Abu Dhabi: The International Federation of Horse Racing Academies (IFHRA) approved 12 names to receive the Racing Scholarship Fund (RSF), a first-of-its-kind mentorship programme initiated by the IFHRA on Wednesday.
The board had received 19 applications for the scholarship scheme, out of which the RSF Selection Committee zeroed down on 12 applicants representing different countries.
Those selected are: Regan Bayliss from Australia, Ashley Edwards from Canada, Barbara Szentes from Hungary, Ryan McKeever from Ireland, Soungyi from Korea, Kamic Grzybowski from Poland, Nicolle Disdier from Puerto Rico, Eva Thilderkvist from Sweden, Vahdettin Kaplan from Turkey, Aaron West from the United States and Tom Marquand and Ryan Colley from the United Kingdom.
Representatives from several countries including Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bahrain, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Poland, Puerto Rico, South Africa, South Korea, Slovakia, UAE, the United Kingdom and the United States are attending the general assembly meeting in the capital.
The IFHRA General Assembly meeting is part of the “One World’ Six Continents” event held under the umbrella of the His Highness Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival.
Lara Sawaya, chairperson of the IFHRA and executive director of the HH Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival, presided over the meeting with all board members in attendance.
Remi Bellocq, general secretary of the IFHRA, who deliberated the discussions, got the approval of the minutes of the September 8, 2015 meeting from all the members and several topics were opened up for discussion.
After the RSF names were approved, the meeting laid heavy focus on the safety procedures at Partner Tracks, against the backdrop of the recent death of a young jockey after her fall during a racing event in Brazil. It was unanimously decided that each race track has its own characters and it will be difficult to formulate rules to cut down on such mishaps.
It was also decided that all possible efforts should be made to ensure the safety of the riders and to check that the venues meet the safety criterion.
The board also recommended a prior assessment of the track one day before the event and suggested that the riders should be told about the condition of the track, depending on which each rider can take a decision to race or not.
While admitting three new members — Uruguay, Switzerland and Russia — into the IFHRA family, Sawaya made it a point to state that many countries were showing interest in joining the federation, adding that Ecuador, Peru, Bahrain and Chile would be admitted soon.
