South African Apprentice Jockeys Nathan Klink and Kabelo Matsunyane will be at the British Racing School from 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. Nathan and Kabelo are the third 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.
Nathan and Kabelo, 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, followed by Diego De Gouveia and Calvin Ngcobo, who were the first two groups of apprentices who attended the BRS International Apprentice Course in 2016 and 2017, have set the bar high as they excelled in the course. Nathan and Kabelo however are up for a challenge and are determined to match and better the achievements that their colleagues attained.

Going to the BRS, will be the first trip out of South Africa, for both Nathan and Kabelo and both are naturally very excited, but also wary of the cold weather they will experience while riding early morning work! Nathan and Kabelo are both eager to learn about the English way of riding and how their jockey seat differs from that of South African jockeys. They are also looking forward to meeting some famous international jockeys such as Ryan Moore and Frankie Dettori and if there is a chance of some sightseeing they would love to visit famous racecourses such as Ascot and maybe have a quick look around London if time permits.

Nathan and Kabelo, will initially be under the guidance of SAJA Jockey Coach, Nicky Roebuck, whom is going across briefly under invitation from the BRS to lay the foundation for greater co-operation and benchmarking between the jockey coaches of the BRS and SAJA. Graham Bailey, SAJA Principal, explains “from the inception of our partnership with the BRS, the emphasis has always been on collaboration and exchange programmes between the staff of the BRS and SAJA.Last year Sister Butt went across to assist the BRS with establishing a similar support programme that is offered to our apprentices and it is very exciting the Nicky goes across this year to begin the collaboration amongst the jockey coaches”. Nicky Roebuck was enthusiastic about the collaboration between the jockey coaches saying “it is always great to learn new techniques and I’m looking forward to sharing ideas with my BRS counterparts, I must thank The Childwick Trust for their generous funding, which has made such an exchange programme and collaboration possible!”