewart who’s a chartered accountant helps George run the syndicate while he concentrates on keeping the members up to date with the horse’s progress.

“If the horse is racing there could be up to three updates in the week. There’ll be the nomination update, a strategy update, then the Friday update of where we’re going to be, leading up to the race.”

With Entain taking over the running of the TAB, Breckon says all his age group have become more interested in Harness Racing.

“Pretty much all of them come from Sports Betting backgrounds so this has enabled them to improve their experiences with betting. They really like the cash back element of it, the engagement and the bonus bets you get. With Betcha a lot of those sports betting guys are really getting involved.”

And he says the newly launched television show Friday Night Lights has been a hit too.

“There have been people who’ve just recently been introduced to it. They’ve told me they’ve never watched racing before but are finding themselves watching FNL. One of the issues that Harness Racing has had is that someone would come up with an idea but there hasn’t been supporting ideas around it. You need good fields like Alexandra Park is getting now, Friday Night Lights and good betting options like what Betcha is doing. I think we’re on the right path because all parts of the industry are heading in the right direction.”

George says potentially he’s looking at buying another horse at the upcoming sales in February.

“I’m still deciding on what that would look like in terms of those that are already in the syndicate and those that are buying in new.”

And on the home front last month Breckon Farms official opened their new state of the art barn and stabling complex.

It has space for forty eight horses across two wings with colts and fillies separated. Each wing includes a feed room, wash bays, and tack room with staff facilities. The central courtyard between the stable wings houses a fully equipped function room.

“It was so awesome. What Mum and Dad have done there is amazing. They took inspiration from a lot of good New Zealand farms. Ken went and visited something like fifteen farms before he made his decision. They’ve taken what was a dream five years ago to something better than what they dreamt of.”

George says his mother has been a key driver in the project.

“She looked after the general aesthetic of the build which is really important. Our biggest achillies heal for so long has been our stable blocks. When you’re someone like Mum and Dad who are trying to sell the Lamborghinis of harness racing you won’t want to be selling them out of a bus shelter. I’m unbelievably proud of what they’ve done.”

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink