As CEO of the UK Tote and owner of Ladyswood Stud, Alex Frost brings a distinctive combination of racing, breeding, finance and business experience to the industry.Here, TDN's Gary King asks Frost about the mentors who have shaped his career, the importance of helping those around you succeed, and why racing needs to give its next generation greater responsibility.TDN: Outside of your family, who has been the most important mentor in your career, and why?Alex Frost: Spending twenty years on equity trading floors was a great privilege and took me out of my comfort zone at an early age. I had mentors of all shapes and sizes to learn from! Watching The Wolf of Wall Street again recently brought back a fair few memories!More recently, I'd say my Chairman, John Williamson, has been a wonderful influence. After an extraordinarily distinguished career, he brings a calm, thoughtful and highly intelligent approach to both business and life. I've learned a great deal from him.TDN: What is the best piece of advice you've ever received, and who gave it to you?AF: During my investment banking days, I had a boss at Kleinwort Benson who made it very clear that, when it came to remuneration, we should be judged as much by the performance of the juniors in our teams as by our own results.I quickly came to appreciate the importance of that principle: long-term success is ultimately about doing all you can to ensure the people around you succeed, whether in business, sport or any other team environment.It gives me great pleasure to see graduates from those days now running big organisations, albeit sadly one of them is the Reform Party!TDN: What advice would you give to a young person starting out in the Thoroughbred industry today?AF: I'd want them to have confidence in the long-term strategic direction of the industry they are joining. Thoroughbred racing is at a critical crossroads. It is genuinely the most remarkable sport on the planet and has an enormous amount in its favour, but it also needs a clear, well-considered plan for the future if talented young people are going to see it as a compelling long-term career.As an aside, I'd like to see far more of these young people given genuine positions of authority within racing. In the wider economy, people in their twenties and thirties are building and running businesses worth billions, yet in British racing it remains remarkably difficult for talented younger people to reach genuine positions of influence.A more energetic and ambitious mix of individuals at the helm would, in turn, lean towards a more ambitious future for the sport.The post Alex Frost: ‘Young People Need Genuine Positions Of Influence In Racing’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.