Prior to the Festival 2025, The Jockey Club announced a new partnership with leading Irish equine education provider Equi-Ed to fund 100 places for racing staff across Britain to receive enhanced racehorse welfare training for the athletes they look after, the first time such a scheme has supported by a British racecourse group.
A successful pilot at Cheltenham took place in March, where five staff from Fergal O’Brien Racing undertook a one-day course to help them boost their scientific and physiological understanding of the thoroughbred as well as specific processes to help them in the ongoing care of the horses they look after.
Topics on a training day include stride length analysis, palpation (physical examination) and skeletal instruction to equip the staff with specialist knowledge to help them monitor their horses’ physical condition and wellbeing on an ongoing basis.
Following the pilot, which forms part of The Jockey Club’s ongoing commitment to equine welfare, Britain’s largest racecourse group partnered with Equi-Ed to develop a bespoke training course and fund 100 places for racing staff across Britain to receive the training in 2025. We are delighted to report that we have already completed 40 of the funded spaces available across two training days in Cheltenham, with days in Newmarket and Carlisle to be confirmed.
Jon Pullin, Head of Racing and Clerk of the Course at Cheltenham Racecourse, said: “We know the exceptional level of care that racing staff provide to their horses all too well, but this course equips them with some really useful additional skills, as well as helping them in their own professional development.”
Therese Murphy, Owner and Founder of Equi-Ed, said: “We are thrilled to be working with The Jockey Club in expanding our racehorse specific training programs into British racing.
Having been well received in Ireland, our courses provide racing staff with access to cutting-edge scientific research and veterinary advancements.
Our commitment is to ensure that industry professionals receive practical, evidence-based training that directly benefits both the horses in their care and the future of racing.”
