and pre-training property , Amber Park , at Gosford .

During his year-long stint at Amber Park , he was fortunate in meeting three clients , Randwick plumbers and ardent lovers of the Sport of Kings , Paul Flay , Frank Galiano and Peter Meucci .

“ The trio had recently established a state-of-the-art training centre at Sutton Forest , and in January 1988 , offered me the role as trainer and manager of the complex ,” Craig said .

He made an auspicious start to his training profession , landing a winner with his very first runner when Denille was first to greet the judge in a 1200m maiden at Queanbeyan on November 5 , 1988 .

“ I trained for two years and then became stud manager for eight years at

Boscobel Stud , and then from 1999 until late 2009 , was assistant manager at Tyreel Stud in Agnes Banks ,” Craig said .

Just up the road from Tyreel , Godolphin had just commenced building its new whoopee-do training complex , and Craig , seeking new ventures , linked with the giant operation . Firstly , at Godolphin ’ s Belmont Park stables in Grose Wold , and then once Osborne Park was up and running in 2010 , the vastly experienced horseman was appointed the complex ’ s operations manager .

“ I regard myself as a very fortunate man – working at Godolphin closely with our top-class trainer , James Cummings , and alongside a terrific group of people ,” Craig said .

Oh , happy man !

The Godolphin Arabian ( c . 1724 – 1753 ), also known as the Godolphin Barb , was an Arabian horse which was one of the three stallions that founded the modern thoroughbred racehorse .

The other foundation sires were the Darley Arabian and the Byerley Turk .

He was named after his bestknown owner , Francis Godolphin , 2nd Earl of Godolphin .

The Godolphin Arabian was foaled about 1724 in Yemen and moved several times before reaching England .

At some early age , he was exported , probably via Syria , to the stud of the Bey of Tunis .

From there he was given as a present to Louis XV of France in 1730 .

Louis , obviously not cluey to what was in his stable , used the stallion as a carthorse !

The horse was then imported from France by Edward Coke and sent to his stud at Longford Hall , Derbyshire , where he remained until the death of his owner in 1733 .

He was bequeathed to Roger Williams , “ proprietor of the St . James ’ s Coffee House ”, who inherited Coke ’ s stallions .

The stallion was bought by the 2nd Earl of Godolphin and placed at his Babraham Stud in Cambridgeshire and served there until his death on Christmas Day , 1753 .

A stone marks his grave under

the archway of the stable block of Wandlebury House .

The Godolphin Arabian was the leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland in 1738 , 1745 and 1747 .

Originally , this small but magnificently proportioned stallion was considered inferior to the larger European horses of the time and was not meant to be put to work covering mares .

Instead Lord Godolphin used the horse as ‘ teaser ’ - a stallion used to gauge the mare ’ s receptiveness – to get her in the mood for procreating . This changed when a mare , Lady Roxana , was sent to the stud specifically to be bred to the stallion , Hogoblin .

However , the mare rejected her intended mate , and so the Godolphin Arabian was allowed to cover her instead .

The result of this mating was Lath , the first of his offspring , which went on to win unbeaten a mindboggling nine times in the prestigious Queen ’ s at the Newmarket races .

Many of the world ’ s foremost gallopers trace their ancestry back to the Godolphin Arabian , including three of the greatest to have graced a racetrack , the US trio of Seabiscuit , Man o ’ War and War Admiral .

Think Big , the winner of the 1974 and 1975 Melbourne Cup , is a descendant of Godolphin .