Tag: People

Nine students from the Riding A Dream Academy, which was set up after Khadijah Mellah became the first British Muslim woman to win a UK horse race, have become the first to graduate from its prestigious Scholarship program.

The Khadijah Mellah Scholarship is the Academy's year-long flagship program, which was established to help other young people aged 14-18 from diverse and underrepresented communities get into racing and to increase diversity and inclusion in the sport. It is kindly funded by the Racing Foundation, with additional support from the Jockey Club and Champion Equestrian.

Over the course of the year, the students, all aged 14-18 and who have come from across the UK, have learnt to ride racehorses under the expert tuition of the instructors at the British Racing School (BRS) in Newmarket where the Academy and its program are run. The course began with a residential week at the BRS in August 2021 and the students have returned for one weekend each month since then to continue their tuition.

“I am so incredibly proud and humbled by everything that the students have achieved this year,” said Khadijah Mellah, in whose name the Scholarship is run and who was the inspiration behind the Riding A Dream Academy. “To see them arrive in August last year having only ever sat on riding school ponies, to now be riding racehorses on the gallops here is just mind blowing. As a group and individually I am so impressed by the talent, hard work and commitment they have put in and I can't wait to see where their careers in racing take them next. None of this would have been possible without the support of the Racing Foundation and the incredible instructors at the British Racing School – I am so grateful to everyone who has made the Academy possible.”

Sienna, 15 from London, is one of the students to have graduated on Saturday. She said: “Being part of the Riding A Dream Academy has meant so much to me. It has been a lifelong dream to be a jockey and the Academy has made that dream a reality. The Academy has changed my life and I am so grateful to have had so many people there and at the British Racing School who have believed in me and made this all possible.”

The Academy acts as a pathway into horse racing with one of its students, O'Shane, 17 from Ebony Horse Club in London already working in the sport at a racing yard in Newmarket.

A third student, Aamilah, 16 from Gloucester, is set to join the sport's Foundation Course which is the next step for young people looking to start their careers in the sport and progress onto becoming a jockey. She said: “I am so lucky to be one of the first group of the Riding A Dream Academy – it's been such an honor and an incredible experience. It has helped me so much with my riding journey and I am now one step closer to becoming a jump jockey and my dream of winning the Grand National!”

The Academy was set up by Naomi Lawson and ITV Racing's Oli Bell as a legacy to the achievements of Khadijah Mellah who became the first British Muslim woman to win a horse race in the UK when landing the Magnolia Cup at Goodwood in 2019 and aims to increase diversity and inclusion in British horse racing.

To date, 60 percent of the Academy's applicants have been from a diverse ethnic background, with 73 percent of students in the pilot year coming from a diverse ethnic background. This compares to just 2 percent of jockeys from a diverse ethnic background and between 3-5 percent of individuals who currently go on the industry's entry level Foundation Course.

It currently runs two programs – The Khadijah Mellah Scholarship and a Residential Week which acts as an introduction to the sport. Later in 2022 it will expand its programs, thanks to the Racing Foundation, to include a Residential Week for non-riders and Regional community weeks.

The post ‘Incredibly Proud’: First Students Graduate From UK’s Riding A Dream Academy appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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If you want to experience the true essence of a Trevor Denman race call, stand out in the parking lot at Del Mar during one of the races. Despite being hundreds of yards away from the action and unable to see a single horse in the race, when the roar of the crowd has reached its crescendo and the race ends, you will know exactly what happened out on the racetrack.

Arguably the game's most familiar race caller returns for another summer meet at Del Mar in 2022, just like he's done every year since he took over for Harry Henson in 1984, with the exception of 2020 when he decided to ride out Covid at his home in Minnesota.

Denman was actually getting ready to leave his property and make the drive to San Diego for the fall meet at Del Mar last October when he slipped on some ice-slick steps at his place and injured his back.

“That injury before the last fall meet was so unexpected,” Denman says. “I fell heavily and could not walk unaided for two weeks. It was a nerve pain, so it was excruciating. After two weeks it healed daily.”

And now Denman's ready to get back in the booth. First, the drive to Del Mar from Minnesota, making some memorable stops along the way.

“This trip we visited the site of Buddy Holly's ill-fated plane crash,” Denman says, “in which he and Richie Valens died in a remote cornfield in Iowa. The crash site memorial is on an Iowa farm, but the farmer allows you to go on his land for free to visit it. Midwest hospitality.”

Denman and his wife, Robin, take five days to complete 2,000 mile trip.

“I have a penchant for Indian War battle sites,” Denman notes, “so we went to Fort McPherson, Nebraska, Blue Water Battlefield in Nebraska and the Battle Of Mud Springs in Nebraska.”

Trevor brings a unique style to every call, with catch phrases like, “And away they go” spoken at the start of every race. “Scraping the paint” used to describe a horse rallying up the rail. “They would need to sprout wings” for when a horse is so far out in front, the rest of the field has no chance. “Moving like a winner” or “looks like he jumped in at the quarter pole”…all signature calls that have become a part of the racing culture.

These days Denman is exclusive to Del Mar, affording the 68-year old the opportunity to enjoy the best of both worlds…continue working, calling horse races at one of the most beautiful tracks in the world…while also getting to spend time away from the limelight to enjoy a quiet life with Robin on their secluded home in Minnesota.

“I have never been happier than I am now in my 'retirement,'” Denman says. “I think I will go on calling races until the day comes when I say, 'Okay that's it, time to say goodbye'.”

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Shadowfax Stable's New York-bred Down Royal bested the boys with a furious inside rush to defeat Chief Justice by a neck in Wednesday's Grade 1, $150,000 A.P. Smithwick Memorial at Saratoga Race Course.

The 8-year-old daughter of Alphabet Soup was piloted to her first graded victory by Bernard Dalton, husband of trainer Kate Dalton, closing from off the pace in the 2 1/16-mile test over the hurdles.

The victory came on the eve of the couple's 14th wedding anniversary, which the pair are honoring in true horseman fashion as they make their way home to South Carolina.

“We're celebrating on the I-81 going south,” said Kate Dalton, with a laugh. “Hopefully, we'll get to have a day somewhere along the way here pretty soon. We've gotten as far as North Carolina, so we're getting closer. The filly wants to know if we're there yet. Her nose keeps hanging out of the trailer.”

Dalton said the grey mare will enjoy a little down time after running her win streak to four, dating back to her first stakes score in the Randolph D. Rouse in August at Colonial Downs.

“She'll get a nice couple of days turned out lowkey in her paddock getting dirty,” Dalton said. “She cooled out real well yesterday and seems to be doing just fine.”

The Daltons, who also bred the mare, met in Saratoga 20 years ago when Kate was working for Hall of Famer Jonathan Sheppard and Bernard was riding out for Kiaran McLaughlin.

“We've had plenty of fun in Saratoga over the years,” Dalton said. “We met when Bernie was freelancing for a woman who was stabled in the annex on the backside of Jonathan's, so every day I'd finish up and be messing around in the shedrow and that's how we met.”

The pair have enjoyed an incredible journey together in racing, including a score with Diplomat in the 2017 Grade 1 New York Turf Writers Cup [now the Jonathan Sheppard]. They earned a $27,000 breeders' bonus for Wednesday's remarkable score with Down Royal, who launched her career on the flat with trainer Peter Pugh in July 2016 at the Spa. She finished off-the-board in a trio of starts on the NYRA flat circuit before graduating over the hurdles that November at Charleston.

Kate Dalton said the breeding came together almost by accident thanks to a smart score by the Bernard Dalton-piloted Italian Wedding in the 2013 Grade 1 New York Turf Writers Cup.

“We had campaigned the mare Miss Crown. She was a steeplechaser of ours and a New York-bred,” said Dalton. “When it came time to retire her, we had her in New York on Joe McMahon's farm and Bernie had just won the Turf Writers for Jonathan Sheppard on Italian Wedding, who was by Alphabet Soup. Coincidentally, the next year, Alphabet Soup went to stand at McMahons.”

When it came time to find the right stallion for Miss Crown, the answer was staring the Daltons in the face.

“Didn't Bernie just win a Grade 1 on one of them?” recalled Kate, with a laugh.

While Down Royal's flat career didn't pan out, Kate Dalton said they always knew she could have a steeplechase career as a backup plan.

“She was always a very good jumper,” Dalton said. “She was always going to be a steeplechase horse unless she lit up the board on the flat, which she definitely did not. We were jumping her over fences as a 2-year-old getting her ready to become a jumper.”

Down Royal's Grade 1 win was eight years in the making and it nearly didn't happen when the Daltons considered making her a broodmare at the end of last year.

“She'd just started getting really good last year and we thought about it and decided we'll go one more year,” Dalton said.

And after two wins in as many starts this season, it's safe to say the decision to keep racing was a good one although the breeding shed looms at year's end.

“She works well with a deadline,” joked Dalton. “Win lose or draw, this is it for her. She'll be nine next year and 10 before she has her first foal. It was a little slow getting there, but we got there in end. It's a steeplechase, you have to pace yourself and come running at the end.”

Dalton said she's not sure yet if Down Royal will return to the Spa for the Grade 1, $150,000 Jonathan Sheppard, a 2 3/8-mile test on August 17.

“It's a long trip,” Dalton said. “It's a thousand miles nearly from South Carolina to Saratoga and she's just up and run her eyeballs out and now a thousand miles home. I feel like it's a big ask to do it a second time. But if she comes out well and is in good form again, how could you not keep it in mind. It's a maybe.”

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The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will honor the legacy of the late trainer Dominic Galluscio while raising funds and awareness for pancreatic cancer research during Lustgarten Foundation Day at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday, July 23.

The day's first race will be named in honor of Galluscio, who passed away in 2014 following a battle with pancreatic cancer. A popular and respected figure among his peers, Galluscio trained more than 1,000 winners and earned more than $31 million in purses over a career that began in 1981 and was spent primarily on the New York circuit.

Also being remembered on Saturday will be farrier Ray Amato, Jr., who died in 2021 from pancreatic cancer. Amato, Jr. was a familiar and valued member of the New York racing community, having teamed for many years with his father Ray. Together, they shod hundreds of stakes winners, including two Kentucky Derby winners (Super Saver in 2010 and Always Dreaming in 2017) and three Belmont Stakes winners (Rags to Riches in 2007, Palace Malice in 2013 and Tapwrit in 2017).

The centerpiece of the day will be an autograph session with Saratoga's leading trainers from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Jockey Silks Room Porch to benefit the Lustgarten Foundation, a non-profit organization with a mission of advancing scientific and medical research related to pancreatic cancer. One hundred percent of all donations to the Lustgarten Foundation fund life-saving pancreatic cancer research.

Gates open at 11 a.m. on Saturday with first post scheduled for 1:05 p.m. The day's features are the Grade 1, $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks for 3-year-old fillies on the dirt at 1 1/8 miles, and the Grade 3, $200,000 Caress for fillies and mares on the turf at 5 ½ furlongs.

Racing is conducted five days a week at Saratoga Race Course, Wednesdays through Sundays, apart from the final week, when the meet will conclude on Labor Day.

For additional information, visit NYRA.com.

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