The British Racing School is one of the two
racing
In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goa ...
schools in the United Kingdom. Established in 1983, it is a charitable trust providing training for young people working in the horse racing industry.
The school is based in
Newmarket, Suffolk
Newmarket is a market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. Located (14 miles) west of Bury St Edmunds and (14 miles) northeast of Cambridge. It is considered the birthplace and global centre of thoroughbred hor ...
, and offers a wide range of courses for jockeys, trainers, exercise riders, and racing secretaries. It also runs the Pony Racing Academy and bi-annual Pony Racing Camps for children aged between 11 and 16 who wish to compete in the growing sport o
Pony Racing
It is accredited by the
British Horse Society
The British Horse Society (BHS) is a membership-based equine charity, with a stated vision of "a Society which provides a strong voice for horses and people and which spreads awareness through support, training and education". It currently has m ...
, and a 2011 inspection report outcome of 2, Good.
Ofsted-inspected
/ref> Grant Harris is the current chief executive of the British Racing School.
History
The British Racing School first started in 1969 at Great Bookham
Great Bookham is a village in Surrey, England, one of six semi-urban spring line settlements between the towns of Leatherhead and Guildford. With the narrow strip parish of Little Bookham, it forms part of the Saxon settlement of ''Bocham'' ("the ...
in Surrey before moving to the National Equestrian Centre at Stoneleigh, Warwickshire
Stoneleigh is a small village in Warwickshire, England, on the River Sowe, situated 4.5 miles (7.25 km) south of Coventry and 5.5 miles (9 km) north of Leamington Spa. The population taken at the 2011 census was 3,636. The ...
. In 1979 it moved again to the Earl of March’s Goodwood Estate until finally a permanent base was set up in Newmarket at the 120-acre site just north of the town centre.
Funding
The school costs around £3 million per year to run and relies on charitable donations and government funding via the Skills Funding Agency
The Skills Funding Agency was one of two successor organisations that emerged from the closure in 2010 of the Learning and Skills Council (England's largest non-departmental public body or quango). The agency was in turn replaced by the Educa ...
and the Education Funding Agency (EFA), which accounts for approximately 65 per cent of income for delivering the Apprenticeship in Racehorse Care and Advanced Apprenticeship in Racehorse Care and Management. Twenty per cent of funding is generated from course fees, including courses for jockeys, racehorse trainers, racing secretaries, management training and Pony Racing, as well as training courses for jockeys from overseas. The remainder of the income is generated from the trading arm, BRS Training Limited, a 100 per cent-owned subsidiary of the British Racing School which operates a conference facility from its site in Newmarket.
Notable alumni
Graduates of the British Racing School include:
Paul Hanagan
Paul Hanagan (born 8 September 1980 in Warrington, Cheshire) is a leading British flat horse racing jockey. Hanagan has twice been crowned champion jockey on the flat in Britain, riding 165 winners in 2011 to defend his title, having won his f ...
, former champion Flat jockey
Ryan Mania
Ryan Mania (born 23 December 1989) is a Scottish National Hunt jockey from Galashiels, most famous for winning the 2013 Grand National on the Sue Smith-trained Auroras Encore, at starting odds of 66/1.
Early life and career
Mania was born in 198 ...
, Grand National-winning jockey
Seb Sanders
Seb Sanders (born 25 September 1971 in Birmingham, England) is a former flat race jockey. Sanders was British Champion Flat Jockey in 2007, a title he shared with Jamie Spencer.
Early life
Born in Birmingham, Sanders' father, a plumber introduc ...
, former champion Flat jockey
Sam Thomas, Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning jockey
Willie Carson
William Fisher Hunter Carson, OBE (born 16 November 1942) is a retired jockey in thoroughbred horse racing.
Life and career
Best known as "Willie", Carson was born in Stirling, Scotland in 1942. He was apprenticed ...
(jnr), Flat jockey
Jason Weaver
Jason Michael Weaver (born July 18, 1979) is an American actor and singer best known for his roles as Marcus Henderson on The WB sitcom ''Smart Guy,'' Jerome Turrell on the short-lived sitcom '' Thea'' from 1993 to 1994, and the pre-teenaged ...
, Classic-winning Flat jockey
References
Adult Learning Inspectorate awards British Racing School outstanding gradeTraining feature from horseandrideruk.comLink from lovetheraces.com, official site of Great British RacingRetired top-class steeplechaser Our Vic joins the British Racing School, from the website of racehorse trainer David PipeMatthew Hancock MP experiences Apprentice Week at the British Racing School
External links
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{{Horse racing in Great Britain
Horse racing
Jockey schools
Horse racing organisations in Great Britain