RACING JOINS FORCES WITH THE PRINCE’S TRUST

14 Nov 2008 Pre-2014 Releases

Racing joins forces with The Prince’s Trust

• Sport United initiative to inspire youngsters
• Mick Fitzgerald, Andrew Balding, Hayley Turner and Richard Kingscote to be ambassadors for racing

The British Horseracing Authority has joined forces with The Prince’s Trust in a new initiative for the sport to help young people. The project, which has the backing of the racing industry, aims to show the opportunities that exist within the sport.

Racing directly employs over 20,000 people with another 70,000 working in related sectors. The sport wants to use its network to help young people between 14 and 30 who are struggling at school, are in or leaving care, or are long-term unemployed or have been in trouble with the law.

With over one million young people not in work, education or training in the UK, The Prince’s Trust helps young people to broaden their horizons and believe in themselves – to get a job or go back to school.

Racing will join football, cricket and rugby in the Sport United leadership group which was launched in June this year. To help publicise the scheme, four Racing Ambassadors have agreed to promote the link between the sport and the Trust – trainer Andrew Balding, recently retired jump jockey Mick Fitzgerald, the most successful current female rider in British racing, Hayley Turner and in the rising star of flat racing Richard Kingscote.

The Authority’s chairman, Paul Roy said: ‘I am delighted that Racing has teamed up with The Prince’s Trust. It is an exciting opportunity for our sport to show how inspiring it can be. We have some extraordinary people working in racing who I am convinced will be able to help The Trust’s youngsters.’

Chief Executive Nic Coward added: ‘As soon as we began talking with the Trust it was obvious that Racing has so much to offer. We are involved in communities the length and breadth of Britain. No other sport employs so many people across such a variety of jobs and across such a wide area.’

Sport United’s objective is to unite in one goal – to create an active generation.

The aim is for Sport United to link the governing bodies of UK sport, sports venues, sponsors, equipment suppliers, retailers and organisations involved with sport hospitality and encourage and enable disadvantaged young people to become more physically, economically and socially active.

Racing has pledged to help the Trust’s key ‘Team’ and ‘xl’ projects by organising tours of courses, helping with work placements and employment opportunities and giving motivational talks. The first projects will be underway by the end of the year.

The Prince’s Trust transforms the lives of over 40,000 young people each year. By joining Sport United and supporting the Trust’s fundraising aims, Racing aims to be right at the heart of this vital work.

Kate Burt of The Prince’s Trust said: ‘We are delighted to have Racing as part of Sport United and believe that sport will make a tremendous contribution to our work.’

14th November 2008

Notes for Editors:
1. More information on The Prince’s Trust can be found at http://www.princes-trust.org.uk/

2. The four ambassadors profiles are:

Andrew Balding
After leaving college, Andrew joined Toby Balding’s (his uncle) Fyfield Stables as the yard’s amateur jockey. In just over 100 rides, he rode 20 winners under rules, which included winning The Horse and Hound Cup at Stratford and The Moet and Chandon Stakes at Epsom. In 1999 Andrew formally became Assistant Trainer at the Kingsclere yard (run by his father Ian) and prepared horses to run under his father’s licence; amongst the winners that he sent out were Firebreak (Mill Reef Stakes Group 2, Prix Cabourg Group 3), Pentecost (Britannia Stakes) and Distant Prospect and Palua (first and second in the 2001 Cesarewitch). Since taking over the licence in 2003, Andrew has trained the winners of over 180 races and £4.5 million in prize money, He has enjoyed Group 1 success in England, Dubai, Hong Kong and Canada. In 2005 he was awarded the International Trainer of the Year, at the HWPA Derby Lunch. Andrew currently has approximately 100 horses in training.

Mick Fitzgerald
Mick joined trainer Richard Lister at the age of 16 from the pony riding circuit, a popular source of future aspiring top jockeys in Ireland. He rode his first winner in Britain on Lover’s Secret at Ludlow on 11th December 1988 and since then he has booted home around 1,250 winners – 12 of them at the Cheltenham Festival and enabling him to be in the top six of all-time riders over fences. A short spell riding for Jackie Retter in the 1991/92 season then saw Mick land a long-standing retainer with top Lambourn trainer Nicky Henderson and the partnership has proved very successful ever since. In recent years, Fitzgerald established himself as one of the leading jockeys in Britain, particularly through his partnership with the brilliant Paul Nicholls trained chaser See More Business, on whom he won the King George VI Chase and the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1999. That year’s Cheltenham Festival was a bumper year for Mick where he took the Gold Cup, Triumph Hurdle on Katarino, the two mile Queen Mother Champion Chase on Call Equiname, and the Cathcart Chase on Stormyfairweather. Mick has now retired following a serious injury to his neck, but continues to work actively in racing and as a pundit for satellite racing channel Attheraces.

Hayley Turner
At 22 years old, 5ft 2in and 7st 10lb, Hayley is small but never strikes you as minute. Her mother was a riding instructor. She won lots of cups and trophies in local shows but there was not the finance to take it further. In the school holidays she rode out for trainer Mark Polglase at Southwell racecourse. She trained at the Northern Racing School and eventually joined the powerful Newmarket Stable of Michael Bell, eventually becoming Champion Apprentice in 2006. When Hayley rode the 95th winner of her career at Folkestone to lose her right to claim the apprentice weight allowance, she was only the fourth woman to do so. She has ridden nearly 300 winners in her career so far.

Richard Kingscote
Kingscote, 21, is a young man with a penchant for tattoos, fast bikes and a fledgling property portfolio. Another product of the West Country, he teamed up with Tom Dascombe after serving his apprenticeship with Derby-winning trainer Roger Charlton at Beckhampton, near Marlborough. “I was a bit sceptical when my agent told me Tom wanted me to ride all his horses,” says Kingscote. “I thought that sort of thing just doesn’t happen at this stage of a jockey’s career. But Tom’s been true to his word. When we’ve had a runner in a big race, I’ve ridden them, whereas in a lot of yards I’d have been replaced by one of the big boys. “The talk in the weighing room is that Tom will be winning Classics in a couple of years. That’s what I’m hoping for and it will be great to repay his loyalty.” He was won 158 races in his short career so far and this year rode two Group 2 winners, Classic Blade and Firth of Fith, on consecutive days at this year’s Newmarket July Festival for trainer Tom Dascombe.