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8 wonderful ways racing is celebrating #racingstaffweek

Here are just some of the ways the racing industry is getting together to celebrate Racing Staff Week — an initiative started by Racing Welfare in 2016. The week (29 June-6 July) aims to inform and engage horse racing followers and supporters about the passion, skill and dedication needed to work with racehorses.

  • A yummy treat

    Cartmel Racecourse is well known for giving winning connections their famous sticky toffee puddings after a horse wins, and during Racing Staff Week all stable staff are receiving a pudding of their own to take home as a special thank you.

    Clocking up the miles

    A total of 25 employees from across the Jockey Club got together for a non-stop challenge to run around all of their racecourses to celebrate Racing Staff Week. They started at 8am on Monday 1 July at Sandown, and ticked off all the Jockey Club-owned racecourses by 6pm on 2 July when they crossed the line at Epsom. They achieved an impressive 22.1 miles of running in total and 1,052 miles travelling in the coach.

    ‘Making racing happen’

    Throughout the week, Racing Welfare is producing special films to celebrate the passion, skill and dedication of the racing staff whose work behind the scenes makes racing happen.

    Getting on the gin

    Newbury Racecourse offered all racing staff free entry to their Gin Festival on Thursday 4 July, including access to the private area with live music, plus a food and drink voucher.

    Stable staff battle it out

    Two features of Racing Staff Week are the stable staff charity races held at Newton Abbot and Doncaster racecourses on Friday 5 July. The riders, who must all work full-time in a racing yard, will go head-to-head in the two annual contests — the Betfair Racing Staff Week Cup at Newton Abbot over 1m4f and the Betfair Clock Tower Cup at Doncaster over seven furlongs.

    A feast of fun

    The Racehorse Owners Association is sponsoring 30 barbecues at trainers’ yards during the week as a way of bringing trainers, owners and staff together to celebrate the continuous hard work.

    A sweet treat

    Kempton Park Racecourse had a sweet treat for all stable staff during their raceday on 3 July in the form of free pick ‘n’ mix to keep energy levels high.

    Grab a golden ticket

    Racing staff have 15 chances this week to win an array of prizes thanks to the British Horseracing Authority and Careers In Racing’s golden ticket initiative, with the “golden tickets” hidden across racecourses and training centres throughout Racing Staff Week.

    The tickets can be redeemed for a £100 voucher from a choice of high street retailers, including Amazon, Next and iTunes.

    For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.

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