The Racing Foundation

Last week at York Racecourse, the Racing Foundation Conference was staged with a focus on how the sport can attract young people to strengthen the industry’s workforce, identify emerging talent, attract the next generation of employers, expand its fanbase and preserve its social license. To date, the Racing Foundation has given £4.4million to youth and community engagement activities and this video highlights just some of the projects creating impact in this area. THE PONY RACING AUTHORITY LIMITED  Racing to School  Great British Racing  The Urban Equestrian Academy

Horseracing is firmly embedded in communities across Britain 🐎 Our new social impact strategy sets out how we plan to increase our positive impact on people and society 🤝 By working together in an even more coordinated way, we can build on the valuable activity already taking place and further enhance racing’s reputation and relevance 💪 Thank you to Tom Baker for his work on the strategy, and to The Racing Foundation, Godolphin and the Racing Post for their funding and support. 🔗 Read the strategy here: https://lnkd.in/eFqzKh4g

📰 “Racing must move away from being a closed shop or risk alienating the next generation.” Head of Growth at PREM Rugby Rob Calder, speaking at the 2025 Racing Foundation Conference and featured in the Racing Post. Read in full here:

Delegates at the 2025 Racing Foundation Conference heard Lord Allen speak to host Rishi Persad via a filmed sit-down interview, where the new BHA Chair set out his vision for the racing industry: 💬 “If you look at my career, you often need to change the game to win. If you do it the way you’ve always done it, then you’re not going to win.” 💬 “Rather than arguing over your crumb of the cake, we have to make the cake bigger. That’s the only way we can sustain this.” Read more in the Racing Post:

The Racing Foundation annual conference took place at York Racecourse on Thursday, October 2, welcoming delegates from across British racing and beyond for a day dedicated to engaging the next generation and safeguarding the future of racing. Highlights included: 🎤 Lord Allen’s debut sit-down interview as British Horseracing Authority Chair with Rishi Persad 💡 Stuart Rowson, Lucky Socks Media, on the secrets of youth engagement 📊 Rob Calder, Premiership Rugby, on attracting 1m young fans with “The PREM” 🌍 Tom Bakerlaunching racing’s new social impact strategy ➕ Plus a panel to highlight the sport's impact on young people, a workforce panel to explore recruiting/retaining Gen Z and a workshop led by Head of Welfare Communications Gabi Whitfield, where participants shared their ideas to help shape youth engagement plans for National Racehorse Week 2026. The event underlined the importance of collaboration, with the same number of industry chief executives and chairs in attendance as young people. They, alongside delegates from across the sport, came together to discuss, debate and co-create ideas to help racing resonate with future generations. Read more: https://lnkd.in/es5sjAsZ Selected keynote talks will be available to view in the coming weeks; sign up to the Racing Foundation newsletter to be alerted when they're live: https://lnkd.in/eUv9TupK

A day of passionate people discussing the future of their sport at The Racing Foundation conference. I even sneaked in a 30 year-old music reference. My main takeout: it’s all about the storytelling. The Horse Racing industry is layered and complex. It has many challenges of perception around animal welfare, gambling and alcohol - as well as social accessibility. And while some of those are real and true, some are misconceptions, because the sport seems scared of its own shadow. But to secure itself as an industry, a sport and a social event for the next generation, the key will be to tell its stories better. From the people, to the sport, to the horses. It was a privilege to deliver the keynote speech yesterday on the secrets to engaging the next generation. From stories, to experiences to the product itself, it was a genuinely fascinating day full of knowledge, expertise and a room of warm, passionate people who genuinely care. Great to hear about the Wurzels, The Hundred and Prem Rugby from Rob Calder. And thanks to new friends Tom Baker Tansy Challis Rhi Lee-Jones Gabi Whitfield Lee Moulson and the many others I connected with yesterday. It was great to discuss how Lucky Socks Media and our new partnership with Russell James could play a part for Horse Racing. And hat tip to Asif (Ash) Mirza for working the room. Here’s to the next conversation. And if you need somebody with a human touch...