Students saddle up for first-hand experience in racing industry

By Andrew Smith

Providing a clear pathway to a career in the racing industry was at the top of the agenda when a group of local students paid a visit to Doomben and Eagle Farm recently.

Thirteen students from BUSY Schools Shailer Park and BUSY Schools Salisbury were on hand to check out the Eagle Farm stables and the Doomben track, as part of a partnership with Racing Queensland’s Registered Training Organisation.

The group got to feed horses in Barry Lockwood’s stable, try out RQ’s mechanical training horse, check out the mounting yard and watch a race jump from behind the Doomben barriers on race day.

Racing Queensland Senior Apprentice Coach Shane Scriven said it was important to provide the students with the first-hand experience of what career opportunities exist in racing.

“It’s just to create that interest with them - they have a look if this may be a career pathway they want to go down, we’ve given them a small taste of what it may be like,” Scriven said.

“It was ironic that no sooner did we walk into Barry Lockwood’s, he said ‘we need another strapper.’

“Obviously these kids are a little bit new for that but a lot of the trainers are always looking for staff and we’re trying to supply that for them.

“If anyone shows some interest, we can take them to that next step and maybe put them in a small stable.

“They can learn the ropes, leading a horse, brushing a horse, feeding a horse, doing some of the stable chores which is what it’s all about, and then we can certainly help them with some sort of employment after that.

“Out of the students we have here today, we only need one - if we can get one into the industry it’s one we didn’t have yesterday.”

The BUSY Schools is a part of The BUSY Group, a not-for-profit organisation that delivers a range of employment services, apprenticeship support and vocational skills training across Australia.

The BUSY Group’s John Dekker said it was fantastic to be partnering with Racing Queensland to provide a clear route into the industry, with a Certificate II in Racing one of the opportunities on offer.

“We hold a number of different government contracts, the Australian Apprenticeship Support Network (AASN) contracts and managing apprenticeships and traineeships,” Dekker said.

“We work closely with Racing Queensland to sign up new apprentice jockeys and get stable hands into their qualifications.

“These students in Years 11 and 12 are disengaged from mainstream schooling and just need extra opportunities or extra support to complete their QCE and find a career pathway.”

Dekker said the experience of visiting the racecourse itself and seeing the ins-and-outs of a race day would hopefully pique the interest of the kids.

“It’s just a great opportunity to show students what career pathways there might be in the racing industry and able to open their eyes,” he said.

“It’s very important for us to have days like these, to give students first-hand experience in any of our industries.

“A lot of students don’t know what they don’t know so to open their eyes to new career pathways, industries, opportunities is really important.

“We know the racing industry is looking for new staff and new entrants into the industry so I think it’s a really good opportunity and a really smart partnership that we’ve got going on.”

BUSY Schools student Emily said the visit had proved to be invaluable for herself and her friends.

"I don’t do racing professionally, I just do riding bareback, mostly at the beach,” Emily said.

“So this has been a really cool experience to see the racing industry because I’ve never personally been here before.

“I know a couple of my friends do riding at home or have ridden horses but I actually don’t think a lot have which has actually opened up a lot to some opportunities that they can possibly do in the future.”

Click here for more information about Racing Queensland’s training and education programs, or contact Recruitment Officer and Industry Educator Jorge Villamizar on 3869 9495 or via email

Click here for more information about BUSY Schools.

Racing Queensland RTO: 31452