Two students from the Riding A Dream Academy are the latest to have secured places on the Foundation Course at the prestigious British Racing School in Suffolk. Kayanna, 16, from Leicester, and Sienna, 15 from London will each take up their places in the Summer having been on the Academy's Khadijah Mellah Scholarship. It takes the number of Academy students to have gone onto the Foundation Course, the entry level course into British horseracing, to seven.
Sienna, who was on the first year (2021/22) of the Khadijah Mellah Scholarship, the Academy's flagship year-long program said, “I have dreamt of being a jockey since I was eight years old so this is a dream come true for me. When I was growing up, I was quite reserved in talking about what I wanted to do because people were uneducated about horse racing and it had quite a stereotype which often resulted in people finding it funny for me to say I wanted to be a jockey.
“The Riding A Dream Academy has opened so many doors for me and allowed me to pursue this dream, which was almost impossible for someone like me from inner city London with no horsey background. As I'm only 15 when I graduated from the Academy last year I had to play a waiting game before I could apply to the British Racing School so it's been a long awaited opportunity and I am so thrilled I have secured a place.
“I would love to be a flat jockey and be involved in changing the stereotypes around racing, bring in more diversity and help influence the next generation of Riding A Dream Academy students. My dream is to be the first female Champion Flat Jockey – but I think Hollie Doyle might beat me to it! I can't wait to be more involved in the sport and see where my journey takes me. Riding A Dream has been a life changing, unforgettable experience which I cherish in my heart forever.”
Kayanna started riding at the Urban Equestrian Academy in Leicester as an after-school hobby and has developed a passion for riding which led her to attend the first ever Riding A Dream Academy residential in 2021, before winning a place on this year's (2022/23) Khadijah Mellah Scholarship.
Kayanna said, “Being on the Riding A Dream Academy has helped me with my confidence and shown me all the different career opportunities within racing. It has been great learning to ride racehorses and I am looking forward to even more in-depth training of working with them when I join the Foundation Course at the British Racing School later this year. My dream is to become a jump jockey and I hope that with lots of hard work and commitment and all the encouragement I will get from the team, the sky will be the limit for me.”
The Riding A Dream Academy was set up after Khadijah Mellah became the first British Muslim woman to win a UK horserace and was established to provide opportunities for young people from diverse communities to get into the sport. Naomi Lawson, who co-founded the Academy with Khadijah and Oli Bell said, “All of us at the Riding A Dream Academy are so proud of Kayanna and Sienna and all of our other students who have gone onto the Foundation Course. They have both worked so hard to achieve this first step in their dream of becoming jockeys and we know that they will continue to excel. The Academy is all about supporting young people from diverse communities into the racing world and making the sport more diverse and inclusive. We are proud of everything that the Academy has achieved to date with the support of our funders the Racing Foundation and our incredible partners at the British Racing School.”
The post ‘Dream Come True’: Two Students From Riding A Dream Academy Secure Places At British Racing School appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
