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Thoroughbred Industry Careers (TIC), Australian Turf Club and Pony Club Australia will hold an exhibition Pony Race as part of Australia Day celebrations at the public holiday Warwick Farm meeting on Wednesday, 26 January 2022.

The Pony Race brings young horse enthusiasts and their families from a grassroots level to a feature Sydney raceday and will see a group of ponies and riders race up the Warwick Farm straight.

It follows a recent inaugural TIC Pony Race held at Queensland’s Doomben Racecourse.

Pony Racing is aimed at generating industry involvement and interest from young horse owners and their families looking to further a career in thoroughbred racing.

TIC Chief Executive Officer, Lindy Maurice said: “Every major racing jurisdiction around the world has some version of Pony Racing, it’s very big in England and Ireland in particular.

“Kids in Australia play cricket, netball or football, but they can’t play racing.

“The best way to fall in love with a sport is to do it and our goal is to reach as many young people as we can so they will learn and understand racing for the many career opportunities it offers.

“There is a nationwide staff shortage in the industry and we hope events such as this provide an opportunity to negate those issues in the long term.”

As one of the founding stakeholders in TIC, Australian Turf Club has been a major supporter of the Pony Racing concept.

“For almost three years TIC has been responsible for providing life-changing opportunities to many people interested in getting a foot in the door of our industry,” ATC Executive General Manager Racing and Wagering, James Ross said.

“We are excited to support new concepts such as this Pony Race and we see the family-focused Australia Day meeting at Warwick Farm as a fantastic opportunity to showcase the industry to Pony Club participants as well as provide an additional level of entertainment on course.

“The Australian Turf Club is one of the largest racing and training operations globally with nearly 1800 horses in training across three metropolitan racecourses in Sydney.

“We hope that furthering the interest and skills of young people in our industry will lead to increased career opportunities and participation in coming years.

The exhibition race will see up to 10 ponies and their riders compete down the Warwick Farm straight. The riders and ponies are members of the Pony Club Australia (PCA) network, of which TIC is a major sponsor.

Formed in 2019, TIC is a not-for-profit organisation that aims to provide a centralised platform to promote racing and breeding industry careers options, introduce grassroots programs, facilitate best practice education pathways and assist in developing staff retention and welfare strategies for career longevity.