28 April 2016, UK ~ The Arabian Racing Organisation (ARO) was delighted to welcome International Federation of Horse Racing Academies (IFHRA) mentorship student, Ryan Colley, to their first meeting of the UK Arabian racing season which started at Chelmsford City Racecourse on Sunday 17 April.

Colley, a graduate from the Northern Racing College, is one of two UK recipients of the inaugural worldwide mentorship program sponsored and funded by the HH Sheikh Mansoor Global Arabian Flat Horse Racing Festival, the other being 2015 Champion Apprentice Tom Marquand.

The overseas placement saw Colley arrive in the USA in February for an eight-week mentorship at the North American Racing Academy in Lexington, Kentucky. His achieved goal was to work with the starting gate team and gain his Racing Officials Accreditation Program Certificate.

Now back in the UK, he is still working as Assistant Trainer to Ruth Carr but is using his Sundays off further his ambition of becoming a starter by assisting BHA Starter Peter Haynes at a number of ARO full fixtures this year.

Speaking of his new assistant at the ARO meeting, Haynes commented. “He’s a nice lad who took to the job really well at his first attempt on Sunday.”

ARO Racing Manager Amanda Smith was also supportive of Colley and the initiative saying. “The IFHRA mentorship program is an amazing opportunity for young people in racing to further their knowledge of both the sport and other cultures worldwide, and ARO is delighted to be able to provide Ryan with extra race day official experience. Fittingly his next scheduled meeting is the first of four HH Sheikh Mansoor Festival sponsored fixtures which is at Hereford on 5 June.”

~ end report