Megan Carberry won last year’s Go Racing in Yorkshire Future Stars Apprentice Series, following Gary Mahon’s success in the inaugural series in 2013, and the race is on to find this year’s champion.
The 2015 competition launches on the opening day of the British Flat season on Turf at Doncaster this Saturday, March 28 and continues throughout the year until the final leg back at Doncaster in November.
Saturday’s race at Doncaster has attracted so many entries, it has been divided, with Carberry riding Where’s Tiger (trained in North Yorkshire by Jedd O’Keeffe) in the Second Division of the middle-distance Handicap contest at 5-25 p.m.
The series takes in the rich variety of Flat courses in Yorkshire and over distances from five to fourteen furlongs, testing young riders to the full and the overall winner will certainly have earned the title ‘Go Racing in Yorkshire Future Star’.
And this year’s winner will have even more to do, with Wetherby joining the contest for the first time as they embark on the course’s first-ever season on the Flat. It means all nine Yorkshire courses are in the Series this year.
Points are awarded for riders finishing in the first six in each race. Although scheduled to be a ten-race series, all divisions of any race will count.
The winning rider will be sponsored by Go Racing In Yorkshire in 2016 and will also win a cash prize of £1,500 plus a further £500 in equipment courtesy of White Rose Saddlery of Malton.
They will also be able to take part in promotions with Go Racing in Yorkshire in 2016, helping to maintain their profile at what is a critical time in the careers of most young jockeys, while the public will be able to follow their exploits via a blog on the Go Racing In Yorkshire website.
Go Racing in Yorkshire chairman John Sexton commented: “We are very excited about this series, now in its third year, as we believe it is essential that the sport continues to encourage and inspire young riders to develop into the star jockeys of tomorrow.
“The Go Racing in Yorkshire Future Stars series has been carefully selected. It opens at Doncaster in March with a race open to apprentices who have not ridden more than 50 winners, enabling everyone to have a chance to get points on the board.
“After that, races are graded with the next two restricted to apprentices who have not ridden 10 and 20 winners respectively, giving a chance to the more inexperienced riders to get a foothold in the competition before stepping up to races restricted to 25 winners and then back to 50 winners for the last three races in the series at York, Catterick and Doncaster. The new race at Wetherby is also for young riders who have not ridden more then 50 winners.
“We believe it gives every young apprentice in Britain the chance to showcase his or her skills and to claim the title of ‘Go Racing In Yorkshire Future Star’”.
Last year’s winner, Megan Carberry is based with Malton trainer, Brian Ellison and looking forward to this season’s series of races.
Megan said “Winning last year’s Go Racing In Yorkshire Future Stars series has been the highlight of my career so far. I’ll be aiming to retain my title by riding in as many races as I can.”
The programme of races in the Go Racing in Yorkshire Future Stars series, with winner restrictions in brackets, is:-
March 28 Doncaster 10f (50)
April 16 Ripon 5f (10)
April 29 Pontefract 5f (20)
June 23 Beverley 5f (25)
July 19 Redcar 14f (25)
July 21 (Even) Wetherby 10f (50)
July 31 Thirsk 6f (25)
September 6 York 12f (50)
October 17 Catterick 14f (50)
November 7 Doncaster 7f (50)
The points scoring system puts the emphasis on winning races with 18 for a win, nine for second place, six for third, three for fourth, two for fifth and one for sixth. In the event of a race being abandoned, all apprentices declared to ride at the time of the abandonment will receive two points.
John Sexton added: “We hope all trainers will get behind their apprentices and continue to support this series. We look forward to some thrilling contests in the months ahead”.