Investing In Breeding & Racing – Education Employers’ feedback was the cornerstone of the TBA’s decision to switch its primary support for education and training from government-funded apprenticeships to the new Entry to Stud Employment Programme (E2SE). And, as the firstyear experience enters its final phase, Tabbi Smith, training director at the National Stud, which administers the programme, could not be happier. She reports: “I am incredibly grateful to the TBA for grabbing this thorny issue and providing an access route into the industry, not only as an alternative to what was available before, but also for providing an opportunity for people who’ve never had the chance to follow their passion.” After 27 years’ support for recruitment and retention that majored on apprenticeships or their equivalent, a growing dearth of numbers prompted consultation among members, guided by the association’s education and employment committee under the chairmanship of Paul Greeves and conducted by education and welfare manager Caroline Turnbull. A key finding was that apprenticeships did not cater for young people coming out of equine colleges or older enthusiasts wanting a career change. Hence the launch of E2SE, funded equally by the TBA and Racing Foundation, open to all ages and levels of experience, and based around a nine-week, residential course at the National Stud, starting in October, and followed by up to nine months’ paid work placement with a UK stud farm. The age range on the first group was from 19 to 57, and Smith describes it as “the best residential course we’ve ever had.” She adds: “The older students pulled the younger ones up to their level. I’ve never walked into the accommodation block and met students eating Camembert and discussing pedigrees at seven at night. They all got on together and it was a lovely atmosphere.” Ed Preece, from near Banbury, who turned 24 while on the course and is one of four E2SE students working at Cheveley Park, is among those who would not have had the opportunity

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under the old scheme. “I had no working background in racing or breeding, although my family had shares in jumpers with Robin Dickin,” he explains. “When I got my degree and finished at university two years ago, I was interested in getting into the horseracing industry, but wasn’t sure how to go about it. I looked at the National Stud course but wasn’t eligible, so I started in accountancy. Then the E2SE opportunity came up and both the content and the timing were perfect.” He adds: “The initial course was really good, because it provided the basic skills, from handling horses down to tractor driving, and because we were split into three groups, we rotated between the National Stud, and two other local stud farms, which was useful because we experienced three different establishments. “When it came to the placement, I favoured Cheveley Park because I knew it was a well-run operation with a good reputation, and its policy of largely breeding to race, rather than breeding to sell, attracted me. It’s given me a huge insight to the breeding season, from seeing the veterinary work to having the opportunity to accompany the mares for covering.” Tabbi Smith picks up the theme, saying: “When the idea was first floated, one of the points that came up from the employers was the need

Tabbi Smith of the National Stud

to make people taking the nine-week course as useful as possible. So, instead of us presenting an employer with someone novice and green, ready to be trained up in the basics, we gave them people as a complete package. “E2SE has no other recruitment criteria other than a passion to do the job. Lack of experience is not a drawback, and nine of the 12 on the initial course had never touched a horse before, but they came with racing and pedigree backgrounds, and encyclopaedic knowledge of racing and history. That’s ideal, because we can teach them the right standards for the industry, and they lap it up.” She adds: “Support from studs has been huge, and we’ve used seven for the placements - Cheveley Park, Shadwell, Blue Diamond, Vauterhill, Egerton, Elwick and the Royal Studs. We spend a lot of time matching people to studs, and so far the feedback from everyone has been very good.”

TBA 3-2-1 Point to Point Bonus Another of this year’s TBA 3-2-1 point-to-point bonuses has been awarded to Rapaport following her run in the Goffs UK Spring Sale P2P Bumper Standard National Hunt Flat Race at Aintree on May 18. The initiative gives the opportunity for owners of mares to win a bonus of up to £3,000 in any of three end-of-season bumpers run under Rules on licensed racecourses.  The bonus operates on a sliding scale with the highest-placed mare in each of the bonus races receiving

a £1,000 bonus, a further £1,000 if she is British-bred and another £1,000 if she is owned by a TBA member. Rapaport, who is owned by Nicola Bulgin and trained by her husband Toby Bulgin was fourth at Aintree, making her the highest-placed mare and, being bred in Britain and owned by a TBA member, she was awarded the full bonus of £3,000. The six-year-old daughter of Dr Massini was bred by The Glanvilles Stud in Dorset.

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