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RAC IN G G R O O M – T H E . C O M N E E D ED B Y E VE RY C O U N T RY Lissa Oliver Caroline Norris, Martin Lole
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ou would think that racehorses bring more than their fair share of issues to a stable, but more often than not they are the simplest aspect of the job of training. They don’t look after themselves, however, and that’s where it gets complicated. Shortage of staff and the difficulties of staff retention are subjects we have dealt with in almost every issue, and the problem isn’t going away. Part of the problem could be the image the racing industry presents of itself and the perceived lack of career progression; even trainers are sometimes unaware of the many and varied skill sets within their staff. Fortunately for the UK, this problem is now being addressed and hopefully rectified over the coming years, with the aid of an innovative new website
TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM ISSUE 67
originated, created and funded jointly by the National Trainers Federation (NTF) and the Racing Foundation. In the UK, Shelley Perham is the National Trainers Federation’s (NTF) consultant for Recruitment and Retention of Racing Staff and explains the reasoning behind racinggroom.com. “Racing Groom started as a mind map to pull together all the fragmented pieces of information from various stakeholders who offer services of support to racing grooms. “When I googled ‘how to become a soldier’, there was an in-depth amount of content to help at the moment of decision making. I googled ‘how to become a racing groom’, and it only led to the job boards and training providers. From the trained eye, there was no proper job description or anything to inspire a young person to look further at a career as a racing groom”.