The National Trainers Federation (NTF) is delighted to announce that Sean Murray is the 2019 recipient of the Toby Balding Award.
A presentation was made at the Lycetts Team Champion Award presentation on Thursday 28th February at the Institute of Directors in London.
The annual award, worth £4000, offers an exciting opportunity for ambitious employees in British racing yards to widen their knowledge and train to acquire new skills.
The NTF launched the award for racing staff in memory of the late Toby Balding, who as a trainer was dedicated to the support and development of young people in the horse racing industry. It is funded by the National Trainers Federation Charitable Trust (NTFCT) from a donation made by the Adrian Swire Charitable Trust in memory of Toby Balding and is presented to a member of racing staff who demonstrates a desire to further his or her career in the horseracing industry and to train for a higher-level qualification or undertake personal development training.
About Sean Murray
Sean Murray has worked his way up the career ladder beginning with weekend work for Peter Beaumont while still at school. He was in the first cohort of staff when David O’Meara started out on his training career, progressing to be head lad. He is now Assistant Trainer to Roger Fell at Arthington Barn.
“I have gained a vast amount of racing and equine knowledge working alongside many talented horse men and women” says Sean. “We have a variety of people from different backgrounds and levels of experience and I have a person-centred approach to their career development. I make sure we look at their individual strengths and qualities and I am positive about what can be done however inexperienced or anxious the person might be.
“I would like to use funds from this bursary to invest in more training such as Introduction to Management for the Racing Industry course and Level One NCFE Award in Mentoring. I am so grateful to the NTF Charitable Trust for enabling me to gain more training to further my career.”
Underlining the career progression that Sean Murray has made on his own initiative, Roger Fell commented,” Sean started his career at the British Racing School and has progressed through the ranks to his current position as Assistant Trainer. Sean is a key member of the training team here at Arthington Barn and has put in the hard yards working as a positive role model, putting in long hours to ensure we achieve the best results. This bursary has come at an important time in Sean’s career as it will allow him to fund his ongoing development, and will help him to achieve his ambition to become a licensed trainer.”
Notes to editors:
The Toby Balding Award offers an exciting opportunity for ambitious employees in British racing yards to widen their knowledge and train to acquire new skills. There is more about the award here.
The National Trainers Federation Charitable Trust aims to provide training for employees within the racing industry so they can develop their knowledge and skills. There is a special focus on training to enable those who meet with an accident or ill health to remain in the industry. Racing Welfare manages the applications on behalf of the NTFCT trustees.
For more information, please contact Rupert Arnold or Shelley Perham at the NTF.
