The South African Jockey Academy has continued to grow its international partnerships and hosted two guests from the Apprentice Training Center of the Jockey Club of Turkey this past week.
Manager of the Apprentice Training Center, Zeynap Haldan Postalci, was accompanied by Riding Instructor, Ömerick Ay, on a week-long fact find mission to observe the training methods of the Jockey Coaches of SAJA, and to gain more insight into the work of the Academy Support Staff including the Biokineticist, Nursing Sister, Sport Scientist and Sports Psychologist as well as exploring future areas of possible collaboration.
Fostering partnerships From l to r: Ömerick Ay, Graham Bailey & Zeynap Haldan Postalci (Pic – Leonard Strong)
SAJA Headmaster, Graham Bailey, explains :
“Internationally the South African Jockey Academy has been recognised for the excellent jockeys that it has and is producing from the Academy, and many countries would therefore like to partner and collaborate with us. Currently the Academy has international partnerships and collaborations with The British Racing School, Malaya Racing Association and the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club. The new partnership with the Turkey Apprentice Training Center, is exciting, as racing is currently growing rapidly in Turkey and there is potential benefit for not only the Academy but also South African horseracing.”
Manager of the Turkish Apprentice Training Center, Zeynap Haldan Postalci was very pleased with what she had observed at the Academy saying:
“I love this Academy and Summerveld, it is very beautiful here and the facilities are very good. The apprentices are all very good riders and they get a lot of experience riding so many horses in the morning for different trainers. Hopefully soon the partnership between our Apprentice Training Center and SAJA will grow and we can start training together.”
Unlocking the potential of these international partnerships is of critical importance to the Academy as it not only provides the world renowned institution with an opportunity to train international apprentices and showcase South African racing, but also to generate additional income that lessens the load placed on the local racing operators who subsidise the Academy.
