What Mack learned through his research led to him founding Legacy Equine Academy (LEA)–an organization dedicated to bridging the contributions African America horsemen have made to racing throughout history to the future of the industry by introducing middle and high school students from a diverse background to the sport. Launched in 2016, the non-profit has partnered with the Fayette County public school system to introduce students to career opportunities in equine and agricultural industries and provide a pipeline for higher education and future job opportunities.

“I created the Legacy brand because we want to develop a legacy as far as our mission is concerned  to pay homage to the legacy of the Black jockeys and horsemen who have been so instrumental to forming today's standards in the Thoroughbred industry,” Mack explained. “There's no shortage of books in the library, but I learned that people don't really know the history. Through that process, I founded the Legacy Equine Academy.”

LEA organizes field trips aimed to expose their students to various aspects of the equine industry. The group regularly hosts trips to the Kentucky Horse Park and the Kentucky Derby Museum at Churchill Downs, often with 50 to 100 students in attendance. They have also taken students to Keeneland during the September Yearling Sale and to various breeding farms in Lexington including Taylor Made Farm. LEA has partnered with Spy Coast Farm, which specialized in breeding and development of performance horses, for the use of their breeding, development and education center for hands-on activities and career training.

One of the organization's main focuses is to make sure students have the opportunity to meet individuals from all aspects of the industry, from bloodstock agents and veterinarians to farm managers and racetrack officials. Mack said that one of the most important aspects of their outings is when students network with these industry professionals and get the chance to visualize themselves in a similar career one day.

“We have in-class sessions with the kids to give professionals in the industry an opportunity to talk about their career and what their career path has been,” he said. “The kids absolutely love it. You're exposing a new audience to the equine agriculture community and their questions are great. They're coming from a perspective of where they just don't know. The enthusiasm around our activities and our tours is just so rewarding to see that you're really changing a mindset when they realize those opportunities are out there.”

In the early days of the academy, trips were held during school hours, but during COVID they began running after-hour and weekend activities. This proved to be beneficial when it increased parent involvement and participation.

LEA provides scholarship opportunities for their students through the Legacy Foundation and also coordinates apprenticeship positions for students interested in certain aspects of the industry. Mack proudly shared the story of one student who joined LEA in the seventh grade. She soon became interested in agriculture and, with the help of a scholarship from the Legacy Foundation, is now majoring in Agricultural Science at Western Kentucky University.

Mack is quick to point out that LEA is only possible with the help of industry organizations. He named Keeneland, the Kentucky Horse Park and Spy Coast Farm as a few of their biggest supporters.

“We've had a great deal of support from the equine community and the corporate community,” he explained. “Part of our pipeline is developing and leveraging those relationships and resources. Through that, we're able to have the kids travel and get hands-on activities to expose them to all things equine. We are very proud of the alliances that we have created here over the last several years to grow what we do.”

LEA activities are also made possible through their annual Legacy Ball, a high-end charity event featuring food, live music and bourbon. Proceeds from the event benefit LEA and the many scholarships that the Legacy organization puts together every year.

Mack explained that the idea for the Legacy Ball actually developed before Legacy Equine Academy came about. When he was first learning about the history of racing, he came up with the idea of the Legacy Ball in hopes of educating the community about the historical accomplishments of African American horsemen. He organized a meeting with Claiborne's Seth Hancock to pitch his idea.

“I will never forget Seth's response,” Mack recalled. “Seth said they would support the Legacy Ball and that he thought it was a great idea, but he wanted to talk more about the industry at large as far as the racial makeup of the industry. After that conversation is when I created the Legacy Equine Academy because there was an opportunity to better educate young people and give them exposure and access to the professional opportunities in the industry.”

While the Legacy Ball could not be held in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID, it will return for it's fourth year on Saturday, April 30 at Fasig-Tipton. The event will be hosted by University of Kentucky basketball legend Jack Givens.

“We're offering the public an opportunity to help us support the mission that we're on to educate our young people,” Mack said. “This is our main fundraising mechanism to grow and get more resource for what we do. We want to have a very diversified group of folks come out and enjoy the event–whether they're industry folks, politicians or educators.”

As LEA continues to grow, they are working to broaden their reach geographically by expanding into Scott County outside of Lexington and into the Louisville area.

“This is where the corporate industry and the Thoroughbred industry can hop on board with us and support us, and we have already received a great deal of support from many organizations in the industry,” Mack said. “With the growth of what we do, we continue to need transportation for the organization and we continue to need funding to offer a broader, bigger footprint.”

To learn more about the Legacy Ball and Legacy Equine Academy, click here.

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LEA gives African American and racially diverse middle and high school students the opportunity to learn horsemanship, as well as providing industry-related internships, co-ops, and college scholarships.

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“It was great to see the students so enthusiastic during the visit,” said Kerry Ryan, who represents the ITBA on the TfR Ireland sub-committee. “For many it was their first time to see a thoroughbred in the flesh. On behalf of TfR Ireland, I would like to thank Goffs and ITBA for hosting and participating in today's visit.”

“Education is one of the core pillars of TfRI, which was set up to support racing globally to contribute to society by improving lives of its people and its communities,” said TfRI Development Director Anna Powell. “We are delighted that young people from three local schools will get to see a sale in action at Goffs. It's a brilliant way to showcase the variety of career opportunities.”

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An initiative of Together for Racing Ireland (TfR Ireland) under the umbrella of Together for Racing International (TfRI), the programme brought together students and teaching staff from Curragh Post Primary, Kildare Town Community School and St. Paul's Secondary School. Students were welcomed by INS CEO Cathal Beale at the Michael Osborne Centre, with Godolphin Managing Director Joe Osborne providing some insight into the Irish bloodstock industry. Jane Mangan was the guest speaker, while there was also a prize raffle and jackets donated by The Irish Field. The students and teaching staff were then given a tour of the INS, which involved the recently launched Irish Racehorse Experience and an opportunity to try RACE's mobile racehorse simulator, as well as a tour of the INS stallion yard and foaling unit among other activities.

Commenting on the launch, Joe Osborne said, “It was great to see the launch event at INS so well attended–by students from the three schools, teaching staff and industry personnel. This is a welcome initiative and huge congratulations to everyone who has been involved in pulling it together so successfully. There has been great progress recently in promoting our industry as a career option and I am confident that many of the Leaving Cert Applied students who avail of the work experience placement will find fulfilling employment in the thoroughbred industry in the future.”

If accepted into the programme, each 6th Year Leaving Certificate Applied student will gain 20 days work experience with participating industry organisations over the 2021/2022 academic year. The objective is to give students an insight into the Irish bloodstock industry, including the wide breath of career opportunities available. Over the next few weeks, students interested in the LCA Work Skills pilot programme will be identified and matched with their placement hosts. A long term goal is to rollout the programme regionally after the first year with the help and assistance of TfRI. For more information, please click here.

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“This course attracts students from a really diverse range of ages and backgrounds,” said The National Stud Director Tim Lane. “Graduates from 2019 and previous pilot years are working at studs across the UK and we have had a strong level of applications again this year. As with all activity this year we have put in place guidelines and restrictions to safeguard against COVID-19 and we will be monitoring these in line with guidance from government over the coming weeks.”

The 2020 students are as follows: Debbie Brodie, Dylan Goulding, Callum Bartram-Bell, Harry Hollingworth, Callan Graham, Leon Rossiter, Kenny Mace, Sam Malone, Cara Bradbury, Kate Stewart-Hilliar, Zoe Moles, Charlotte Cook, Tom Richardson, Jodie McLoughlin, Daniel Kent, Jodie Lever, Freya Marshall, Evelyn Holmes, Kinga Jantovics and Libby Flood.

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• Attract people to join the racing and breeding industry
• Develop people to deliver and grow their skills and career in the racing and breeding industry
• Support employers to retain staff to deliver and grow within the racing and breeding industry

These priorities will provide HRI with actions to develop a range of subsidized education and training services to the entire industry to upskill, re-train and recruit/retain staff.

“This was the first time a training education survey was conducted across the horse racing and breeding industry and provided us an opportunity to hear directly from people working in the industry,” said HRI Industry Education and Training Manager Grainne Murphy. “The data provided has helped to shape and inform our training and education strategy 2020-2022.

“Improving training and education opportunities must be a shared endeavour and we hope data from this survey along with future surveys can help drive change. A huge thank you to everyone who took the time and effort to complete the survey, especially my colleagues in the Irish Stablestaff Association, the Irish Racehorse Trainers’ Association, the Restricted Trainers’ Association, the Jockeys’ Association, RACE, the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board in helping us deliver this survey.”

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The program was implemented to reduce pressure on other testing sites. The program at Cornell is designed to test people when they arrive on campus, as well as to test people who feel ill or who have been exposed to COVID-19. This testing will be done in addition to surveillance testing; all testing will be done in collaboration with Cayuga Medical Center and Tompkins County Health Department.

It was noted that Cornell has a low prevalence of COVID-19 on campus: 0.2 percent of those tested have been positive for COVID-19. This is significantly lower than the 1.1 percent of people in New York who have tested positive.

Cornell plans to use the lab to test students once or twice per week. It is unclear if the lab will test people who are not students at the University. If students test positive for COVID-19, the university will work with the Tompkins County Health Department to assist with contact tracing and quarantining.

The nasopharyngeal swab will be used for arrival testing, but surveillance testing will use front-of-nostril samples. This type of testing is less invasive and can be used to test a high volume of samples quickly.

Read more at the Cornell Daily Sun.

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