- Early Career Programme offers a range of opportunities for candidates finishing higher education or those with equivalent skills
- 2025 British Horseracing Development Programme will mark the 35th running of the programme
- Previous participants include BHA Chair Joe Saumarez Smith, HBLB Chief Executive Alan Delmonte, TBA’s Chief Executive Claire Sheppard and ITV Racing’s Ed Chamberlin
Applications are now open for the 35th British Horseracing Development Programme, which will take place during the summer of 2025 and celebrate more than three decades of attracting high-level talent to the racing industry.
The Programme, which offers those leaving higher education or with equivalent skills and capabilities the opportunity to explore a career in racing, begins with a two-week residential induction course at the British Racing School in Newmarket, during which speakers from across the industry deliver talks alongside visits to key venues including Tattersalls, Newmarket Racecourses and historic training yards.
This is followed by a placement of a minimum of eight weeks at one of a range of employers across racecourses, racing’s administrators ,the written media, the British Horseracing Authority and more.
The Programme has acted as a pathway into the racing industry for many leading figures, including:
- Joe Saumarez Smith, BHA Chair
- Alan Delmonte, Horserace Betting Levy Board Chief Executive
- Ed Chamberlin, ITV Racing Lead Presenter
- Tom Kerr, Racing Post Editor
- Sulekha Varma, Jockey Club Regional Head of Racing and Clerk of the Course at Aintree
- Claire Sheppard, Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association Chief Executive
- Simon Clare, Ladbrokes Coral Consumer PR Director at Entain
To celebrate the 35th year of the Programme, an event will be held at Newmarket’s Jockey Club Rooms in July with all alumni invited to attend.
Zoe Elliott, Head of Careers Marketing and Recruitment for Careersinracing, said: “The British Horseracing Development Programme is one of the great success stories in British racing and we are all excited to celebrate its 35th year in 2025.
“A look through the list of the many talented individuals who have come through the programme during its time clearly demonstrates its enduring importance and relevance for our industry, with any number of senior figures from across the sport having found their way into the sport via the programme.
“We are grateful to all of those who sponsor placements on the programme and to those who give up their time to share their insights with each year’s intake, without whom none of what has been achieved will be possible.
“It will be a real joy to celebrate the 35th year of the Programme with its illustrious alumni, just as it will to meet the class of 2025, who I have no doubt will go on to follow in the footsteps of those who have enjoyed tremendous career successes before them.”
Ed Chamberlin, Lead Presenter of ITV Racing and participant on the 1996 Programme, said: “I owe everything to the British Horseracing Development Programme and I’m excited to celebrate its 35th year in 2025. It was a magical time for me, getting to hear from some of the biggest names in the industry as I was starting out in my career.
“It is always an honour to be asked to speak to each year’s intake and I am consistently struck by the quality of questions they ask and how eager they are to make a difference in racing.
“I would encourage anybody who is considering a career in our great sport to apply for the British Horseracing Development Programme. It really is a tremendous opportunity and one that I know those who grasp it with both hands never regret.”
Notes to editors:
1. For more information on the British Horseracing Development Programme, including details on how to apply for 2025, click here.
2. Those who have taken part in the programme are asked to update their career details on this form, click here.
