South African Apprentice Jockeys Calvin Ngcobo and Diego De Gouveia will be jetting off to the British Racing School in the second week of April, for 3 weeks, to complete the International Apprentice Course at the British Racing School campus in Newmarket.

The South African Jockey Academy (SAJA) has partnered with the British Racing School (BRS), through funding from The Childwick Trust, which allows two of its Apprentices to be able to get such an opportunity. Calvin and Diego are the second set of South African Apprentice Jockeys selected and it is hoped that going forward more South African Apprentices will continue to be given this opportunity.

Calvin and Diego, both indicated they were humbled to be chosen for this opportunity and were looking forward to their time at the BRS and hoped to make the Academy and South Africa proud. Tristan Godden and Eric Ngwane, who were the two apprentices who attended the BRS International Apprentice Course in 2016, have set the bar high as they excelled in the course and received glowing reports from their Riding Coaches and Trainers. Calvin and Diego however are up for a challenge and are determined to match and try and better the achievements that their colleagues attained.

Calvin and Diego, will initially be under the guidance of SAJA Registered Nurse, Sister Deborah Butt, whom is going across briefly under invitation from the BRS to assist them to set up a similar Clinic with a Nursing Sister that the SAJA campus in Summerveld already has. Butt said “Grant Harris, the BRS Chief Executive, visited SAJA in November 2015 and was impressed with our Clinic and the care and medical attention it provided to our apprentices.

The BRS has invited me on a reciprocal visit so that I may assist them with some of the groundwork and planning needed to allow the BRS to establish a similar Clinic at their campus in Newmarket. I must thank The Childwick Trust for their generous funding, which has made this partnership and its interventions possible!”