Riding academy to give aspiring ethnic minority jockeys a leg up

Successful female muslim rider backs plan to improve diversity in horse racing

HORSE RACING is jockeying to get more ethnic minorities into the sport with the launch of a new academy. Khadijah Mellah, the first British Muslim woman to win a race, has backed the scheme to encourage young people from under-represented urban areas pursue a career in racing.

The Riding A Dream Academy will run two programmes for aspiring riders aged 14 to 18 in its pilot year.

The Khadijah Mellah scholarship will see eight talented riders take part in a year-long scheme. Students will spend a week at the British Racing School in Newmarket, followed by 11 weekend sessions with a mentor and work experience at a top trainer’s yard.

Among the few Asians in the top level of the sport is Sulekha Varma, the first female to be appointed “clerk of the course” at Aintree in Liverpool.

Varma, the northwest head of racing for Jockey Club racecourses, said she began riding horses from when she was around 11 years old.

She said: “My parents, I think, rather hoped I would fall off once and that would be the end of it. Unluckily for them it wasn’t.

“I saw a career in racing that was close to the horses but not actually riding them. I went into the administrative side of the sport.

“I’m responsible for the sport side of everything at Aintree. It ranges from the track, the racing surface, working with the ground staff to make sure we are providing optimum safe surfaces, prize money and race planning.

“This was the job I really dreamed of.”

The Muslimah Sports Association (MSA) has encouraged its members to apply to the Riding A Dream Academy.

Yashmin Harun, chair and founder of the MSA, told Eastern Eye: “We want to see as many ethnically diverse females participating in a variety of sports, especially unconventional sports.

“MSA took some of our participants to Lea Valley Riding Centre to introduce our participants to horse riding. It gave them great confidence and encouragement to go on and try horse riding.

“By providing opportunities we remove those barriers for our community.

“We have encouraged our participants to apply for the scholarship offered at Riding A Dream Academy and I hope many have applied.

“It is important that when these opportunities arise, diverse applications, from different backgrounds and ethnicities are received. That is when you know you have done a good job in getting the word out there and reaching as many communities as possible.”

The Riding A Dream Academy will see youngsters take part in pony races and study for a horse-racing industry qualification.

There will also be a separate residential week for less experienced riders.

Harmander Singh, a social policy expert, believes that more needs to be done in order to make sports such as horse racing more diverse.

He told Eastern Eye: “It’s a good move but these steps are not enough.

“It’s institutional racism – if people cannot be made to feel welcome they won’t turn up, it’s the same for all sports.

“I know one girl, who is part Indian. She worked in the stables and she loved the job. But she is now a waitress and reflects that even though she is mixed race with an ‘English’ name, Jasmine, she still faced [discrimination].

“There has been enough monitoring done. It’s time to take some action and for the government to appoint people from ethnic minorities onto sporting bodies.”

Mellah, 20, learned to ride at another inner-city project, the Ebony Horse Club in Brixton, London.

The jockey, who won a race in the 2019 Magnolia Cup at Goodwood in Sussex, said: “At Ebony the diversity is incredible. It’s just finding these riding clubs which are full of young people with knowledge about horses and a riding background.

“[It is wonderful] Being able to present them with an opportunity as an option and a future in racing.”

The academy, funded by the Racing Foundation charity, has been developed by ITV racing broadcaster Oli Bell and Great British Racing’s head of public relations, Naomi Lawson.

The Jockey Club will fund one scholarship place for a rider from St James City Farm in Gloucester, which it supports.