THE AMATEUR JOCKEYS ASSOCIATION OF GREAT BRITAIN
25-04-2012
A charity race is to take place on The July Course at Newmarket on Horsemen and Heroes Day on Saturday 18th August in aid of
RACING WELFARE and
THE HOUSEHOLD CAVALRY OPERATIONAL CASUALTIES FUND.
If you are interested in taking part, please e-mail Sarah Oliver sph.oliver@btinternet.com for an application form and race details.
Applications close on 15th May.
24-04-2012
Rachel King represented Great Britain in Abu Dhabi at a Press Conference and Exhibition during Aintree week when it was announced that The Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival’s Her Highness Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies IFAHR Cup will now be run as a world championship with invited professional lady jockeys also participating. Rachel won a race in this Arab racing series in 2011 in Oman.
Points will be awarded for participation and Lara Sawaya, Festival Director, also announced an additional £50,000 is now added to the championship, which will be distributed between the top 3 point winning amateur clubs at the end of the series (€25,000, €15,000 and €10,000) in appreciation of their support and encouragement of lady jockeys.
The winning lady jockeys of each of the 9 races of 2012 will automatically get an entry into the HH Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship final race in Abu Dhabi on 4th November. The winner of the final championship race will also win a Mercedes car!
The AJA are very grateful to Lara Sawaya for producing so many unique race riding opportunities around the world to so many lady jockeys. So far this year Helen Cuthbert (Oman), Pip Tutty (Australia) and Adele Mulrennan (Texas) have taken part. Nicola Dumelow travels to Morocco for the 4th race of the series on 4th May. Newbury hosts the next race on 19th May when Anna Wallace will represent Great Britain.
The series then moves to Berlin (10th June), Stockholm (10th July), Warsaw (26th August), and Craon (3rd September) before the finale in Abu Dhabi.
20-04-2012
Would YOU like to develop and improve your riding technique and jockey skills?
The British Racing School in Newmarket are holding an amateur rider development course from 14th – 18th May with just 4 places left as of today so don’t miss it! You must hold a Category A licence or a point-to-point licence, be fully fit and not be carrying any injuries. The course offers:
Riding out with video reviews; a school session with Olympic coach Yogi Breisner; dietary and nutritional advice; sports science; simulator training using state of the art Dartfish Technology to improve pushing technique and use of the whip; fitness assessment and review; fall training using the Equichute; sports psychology.
This fully residential course is for 4.5 days and costs £500 which includes tuition, accommodation, meals and refreshments.
For further information please contact CLARE HIGGINS on 01638 675907. Clare’s full contact details are:
Clare Higgins
Courses Co-Ordinator
The British Racing School
Newmarket
Suffolk CB8 7NU
Tel: 01638 675907
Fax: 01638 560929
E-mail: clare@brs.org.uk
14-04-2012
Huge congratulations to Katie Walsh on making the Aintree record books by becoming the most successful lady jockey to ride in the history of the Grand National when she finished third today to Neptune Collonges and Sunnyhillboy on her trainer father Ted’s SEABASS.
A thrilled Katie said after the race “I had an unbelievable spin. It was a fantastic experience. It was great to get round. I can’t believe its all over and I can’t wait to do it again. At the third last I was going okay. I pulled down my googles turning in and Barry (Geraghty) said to me “You’re not going too bad” but I knew then I wasn’t going to win. I was just delighted to be placed.” SEABASS was going well in the closing stages of the race but was beaten as the first two fought out a thrilling finish.
12-04-2012
Many congratulations to top Irish amateur Richie Harding who had a thrilling win today at Aintree in the Fox Hunters for trainer Donald McCain and owner Trevor Hemmings with CLOUDY LANE in an incident packed race which saw 13 runners and riders complete from a line up of 26. Richie’s ride outstayed long time leader ROULEZ COOL and Sam Waley-Cohen with HERONS WELL taking third place and KEENAN’S FUTURE finishing fourth.
Richie said “He’s been round here before and it was a brilliant spin. He jumped and travelled well and he was just idling in front. He jumped for fun and he loved it. Everything went to plan and I’ve always wanted to win this race.” This was a courageous run from the winner who finished with a twisted hind shoe and the winning trainer added “Aintree is special to us and to repay people like Mr Hemmings is nice.”
26-03-2012
Italy hosted the first of 2012’s World Cup of Nations races in Pisa on Sunday 25th March. Great Britain was represented by Patrick Millman and Joshua Hodson. Congratulations to Patrick who was the leading foreign rider finishing 4th and Joshua finished 7th. The next leg of the FWCN series is in Maisons-Laffitte in May.
16-03-2012
Many congratulations on a fantastically patient ride by Colman Sweeney today when he came literally from last to first to take the Christie’s Foxhunter Chase in fine style on SALSIFY owned by his mother and trained by his father.
The partnership were content to lie 20 lengths off the pace in the early stages and waited well into the home straight before Colman even thought about delivering his challenge.
After the race Colman said “I’ll take any ban they want to give me! I was 13 stone 10 lbs in December but the family and the wife put some huge pressure on me to lose it so that I could ride this fella and I’m glad I did – this is such a sweet win.”
15-03-2012
The third day of the Festival concluded on a high with the 3rd running of the charity race in aid of Cancer Research UK and an emotional win so soon after the loss to racing of legendary jockey and trainer Josh Gifford, with his daughter Tina Cook riding Pascha Bere to storm up the hill from nowhere and win with ease!
12 jockeys took part in what has now become a hugely oversubscribed event that has raised over £400,000 since it was first run in 2010 and has raised over half as much again this year. Other jockeys taking part were Trainer’s wife Candida Baker, ATR presenter Gina Bryce, Welsh opera singer and tv personality Shan Cothi, Irish Field journalist Niall Cronin, RUK presenter Niall Hannity (who lost over 3 stone to participate!), scrap metal specialist James Hughes, Cancer nurse Lindsey Hunting, Trainer’s daughter and sister Jo McCain, Coolmore Stud’s assistant Wendy Normile, local trainer’s wife Jelly O’Brien and Greater Manchester firefighter Stuart Parr.
If you would like to support this event, please visit www.justgiving.com/festival and donate now!
Photo credit: AJA
15-03-2012
Many congratulations to ALAN BERRY who excelled at Cheltenham today riding SUNNYHILLBOY for his guv’nor Jonjo O’Neill and owner JP MacManus, seen to good effect from a long way out and winning by over 4 lengths from BECAUSEICOUDNTSEE who had disputed the early running whilst the eventual winner settled in midfield. BECAUSEICOUDNTSEE led over the second last but was chased by EXMOOR RANGER and SUNNYHILLBOY who ran on gamely, finding an extra gear to forge clear inside the final furlong for a thrilling finish.
Local winning trainer Jonjo O’Neill said “He’s a brilliant little horse and loves the course. He’s brilliant for the yard and is a real tough honest horse. Alan’s ridden a few Festival winners, he’s a great lad and a big part of the team and he did all the work on Don’t Push It before he won the National.”
Alan said “He’s a genuine horse and he deserves a race like that, he’s done nothing wrong but you can only be so confident coming to Cheltenham. He’s a horse I ride at home all of the time. He impresses in everything that he does but he’s getting a bit older and a bit slower.”
14-03-2012
Many congratulations to JT McNamara on winning the first at Cheltenham today, The Diamond Jubilee National Hunt Chase on Welsh trainer Rebecca Curtis’s TEAFORTHREE, staying on strongly to beat HARRY THE VIKING in a thrilling finish with FOUR COMMANDERS third and OUR VICTORIA fourth.
After the race, Rebecca Curtis said of her first Festival winner “Its very special. It wasn’t the plan to make the running but he was there and we knew he stays and jumps. Its great just to have a runner here let alone a winner.” JT said “He was brilliant. He never missed a beat and its great to ride a winner here.”