The National Stud in Newmarket and South Africa’s Summerhill Stud’s School of Excellence, join forces to offer a South African graduate participation in flagship Diploma programme.
The National Stud and The Childwick Trust, have announced their partnership with a leading South African breeding operation. Mick Goss’s Summerhill Stud, home to the Al Maktoum School of Management Excellence, which has been running successful bloodstock courses in South Africa for over 20 years. The three organisations have agreed a system for one School of Excellence graduate to have a fully funded place on the internationally renowned Diploma in Stud Practice and Management run annually at The National Stud.
Summerhill School of Excellence students and horse of the year Igugu
The scholarship will provide the graduate from the School of Excellence with the opportunity to further their career by experiencing a northern hemisphere season, attaining internationally renowned qualifications and managerial skills at the heart of the British Thoroughbred breeding industry. The Diploma in Stud Practice and Management is recognised globally, with 24 students a year experiencing a combination of practical thoroughbred stud work with seminars and academic lectures during the five month residential course starting in January 2012.
The Childwick Trust will fund a scholarship covering the costs of the successful applicant attending the Diploma programme. A number of the School’s students come from disadvantaged communities from all over South Africa and training at the School of Excellence was established to improve young people’s opportunities and skills within the Thoroughbred breeding industry.
Brian O’Rourke, Managing Director at The National Stud, explained, “We’re delighted to be working with the School of Excellence and Summerhill Stud to offer a successful graduate the opportunity to study with us here at The National Stud in Newmarket. With the great support of the Childwick Trust Scholarship, the South African student will join the other Diploma students working alongside our experienced Stud staff during the breeding season and take advantage of the excellent teaching facilities in the Joan Westbrook Lecture Theatre and stay in the recently extended and refurbished ensuite student accommodation at Westbrook House. We hope that the scholarship sets precedence for future opportunities with other countries and similar education initiatives in the years to come.”
Mick Goss from Summerhill Stud and the Al Maktoum School of Excellence, commented: “Our young and enthusiastic students are keen horse people, who display an unusual potential and connectivity with the world of racing and we’re delighted to be offering one of our graduates the opportunity to study with The National Stud. We believe the overseas placement will develop a management focused role and fast-track our graduate into a world they might never have accessed without the scholarship, with the hope that they bring their experiences back to fellow students at home.”
Anthony Cane, Trustee of the Childwick Trust, explained: “Horseracing has an incredibly rich heritage in Britain and we wanted to be part of bringing this learning experience to a South African graduate for the first time. We’ve been active in South Africa since the establishment of The Jim Joel Education and Training Fund in Johannesburg during the late 1980’s and we look forward to working with The National Stud, to bring the education excellence of the Northern and Southern hemispheres together. We appreciate that it is not the language you speak with horses, instead the skills you need are universal and the most important attribute is passion, something that we’re sure the chosen graduate will bring in abundance.”
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THE BRITISH NATIONAL STUD and CHILDWICK TRUST SCHOLARSHIP
Most young thoroughbred breeding and racing enthusiasts dream of doing a season at The National Stud in Britain and completing the Stud’s well respected Diploma in Stud Practice and Management. For the top student graduating from the School of Excellence, based at Summerhill Stud, in December, this dream is a reality.
The National Stud origins date back to 1916 when Colonel Hall Walker (later Lord Wavertree) presented his Thoroughbred stallions, mares, yearlings, foals and horses in training to the British Government and the nation as a gift on the condition that they bought his land at Tully, Co Kildare, Ireland. In 2008 ownership of the Newmarket based Stud transferred to the Jockey Club. The internationally renowned programmes give young people entering the Thoroughbred breeding industry top class training opportunities.
The Childwick Trust was established in 1985 by Mr. H. J. (Jim) Joel who was a highly successful bloodstock breeder based at his Stud on The Childwick Bury Estate in Hertfordshire. He and his father Jack won many Classic races and Jim Joel was one of only a handful of owners to have won both the Derby (in 1967) and the Grand National (in 1987) with Royal Palace and Maori Venture respectively.
Mr. Joel never married and following his death at the age of 97 in March 1992, all funds from the sale of his estate were channeled into the Trust.
The Joel family had extensive business interests in South Africa since 1880 and as a consequence a core policy of the Trust is to reflect that involvement through The Jim Joel Education and Training Fund in Johannesburg.
A chance stopover at Summerhill by Trustees Anthony Cane and John Wood, who were visiting South Africa earlier this year to oversee some of the projects funded by the Childwick Trust, led to the prospect of a scholarship for a graduate from the School of Excellence.
The South African connections run deep, and the Late Mr. Joel, who raced horses with doyenne of Racing, Mary Slack (Oppenheimer) locally, gifting her the famous black-with-scarlet-cap silks.
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About The Jockey Club
The Jockey Club is at the heart of racing in Great Britain as the largest commercial group in the sport. Its interests include:
* Jockey Club Racecourses: Responsible for the operation of a diversified portfolio of 14 racecourses in Great Britain: Aintree, Carlisle, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs, Exeter, Haydock Park, Huntingdon, Kempton Park, Market Rasen, Newmarket, Nottingham, Sandown Park, Warwick and Wincanton.
The group stages four of the five ‘Classics’ of Flat racing (the Derby and the Oaks at Epsom Downs and the 1,000 Guineas and 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket), as well as the Cheltenham Festival and the Grand National at Aintree.
* Jockey Club Estates: The property and land management company responsible for the management and administration of more than 5,000 acres of land in and around the racing training centres of Newmarket and Lambourn, as well as an extensive property portfolio, including the Jockey Club Rooms.
* The National Stud: Transferred from Government to The Jockey Club in 2008, The National Stud is a commercial thoroughbred breeding enterprise with a commitment to provide training and educational programmes. The Diploma in Stud Practice and Management celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2011 and has celebrated alumni including Teddy Grimthorpe and Ed Dunlop.
* Racing Welfare: A racing charity and company limited by guarantee with The Jockey Club being the sole member. The principal objective of Racing Welfare is to provide help to those in need who work or have worked in the thoroughbred industry, and their dependants.
In accordance with its objectives in the Royal Charter, The Jockey Club reinvests its profits in British racing and promotes measures to sustain and enhance the long-term success of the sport.
