Her Majesty The Queen paid a rescheduled visit to the British Racing School in Newmarket on Thursday, June 1, to mark the school's 40th anniversary.
The Queen was given a full tour of the school, met current students, staff and horses, and then unveiled a special plaque to commemorate her visit and celebrate the school's four decades, during which it has trained thousands of young people to be able to excel in Britain's second biggest spectator sport, horse racing. She also visited the Newmarket Pony Academy, a community project run by the school and met students aged 14-17 from the Riding A Dream Academy, which supports young people from diverse ethnic communities and disadvantaged backgrounds, and who were undertaking a week's Residential Course, among other activities.
Andrew Braithwaite, Chief Executive of the British Racing School said, “It was a huge honour to welcome Her Majesty The Queen to the British Racing School today and to be able to celebrate our 40th anniversary in her presence. Her Majesty has been a huge supporter of British Horseracing and it was wonderful to be able to show her the multitude of ways that the School contributes so much to the sport through the world class courses that we offer to young people from all across the country.”
The Riding A Dream Academy, launched on the back of an historic Magnolia Cup victory for young Muslim woman Khadijah Mellah, will hold a week-long residential course aimed at encouraging youngsters with little or no riding experience.
The academy supports people aged between 14 and 18 from diverse ethnic communities and underprivileged backgrounds. In 2021, a residential course for riders was held at the British Racing School in its pilot year, along with the Khadijah Mellah Scholarship. Funded by the Racing Foundation,the academy was established to help make horseracing more accessible to young people from diverse backgrounds.
Khadijah Mellah, who became the first British Muslim woman to ride a winnerwhen landing the Magnolia Cup at Goodwood in 2019, said, “After the success of our pilot year we wanted to make sure that we were providing opportunities that would allow as wide a group of young people as possible to spend time learning how to look after racehorses and finding out more about horseracing. This is an amazing opportunity for young people who love animals and are wanting to try their hand at something new, whilst also finding out more about the opportunities for them within the sport.”
Naomi Lawson, director and co-founder of the academy added, “When we first launched the Academy we had lots of applications from young people who had been inspired by Khadijah and wanted to get involved but didn't have the experience to join one of our riding-based courses. Thanks to the support of the Racing Foundation we are now able to offer these young people a specially tailored course which will introduce them to the world of horseracing, including how to care for our racehorses and all the different facets that make up the sport.”
The fully funded residential week at Newmarket's British Racing School runs from Oct. 24 to 28. It will include visits to racing yards, studs and racecourses. Applications close on Wednesday, Sept. 21. Further information about the course can be found here.
The inaugural class of nine students from the Riding A Dream Academy have graduated from its scholarship programme. Set up after Khadijah Mellah became the first British Muslim woman to win a UK horse race, the Riding A Dream Academy offers the year-long Khadijah Mellah Scholarship 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. The Academy is funded by the Racing Foundation, with additional support from the Jockey Club and Champion Equestrian.
The students learned to ride racehorses under the expert tuition of the instructors at the British Racing School (BRS) in Newmarket where the Academy and its programmes 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.
Mellah said, “I am so incredibly proud and humbled by everything that the students have achieved this year. 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.”
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.
Applications have today opened for the Riding A Dream Academy's second Residential Week which is aimed at supporting talented young riders aged 14-18 from underrepresented communities, diverse backgrounds and those that ride at urban equestrian centers.
The Academy, which is funded by the Racing Foundation, was set up following Khadijah Mellah's win in the Magnolia Cup at Goodwood when she became the first British Muslim woman to win a UK horserace. It aims to help broaden diversity and inclusion in racing by providing opportunities for other young people. The Residential Week acts as a fun introduction to British horse racing and will once again be held at the British Racing School (BRS) from Monday, May 30 to Friday, June 3. The closing date for applications, via the website www.ridingadreamacademy.com/the-residential-week, is Sunday, Feb. 13.
So far the Academy has supported 18 young riders from underrepresented groups and urban equestrian centers through its first Residential Week in 2021, and the Khadijah Mellah Scholarship which runs for a year and currently has eight students. To date, 72% of the Academy's cohort have come from diverse ethnic backgrounds.
ITV presenter Oli Bell, who co-founded the Academy alongside Great British Racing's Naomi Lawson said, “At the Academy we are passionate about providing opportunities for young people from diverse backgrounds, who have learnt to ride at an urban equestrian centre or city farm so that we can help to make racing more diverse and inclusive. We are thrilled to have supported so many talented riders so far and are looking forward to welcoming our next Residential Week group later this year. We'd love to uncover more stars of the future but more than that, this is about giving opportunities to people who might not otherwise have had it and showing what a wonderful sport racing is.”
Feedback from students and parents has been incredibly positive with one student rating the week, “100/10. Having an experience like this has really enforced what I want to do. I LOVED it.” A parent also said, “I can't praise the week highly enough – it's a ground-breaking opportunity that has educatedme more in a week than all the years I have been trying to find out what potential theremay be for my child in the horsey world.”
Andrew Braithwaite, Finance Director at British Racing School said, “Everyone involved at the British Racing School in the Academy has thoroughly enjoyed hosting the students on the Residential and the Scholarship and it is simply wonderful to see young people being given the opportunity to get involved in racing and experience the thrill of riding thoroughbreds – both groups have been an inspiration. There are obviously a range of initiatives within racing aimed at widening access and giving opportunity to those from underrepresented backgrounds but I would venture few will have as much impact as this.”
Whilst on the Residential Week students benefit from the brilliant coaching of the British Racing School instructors and learn to ride racehorses for the very first time. They learn how to hold the jockey position and bridge their hands, whilst also learning how to look after our horses. Students also have the chance to find out more about the sport by going to the races, visiting studs and other racing establishments and going up onto Newmarket's famous gallops.
