Tom Callaghan is a relatively new face in South Africa’s racing and breeding fraternity. From a strong marketing background, Tom is attempting to improve the marketing standards for the TBA and it’s sales arm, Bloodstock SA.
From an Irish family, Tom’s family lived in Zimbabwe but is South African by birth and spent the most of his early life in the Eastern Cape. Passionate about horses from a young age, Tom has ridden and worked with horses all his life, and played polocrosse with Peter Choice back when both were allowed on a horse!
He used to help out in training yards in PE on his school holidays, Tom then spent time working for Aldora and Somerset Stud in KZN, where he had his first taste of breeding horses. He then studied agriculture at Cedara in Natal followed by a post graduate business course at Rhodes University in Grahamstown.
Tom then took up a position with Coca Cola, where he worked for five years in the sales and marketing division. He describes Coca Cola as “the world’s largest and most hard working brand”, and it provided him with some much valuable experience in the world of marketing.
Deciding that he needed some overseas experience, Callaghan left for London, where he worked for companies such as Dulux, ICI Paints and Unilever. He returned to South Africa in 2007, when he started a marketing consultancy company in Johannesburg.
Keen in returning to the world of horse racing, Tom duly applied for the job of Sales Director at the TBA. After a series of interviews, he was given the nod, and duly took up his post earlier this year.
Callaghan is keen to preserve the past of the South African racing and breeding industry, and on building on our heritage to ensure the future success of our sport and the TBA and Bloodstock SA.
The changes he has made have largely met with praise and approval, and the TBA complex impressed all who attended the recent National Sale. Tom says of recent changes made,” It is vitally important to portray the correct image for our sport.”
This year also saw the first time that the vendor buy back scheme was implemented, a concept which has been widely praised as a way of improving the sales’ transparency. The idea is that vendors can buy back their horses and pay commission on the final bid offered, rather than the original fixed price. This is a practice adopted by many sales companies throughout the world, including Tattersalls and is part of his vision of turning Bloodstock SA into a world class sales company.
The results of the 2012 NYS showed a slightly decrease on average price with the median staying at R150, which is on par with 2011, not a bad effort considering the tough trading conditions.
He is hopeful that the TBA can continue to build bridges with breeders and buyers new and old. Tom is also looking to create new ideas and concepts which will enhance the appeal of purchasing thoroughbreds and help grow sales of our horses both locally and internationally.
