Thoroughbred Industry Careers (TIC), Pony Club Australia, and the Australian Turf Club will hold an exhibition Pony Race as part of Australia Day celebrations at the public holiday Warwick Farm meeting on Wednesday 26 January 2022. 

The Pony Race brings young horse enthusiasts and their families from a grassroots level to a feature Sydney raceday and will see a group of ponies and riders race up the Warwick Farm straight.

It follows a recent inaugural TIC Pony Race held in conjunction with Magic Millions at Queensland’s Doomben racecourse.

Pony Racing is aimed at generating industry involvement and interest from young horse owners and their families looking to further a career in thoroughbred racing.

TIC Chief Executive Officer Lindy Maurice said: “Kids in Australia play cricket, netball or football, but they can’t play racing.

We believe Pony Racing is a great way to engage young riders with our sport, going beyond the surface and to the heart of our industry, giving them an understanding of the many career opportunities our industry offers.

There is a nationwide staff shortage and we hope events such as this provide an opportunity to negate those issues in the long term.”

As one of the founding stakeholders in TIC, the Australian Turf Club has been a major supporter of the Pony Racing concept.

“For almost three years TIC has been responsible for providing life-changing opportunities to many people interested in getting a foot in the door of our industry,” ATC Executive General Manager Racing and Wagering James Ross said.

“We are excited to support new concepts such as this Pony Race and we see the family-focussed Australia Day meeting at Warwick Farm as a fantastic opportunity to showcase the industry to Pony Club participants as well as provide an additional level of entertainment on course.

“The Australian Turf Club is one of the largest racing and training operations globally with nearly 1800 horses in training across three metropolitan racecourses in Sydney.

“We hope that furthering the interest and skills of young people in our industry will lead to increased career opportunities and participation in coming years.

The exhibition race will see up to 10 ponies and their riders compete down the Warwick Farm straight.

The riders and ponies are members of the Pony Club Australia (PCA) network, of which TIC is a major sponsor.

Thoroughbred Industry Careers (TIC), Pony Club Australia, and the Australian Turf Club will hold an exhibition Pony Race as part of Australia Day celebrations at the public holiday Warwick Farm meeting on Wednesday 26 January 2022. 

CEO of Pony Club Australia, Catherine Ainsworth said, “Pony Club Australia provides riding and horsemanship education in a broad range of horse sports, and we are pleased to offer this additional opportunity to our riders at such a big event. Selected riders will be able to demonstrate their partnership with their pony and their riding skills to an audience of horse-lovers.”

Formed in 2019, TIC is a not-for-profit organisation that aims to provide a centralised platform to promote racing and breeding industry careers options, introduce grassroots programs, facilitate best practice education pathways and assist in developing staff retention and welfare strategies for career longevity.
ENDS

For further information please contact:

Lindy Maurice, Thoroughbred Industry Careers – Chief Executive & Founder

M: 0488 066 604