Full Circle Services
Chris Baker is an experienced professional providing advice on breeding, racing, sales and operational performance in the Thoroughbred industry, utilizing known and established practices and procedures to ensure the best results. He works with clients to establish and understand their goals in the Thoroughbred industry and assists in the development and execution of budgets, plans, and strategies to reach defined goals. Baker collaborates with a team of colleagues, leveraging the power and intelligence of sound horsemanship and available data to ensure that the clients’ chances for success are optimized.
Facilities:
- Identify appropriate boarding farm or farm for lease/purchase
- Assist in development or refurbishment of farm to suit operational needs including layout and construction oversight of roads, barns, fences, water systems, etc. – all infrastructure
- Pasture development or renovation
- Identify Equipment/Machinery/Vehicles and establish appropriate practices to maintain property to meet operational needs
Equine Operations:
- Assist in hiring appropriate staff and assembling a team to meet goals
- Assist in acquisition of weanlings, yearlings and broodmares/breeding stock to meet goals – public or private sales
- Plan broodmare matings with appropriate stallions to meet goals
- Establish best practices to raise athletes in accordance with goals. From nutritional, veterinary, farrier and horsemanship/husbandry related aspects of growth and development through managing developmental orthopedic disease and/or angular limb deformity that could negatively impact the young horse’s athletic future
- Liaise with management staff, veterinarians, hospitals, farriers, feed companies, hay brokers and other goods/services providers to ensure that client is well and fairly represented on behalf of their horses and investment
- Assist in bloodstock portfolio management to ensure that every horse (breeding or racing stock) is contributing toward goals. Identify means to repurpose or cull those that no longer meet standards
- Recommend and establish relationships with pre-training service providers and facilities in locations that align with goals
- Recommend and establish relationships with trainers in racing jurisdictions that align with goals
- Liaise regularly with pre-trainers, trainers and other service providers on health, fitness, race selection, etc. in these critical phases of development to ensure that Client is well and fairly represented on behalf of their horses, their investment and their operational goals
Purchasing:
- Work with Client solely or as part of a team to navigate public and private sales to identify and procure breeding and racing prospects that align with operational goals
Selling:
- Analyze Bloodstock portfolio and advise Client on opportunities to sell horses (1) Offensively to generate revenue to offset operational expense and (2) Defensively to reduce costs. Keep both strategies in alignment with established operational and budgetary goals
- Liaise with sales companies and consignors to identify sales timing and placement to maximize revenue
- Work with Client and their financial team to create useful budgets and participate in monthly review of Financial Statements to assess performance within budgetary constraints
- Work with Client to establish key performance indicators (KPIs) in Breeding, Racing and Sales that contribute to established goals
- Conduct periodic review of KPIs to ensure goals and standards are being met
- Adapt KPIs as goals and needs of Client change over time
