Hard work over the years paying off for Figgins

The personal touch when delivering the Waikato Times as a 13-year-old has taken Ryan Figgins a long way in racing.

Figgins (34) was the winner of the Dedication To Breeding Award at the Industry Excellence Awards, powered by Entain, in late July – almost 20 years since he first encountered a horse while out on his paper round.

“I used to deliver the Waikato Times around Cambridge East and instead of putting it in the letterbox, I would hand deliver it to people I liked.”

This approach led to a young Figgins heading up a driveway to hand the paper to a lady at an eventing yard, who would open up the newspaper for a browse, and hand Figgins the lead rope with a horse on the other end.

“The rest was history,” Figgins said.

Figgins didn’t mind school but “wasn’t much good at it”, so he left by the time he turned 15, working for Courtney and Mandy Howells, then mucking out boxes for the likes of Roger James, building his affinity with horses along the way.

“I guess you just have to have a rapport with them and can relate with them but they have to like you too,” Figgins said.

Figgins then gained valuable skills with Chris Wood, Catherine Cameron and at Lyndhurst Farm, before joining Trelawney Stud, which Figgins describes as his main introduction to the “hardcore” breeding industry.

By his early 20s, he decided on doing the classic Kiwi OE – with an equine twist. Starting out travelling around Australia working at the sales for multiple farms before joining Arrowfield Stud for several months, Figgins then went to England for three-and-a-half years thanks to a British passport.

He landed a role with Juddmonte for much of that time, which brought him face to face with the brilliant racehorse-turned-stallion Frankel.

"He's beautifully put together. . . he’s got quite a bit of character but he seemed quite a pleasure to work with,” Figgins said.

“He might get a bit snarly when you were giving him a groom when he was trying to have a bit of a feed but as I always say I don't like to be poked and prodded when I'm eating my steak, egg and chips.”

Figgins returned down under to work at various bloodstock sales, before doing a breeding season at Haunui Farm, working with stallions like Ferlax, Iffraaj and Showcasing, then Novara Park with sires Jakkalberry and Sweynesse, before joining Waikato Stud almost seven years ago.

In his role at Waikato, he has the important job of looking after Waikato Stud’s champion stallion Savabeel who, despite leaving winner after winner, is no rogue for Figgins to handle.

“He's a gentleman - you could give him to your 5-year-old to lead,” Figgins said.

“But going out in the mornings, he can have a buck and a kick and still get off all fours and march out to the paddock. He's pretty happy to get out there most mornings - don't worry about that.”

Figgins is also relishing the opportunity to lead a team, and he’s thoroughly enjoying life at the stud with Mark Chittick nudging Figgins in the right direction when needed.

“"He’s responsible for ironing out a few edges in refining me with the job at hand."

The Dedication to Breeding Award provided Figgins with an opportunity to reflect on almost 20 years working around horses.

“I feel the biggest achievement ... is I've got where I’ve got to on my own,” he said.

“I never give myself much credit so it actually made me take a step back and go ‘well done Ryan’.