Oshane, a 16-year-old from South East London, became the first student from the Riding A Dream Academy to graduate from the British Racing School's Foundation course. He learned his craft at the Ebony Horse Club in Brixton, and then joined the Foundation Course last December. Oshane was also one of the first students on the Academy's Khadijah Mellah Scholarship programme. The Riding A Dream Academy is funded by the Racing Foundation.
“I loved the scholarship and really enjoyed the Foundation Course, but it was a lot of hard work,” said Oshane, who wants to become a jockey. “You get up at 6 a.m. to look after the horses and are busy all day. I went back to London for a few days before starting on my yard placement and London is boring by comparison–usually you would be busy the whole time in Newmarket so I am looking forward to getting started.”
This Saturday, 1st August, will mark the anniversary of Khadijah Mellah's win in the Magnolia Cup, which made her the first British Muslim to win a race in the United Kingdom. The victory in the charity race was celebrated just three months after Mellah's first time sitting on a racehorse and against competitors including Olympian Victoria Pendleton.
Viewers in Britain will have the chance to relive the entire story when the documentary, Riding A Dream is shown again at 12.50pm on ITV this Saturday.
The film was last week announced as the Best British Short Film at the prestigious British Documentary Film Festival.
“Winning the Magnolia Cup at the Qatar Goodwood Festival was a whirlwind experience and something that has changed my life immensely,” said Mellah. “The fact that the documentary of my story, Riding A Dream, has gone on to win Best British Short Film is totally surreal.”
She told Great British Racing she is determined to use her experience to inspire other young people.
She said, “At the time, I was looking up to role models to help inspire me and get me through the grueling training. So it was incredible to then receive messages from young women and girls in particular, saying that I had inspired them to do something out of their comfort zone.”
“It is so important to me to encourage people to be determined and pursue a sport to a higher level despite what other people may think. My hope is that my experiences will encourage more people to get involved in racing.”
Mellah's victory made history and changed the perceptions of young women in her community.
“I know for sure that I have broken some perceptions of a young Muslim woman and it is something that I am proud of and will continue to do,” said Mellah. “Me being Muslim isn't just it. It is important that people realise that being a certain religion or from a certain background doesn't determine your interests and the person you are, and it certainly doesn't determine how good you are.
“For me it is so important to be able to spread the message that you can be successful despite your background.”
She hopes that her story and positive experience within the sport will see a shift in horse racing.
“When I was younger, I didn't think that getting into racing would be an option for me or someone of my background,” Mellah said. “There was no one that looked like me. I hope now that I have joined the racing industry and I have been a success story that young people like me will also see there is an opportunity for them to join that racing community.”
