Jockey Harry Davies shows Newmarket Academy pupils dreams can come true during Godolphin Beacon Project

Just a few years ago, Harry Davies was a Newmarket Academy student dreaming of becoming a top jockey.

That ambition was further fuelled by his participation in the Dubai Future Champions’ Education Week when, with his fellow students, he visited Newmarket’s Rowley Mile racecourse and found himself on the winners’ rostrum presenting trophies to the winning connections of one of the races, none other than top trainer Aidan O’Brien.

Fast-forward six years and Harry was back in the winners’ enclosure, this time receiving the winning rider’s trophy from some of this year’s cohort of students after his victory in the Newmarket Academy Godolphin Beacon Project Cornwallis Stakes.

This year’s week of activities saw 165 Year 8 pupils from the academy welcomed in by a range of businesses, giving them the chance to explore the wealth of career opportunities the racing industry offers.

The focused week forms part of the Newmarket Academy Godolphin Beacon Project and engages with the community’s key racing organisations to bring the Year 8 curriculum to life.

Godolphin’s UK charities manager Penny Taylor said: “The idea behind the Newmarket Academy Godolphin Beacon Project is to give the young people in Newmarket an opportunity to learn what the industry is about.

“They are often remote from it, as it’s so closed off from them, so what we want to try to do is give them an understanding of why the town is such a special place.”

Guided by the team from charity partner Racing to School, pupils took part in four activity days, each with a focus on an aspect of the sport: horse welfare, racing heritage, life of a racehorse, sales and care.

And those days included visits to the National Horseracing Museum, the Park Paddocks headquarters of Tattersalls where the prestigious October Yearling Book 1 sale was taking place attracting buyers and breeders from all over the world, the British Racing School, Rossdales Equine Hospital, Dalham Hall Stud, the headquarters of Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin racing and thoroughbred breeding organisation, Warren Hill and the town’s racehorse training grounds, Kremlin Cottage Stables, home to trainer James Ferguson, and the Newmarket Pony Academy.

The week culminated in a race-day visit to the Rowley Mile racecourse and was highlighted by an inspiring question-and-answer session with Harry, who shared his memories of the Dubai Future Champions Education Week.

Pupils later cheered Harry home aboard his winner Coto de Caza before welcoming him back to the paddock with shouts of congratulations and calls to autograph racecards.

Jen Gates, Racing to School’s fund-raising and communications manager, said: “This unique week of learning has immersed pupils in the world of horseracing on their doorsteps that, for many, has felt so far removed from their daily lives – until now.

“Focusing on one area of the industry each day has allowed us to dig deeper and explore a number of the different opportunities available to these promising young people.

“You could hear and see the profound impact meeting Harry, a young man so passionate about his career, had on the pupils and their ambitions for their own futures, whether that is in or out of horseracing.

“We’re so grateful to Newmarket Racecourse, Jockey Club Estates, Godolphin and all the organisations and individuals who made this week possible.”