The Racing Foundation

🏇🌱 Last month, York Racecourse won the Racing Foundation Green Award and was named Champion Racecourse at The Racecourse Association Ltd Awards This was awarded for York's new Bustardthorpe Development, which not only provides a major upgrade to the experience of racegoers visiting the course, but also significantly contributes to the environment with a green legacy at its core. Speaking to the Racing Foundation, Chief Executive William Derby said: “Climate change and the damage to our planet is real and we all need to act urgently now to halt and reverse our impact.  “We at York, and in racing, cannot solve this alone but in our sport surrounded by horses and grass we have an opportunity to show real leadership and commitment to this movement which is crucial to all of our futures.” Read more:

🚨 Missed the 2024 Racing Foundation Conference in October or want to relive it? All the keynote talks from the event are now online 🎥✨ Nevin Truesdale, Chief Executive of the Jockey Club, delivers one of the talks now available to watch on our website. Ahead of the 2024 running of the Randox Grand National, The Jockey Club announced substantial updates to the historic race, including reducing the maximum number of runners and moving the first fence 60 yards closer to the start to slow the early stages of the race. The changes, which were seen as an influential example of protecting the sport's social licence by some stakeholders, were met with mixed reaction by others. In his keynote talk, Truesdale outlined the factors contributing to the decision, implementation, managing stakeholder buy-in and how he foresees the rule changes contributing to the Grand National's licence to operate long-term. Links to all of the talks are available at:

In Case You Missed It: Last month Women in Racing announced an extended funding partnership with the Racing Foundation to deliver its Racing Home programme throughout 2025. Racing Home exists to support, educate and empower both employers and employees across the racing industry, including those who are self-employed. Having supported the initial planning stages of Racing Home since its inception in 2019, and the delivery of its key activities since 2021, the Racing Foundation has awarded a further £91,000 for the next phase of the Racing Home project, which will enable crucial developments to the support programme until the end of October 2025. With funding from the Racing Foundation, priorities for the next phase of Racing Home include: ✅Further development of the Racing Home Portal ✅Continued development of the Post-Pregnancy Rehabilitation and Support Programmes ✅Recording of further episodes of the Racing Home podcast ✅Continued development of education modules for the Thoroughbred racing and breeding community ✅ Promotion of the services and support offered by Racing Home across the horseracing industry. Learn more:

📉 Racing Foundation-funded risk models used to improve outcomes for racehorses British racing, in partnership with the Royal Veterinary College, is now using detailed, rich data spanning 14 years to identify and help reduce risk in the sport, via the Racing Risk Models (RRM). The RRM outputs provide powerful data and epidemiological evidence using advanced statistical techniques to better understand the risk factors in racing that lead to long-term injuries, falls and fatalities in racehorses. Funded by the Racing Foundation, the project is jointly led by the British Horseracing Authority and the sport’s independently-chaired Horse Welfare Board as part of the industry’s focus on improving safety and reducing risk to the equine athletes that power the sport. Funding of the Racing Risk Model is part of the Racing Foundation’s £3million multi-year grant award that supports the delivery of the horse welfare projects in the industry’s A Life Well Lived strategy, overseen by the Horse Welfare Board. This three-year grant is providing support for 15 of the 26 projects prioritised in the strategy. Read the full article at: https://lnkd.in/eTxF2WCn

A huge congratulations to all those shortlisted for the 2025 Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards. We are thrilled to see a number of individuals from Racing Foundation-supported charities and organisations shortlisted for the Community Award, which is for someone who goes above and beyond their day-to-day role to make a positive difference to the lives of the industry people, racehorses or the communities in which racing and breeding operate, demonstrating social responsibility and championing the values of our sport. Best of luck to all shortlisted for the next stage of the process 🏆

In Case You Missed It: The fourth National Racehorse Week, which took place on September 7 – 15 2024, saw 55 community outreach events take place across Britain connecting over 4,200 participants with British racehorses, many for the first time. With headline funding from the Racing Foundation, including support from Godolphin and the Racing Post, National Racehorse Week gives racing the opportunity to get closer to the community and people who might never have seen a horse in real life.   Over the week, racehorses were taken to schools, hospitals, charities, and community groups as well as bespoke visits organised at training centres. These community engagement events took place alongside open days staged by yards across England, Wales and Scotland, with 104 trainers opening their doors to offer over 14,000 free-of-charge open day places to the community.  📊 2024 NRW Key Metrics     159 free events were delivered for the public across open days and community activity     55 bespoke community events reaching 4,200+ participants     50% of participants had no prior racing connection     80% felt more positive about racehorse care     72% said their open day experience makes them more likely to watch racing or go to a race event Read more: https://lnkd.in/ev_NNfPU

In Case You Missed It: The Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association  has released a video outlining the use of their carbon calculator featuring Shade Oak Stud owner Peter Hockenhull. Developed with funding from the Racing Foundation, the digital tool supports breeders with baselining the carbon footprint of their stud farm and modelling scenarios for reducing their future negative impact on the environment. It also enables breeders to examine their use of resources across the breeding operation, with targeted changes to land management practices and energy usage likely to cut carbon emissions and save energy costs Read more and watch the video at https://lnkd.in/eDZu3NjU

𝗥𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 Women in Racing is delighted to announce an extended funding partnership with The Racing Foundation to deliver its Racing Home programme throughout 2025. Racing Home exists to support, educate and empower both employers and employees across the racing industry, including those who are self-employed. Having supported the initial planning stages of Racing Home since its inception in 2019, and the delivery of its key activities since 2021, the Racing Foundation has awarded a further £91,000 for the next phase of the Racing Home project, which will enable crucial developments to the support programme until the end of October 2025. Racing Home addresses issues such as pregnancy, maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental leave, flexible working, self- employment and statutory pay, which are all often considered ‘difficult’ subjects for both employers and employees to address in the racing and breeding industries. The programme aims to support employers, employees and the self-employed on these subjects and provide accessible information via https://lnkd.in/e958Qw34 the ongoing ‘Racing Home’ Podcast Series (available on Apple and Spotify), videos and more. Full press release here: https://lnkd.in/eY-EK_en Our thanks to the team at Simply Racing UK for delivering the Racing Home programme British Horseracing Authority Racing Post

The Racing Foundation is so proud to be funding this programme to support all parents and carers working in horseracing, which is vital to ensure the racing industry can attract and retain the talented workforce it relies upon.

Women in Racing is delighted to announce an extended funding partnership with the Racing Foundation to deliver its Racing Home programme throughout 2025. Racing Home exists to support, educate and empower both employers and employees across the racing industry, including those who are self-employed. Having supported the initial planning stages of Racing Home since its inception in 2019, and the delivery of its key activities since 2021, the Racing Foundation has awarded a further £91,000 for the next phase of the Racing Home project, which will enable crucial developments to the support programme until the end of October 2025. Racing Home addresses issues such as pregnancy, maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental leave, flexible working, self- employment and statutory pay, which are all often considered ‘difficult’ subjects for both employers and employees to address in the racing and breeding industries. With funding from the Racing Foundation, priorities for the next phase of Racing Home include:  ✅Further development of the Racing Home Portal ✅Continued development of the Post-Pregnancy Rehabilitation and Support Programmes ✅Recording of further episodes of the Racing Home podcast ✅Continued development of education modules for the Thoroughbred racing and breeding community ✅ Promotion of the services and support offered by Racing Home across the horseracing industry. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eXHpVShq