People's Race Assessment at the British Racing School - Looking For 100%

All eight are representing areas of England and Wales as well as The British Racing School in Newmarket, where they will be trained under the guidance of BRS Jockey Coach Richard Perham.

This is the third year of the People's race and the BRS are looking to keep their 100% record. Richard says,

"I was really impressed by the standard of riders this year and cutting the numbers from fifteen to eight was difficult to say the least."

The first selection process on Saturday 17th January saw fifteen of the initial riders given a briefing on what to expect (without holding back) then the DVD footage from the first year's race (just to get the blood pumping) then straight in at the deep end and on to the simulators to show what they could do! The racehorse simulators (when used in the correct way) give a very accurate view of what the rider will be like when he or she puts their leg over a real horse.

"I can almost tell straight away about a person's ability on a real racehorse having seen them on a simulator" says Richard.

An hour later when all had shown what they thought a jockey looked like, it was back up to the main building for a nervous lunch (there was plenty left). As well as lunch, all of the riders were measured up and kitted out for the riding element in the afternoon.

The BRS prides itself in having over 60 former racehorses in their care and eight of them were used for the initial riding assessment (some a little naughtier than others!) What was needed from the riders to go onto the next stage was to show an ability to walk, trot and canter a racehorse in control in an enclosed area. We therefore stayed in the safety of the barn. There was only one loose horse and that was an old favourite at the BRS called Heart of the Hills. Following this stage we were down to eleven riders.

Sunday morning saw the remaining eleven riders have a presentation on how to perfect a balanced body position when riding in a jockey style. Next on the agenda was the dreaded fitness assessment with Frank "The Evil" Gallagher. Not really, he's actually a great fitness coach who assesses all of the Amateur and Professional jockeys who attend the many licence courses run at the BRS, and he gets everybody working hard in the gym. This assessment paints a very good picture of how fit and strong the rider is, and is a good benchmark as to how much work would be needed to ride safely in a race. Some of these results were the downfall of the leading riders that took the test. There was a little time for reflection at lunch and then the hats and boots were back on and out to the yard to prove that they were up to cantering with short stirrups on and all weather gallop.

Although all were safe there were another three casualties following this, as Richard says,

"this year's group is of a high standard and I felt that the three riders that didn't get into the next stage may have struggled to keep up with the pace of the others the following weekend".

This is by no means the end of assessments and the remaining eight have all been put on the mat and told to expect to work hard, make sacrifices and give it everything, or they may well also find themselves leaving the group!

Newmarket takes this seriously as it is a very dangerous sport, as well as that there is a huge amount of pride at stake. The BRS has already trained the first two winners of the People's Race and they are not giving the title up with out a fight.