The day after Winx (Street Cry {Ire}) made a winning race day farewell, her long-time strappers Umut Odemislioglu and Candice Perisijn were back in the real world and mucking out the boxes of regular racehorses.
They were lucky enough to have had a world champion to look after, but for the rest of the unknown and largely unheralded workers on whom racing depends for its existence, it can be a thankless occupation.
Stud and Stable Staff Awards, for which the 2019 entries are officially now open, recognise the roles played and their value to the industry.
First established in Australia in 2015, the Stud and Stable Staff Awards (GSSSA), an initiative of Thoroughbred Breeders Australia and Racing Australia and sponsored by Godolphin, offers recognition to workers in stables, studs and offices.
From stable workers to exercise riders, float drivers, secretaries, stud grooms, foaling supervisors, the growing band of re-homers who provide care and a future to horses who can no longer race, the GSSSA’s are open to everyone.
Online entries
Nominations will close on Monday, July 1, 2019, and can be completed online via the Stud and Stable Staff Awards website:
The GSSSA’s provide total prize money of $100,000 in seven categories plus an overall Thoroughbred Excellence Award made to one of the five category winners.
The awards for the categories include $10,000 and a trophy, with $3000 to their employer to be shared among fellow employees.
“These awards celebrate the most deserving people in the thoroughbred industry; the workers whose energy, endeavour, passion and resilience keep breeding and racing going all year around,” Thoroughbred Breeders’ Chief Executive Tom Reilly said.
Chairman of Racing Australia Greg Nichols said the Godolphin Stud and Stable Staff Awards are a wonderful recognition and reward for the outstanding skills, commitment and contribution by the unsung heroes of the sport.
“Racing Australia is greatly appreciative of the generous and unstinting commitment by Godolphin in establishing these awards and continuing its support culminating in the Stud and Stable Staff Awards being regarded as a pinnacle achievement within Australian thoroughbred horse racing.”
