Cover image courtesy of BASET
The new BASET Thoroughbred Endeavour Awards were announced by The British-Australia Society Education Trust (BASET), in partnership with Godolphin, the British Racing School (BRS), and Thoroughbred Industry Careers (TIC) on Thursday. The awards support deserving young people from Britain and Australia embarking on careers in the equine and racing industries.
Chief executive of Thoroughbred Industry Careers (TIC) Lindy Maurice explained how the partnership was formed.
“The BASET Thoroughbred Endeavour Awards will be a yearly award. Diana Cooper and Jim Paltridge were the catalyst in bringing all parties together. Between Diana and Jim they thought of the idea and brought in the British Racing School and TIC to involve us and give our students the opportunity,” Maurice told TDN AusNZ.
“It has been on Thoroughbred Industry Careers’ agenda for some time to have an exchange program of some degree and give students the opportunity to travel and see the industry in other parts of the world and most importantly a support system which BASET will provide.
“BASET has been the link in the chain to bring it all together and offer these scholarships which are hugely helpful to a young person.”
“BASET has been the link in the chain to bring it all together and offer these scholarships which are hugely helpful to a young person.” - Lindy Maurice
Maurice touched on the globalisation of the thoroughbred racing and breeding industries and how it is beneficial for participants to gain experience in other jurisdictions.
“The industry is so international these days and I don’t feel we promote enough opportunities and experiences gained from travelling overseas and learning how things are done.”
The first recipient is Grace McBeath, who is from New South Wales, Australia. The aim of the program is to offer participants the chance to further develop their career, gain new skills and experience international practices on a six-month exchange program. The inaugural award will provide funding to support a six-month racing stable placement organised by The British Racing School which will involve working for Sir Mark Prescott at Heath House Stables and Andrew Balding at Kingsclere Park House Stables. Later this year, the opportunity will be reciprocated and a second BASET Thoroughbred Endeavour Award will be made to support a young person from Great Britain in Australia, arranged by the TIC.
Grace McBeath | Image courtesy of BASET
“Grace (McBeth) was an award winner from her year with Thoroughbred Industry Careers and she stood out to us as somebody with a great attitude and a strong work ethic. We felt she was a great representative to send abroad,” Maurice said.
“She proved herself to be an asset to any team and a very pleasant girl.”
John May, BASET's Chair of Trustees, said, “We are thrilled to have partnered with The British Racing School and Thoroughbred Industry Careers to create this incredible opportunity for our award winners, helping them to gain international experience working in racing. We hope this exciting initiative will mark the start of a long-term collaboration between our organisations to support deserving young people from Britain and Australia and strengthen the bilateral bond between the two countries. I would like to thank all the hard work done by Jim Paltridge on behalf of BASET and Diana Cooper of Godolphin, along with Andrew Brathwaite of BRS and Lindy Maurice from TIC in making this award happen.”
