'Just being nominated was a real pick-me-up' - 2019 winner calls for more entries for the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards

British racing's 2019 Employee of the Year Catch Bissett and her boss Nick Alexander have both called for a final push to nominate as many people from within the racing and breeding industry for the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards (TIEA).

Nominations for six categories close at 5pm on Tuesday and anyone in a yard or stud farm can put forward a colleague for the 2024 awards, which are again supported by Godolphin to the tune of £128,500. It is the 20th anniversary of the awards and the ceremony, hosted by ITV Racing's Ed Chamberlin, takes place at Ascot racecourse on February 26.

The six categories cover newcomers – an award in memory of trainer David Nicholson – leadership, riding or racing groom, stud staff and dedication to the industry, as well as the Rory MacDonald community award.

Bissett was assistant to Fife-based trainer Alexander at the time she won the leadership award and was also named overall Employee of the Year.

"Working with horses is quite tough and it was already turning into a hard winter that year, so just being nominated was a real pick-me-up," said Bissett.

"The fabulous thing is that it's not just you, it's shared with your team. Apart from the community award, they match the prize-money for the yard and I remember driving to the races in the lorry on a couple of different occasions and everyone had a little piece of it too. One of the girls, Alannah, told me she was going to buy herself a new jumping saddle for her horse at home."

Catriona Bissett: "The fabulous thing is that it's not just you, it's shared with your team"Credit: Ichiro Terashima

Bissett has a training licence in her own right – a role she somehow combines with that of racing secretary to Alexander – and gives pride of place at home to her two TIEA trophies, along with the horseshoes Lewa House wore when giving Bissett her first training success at Hexham last November.

Bissett said: "I knew that Nick had confidence in me and we worked very well together, but to then go to a platform where you're being compared to the whole country and someone says 'well done' – that was a fantastic confidence-boost for me, to get recognised outside the small bubble that you work in.

"The money Godolphin put towards it is quite remarkable and I was able to reinvest the prize into my goals and future."

Alexander is rightly proud of Bissett's success at the 2019 awards and believes any employer who nominates their staff will have the chance to earn recognition for their whole team.

Nick Alexander: "Catch winning was a very welcome and strong endorsement of the way we do things"Credit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

"It was really good for the yard to win Employee of the Year which, rightly or wrongly, always feels a little bit more difficult from where we are," said Alexander. "When you consider Newmarket, Lambourn or Middleham are the centres of the racing universe, we're very much on the edge of it."

"We’ve won a few of the NTF/Lycetts team awards for the way we run our business and, combined with those, Catch winning was a very welcome and strong endorsement of the way we do things.

"We've tried to take a very modern approach and to apply business principles from outside racing, and to build a team of staff who are, I hope, very motivated and feel rewarded.

"It was early days for that approach and so what is now the TIEA was very important in terms of our self-respect."

Nominations can be made via the online nomination form or by video here.

Nominations are open until November 7 for the 20th running of the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards. The awards are an opportunity for employees from across the industry in Britain, such as training yards, studs or administrative roles, to be celebrated for their hard work and dedication. Find out more here.