THE International Federation of Horse Racing Academies (IFHRA) was established in Abu Dhabi in 2014 with the aim of coordinating the work of the various racing schools and working on cooperative projects for the benefit of young riders and others aspiring to make a career in the racing industry.

Membership has now more than doubled from the initial 15 countries with Ireland represented at board level along with Australia, US, Japan, Great Britain, South Africa, France, Turkey, UAE, Germany and Korea.

Last year saw the first awards from the Racing Scholarship Fund, an initiative worth $100,000 which provides for graduates from the racing schools to gain valuable work experience and career progression via two-month funded internships in other countries around the world.

This exciting development has opened up possibilities for various RACE graduates who want to broaden their horizons within the global racing industry and our two nominees last year benefitted from placements in Kentucky and Melbourne.

This year, 2009 graduate Jack Pilkington has just returned from an eight-week programme in Canada where he was working under the guidance of trainer Rod Cone in Edmonton, Alberta. Based at Northlands Park racecourse, he combined track riding with assisting the trainer and experiencing a wide variety of what Canadian racing has to offer including preparing a horse to finish second in the Canadian Derby.

He also had the opportunity to emulate Dessie Scahill by calling a race on the public address system and, with the generous hospitality of his hosts he experienced many of the cultural highlights of this unique region before heading home via New York and the Travers meeting at Saratoga Springs.

Meanwhile, 2010 graduate Fionnan McCarthy is in the final weeks of his mentorship programme in Australia where, with the assistance of Racing Victoria, he is working with trainer Tony McEvoy at Flemington and is also likely to travel to his satellite premises in Adelaide.

Similar to Jack, Fionnan is gaining a lot of varied experience and seeing how training methods and track riding differ in that part of the world with a view to enhancing his knowledge towards a future training career, while also being able to explore the city of Melbourne.

SCOLARSHIPS

RACE’s involvement in the programme has also involved hosting three different scholarship candidates this summer. Mahayla West from Kentucky spent six weeks at Kildangan Stud gaining invaluable experience on all aspects of the breeding industry, apprentice jockey Mazlum Demir from Turkey is currently with John Oxx, and Gabriel Maldonado from Puerto Rico had the distinction of being our first ever trainee from that country when he recently completed a four-week programme with the Irish School of Farriery.

In all cases, a debt of gratitude is owed to Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the Global Arabian Horse Racing Festival which has made all this possible. With the growing success of these scholarships, it is hoped they will continue to expand and offer further international opportunities to ambitious young people seeking careers in the broader industry.

In addition to the scholarships, a series of international apprentice races continues to take place around the world under the same banner and offers the opportunity to experience something different riding purebred Arabian horses in varied locations.

Already several of our graduates, including Andrew Breslin, Sophie Ralston, Damien Melia and Stephen Cummins, have ridden in races this year in places as diverse as Warsaw, Hoppegarten, Chelmsford City and Monmouth Park, New Jersey. More details on all these events can be found on IFHRA social media channels.