NTF and Lycetts launch 2021 awards for racehorse training stables

Entries have opened for the 2021 Lycetts Leadership & Team Champions Awards with three prizes for training yards up for grabs.

The awards were created by the National Trainers Federation and Lycetts Insurance Brokers to recognise racehorse training stables with the highest standards of employee management, but also to improve staff recruitment and retention rates by promoting best practice.

NTF chief executive Rupert Arnold said: "At the heart of the awards is a commitment to helping all trainers run sustainable, safe, resilient businesses through the Winning Approach industry standards.

"The awards enable us to guide trainers in best practice management processes, and to showcase the employers who are cultivating the most exceptional working environments."

Entries close on June 30, with winners invited to a prize giving and hospitality event at Sandown Park on September 15. Entry forms are available on the NTF website and RacingGroom.com.

Julie Harrington to speak at Horseracing Industry Conference

BHA chief executive Julie Harrington will be one of the keynote speakers at the annual Horseracing Industry Conference, which returns at Windsor racecourse on July 5.

The Racing Foundation event, delivered in partnership with University of Liverpool and the Racing Post, will tackle the topic "Future-Proofing the Racing Industry: Protecting People & the Planet".

Racing Foundation chief executive Rob Hezel said: "We are pleased to be returning with an in-person event which will give delegates access to thought-provoking talks and panels and the opportunity to network with colleagues throughout the industry after a year where distance has defined us."

Tickets for the event, which include lunch and dinner and a ticket to the evening's racing at Windsor, are available on the Racing Foundation website.

Funeral of Joe Rowntree will take place in York on Monday

The funeral of former Racing Post journalist Joe Rowntree, who died last month at the age of 75, takes place in York on Monday.

Pandemic restrictions mean that attendance is by invitation only but the cortege is expected to pass along Knavesmire Road past York racecourse at about 10.50am.

A Just Giving page for donations to St Leonard's Hospice in memory of Rowntree, who also wrote for The Sporting Life and was agent to Jimmy Fortune when he was champion apprentice, has been set up at

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