THE British National Stud and The Childwick Trust have partnered with Mick Goss’s Summerhill Stud, home to the Al Maktoum School of Management Excellence, which has been running successful bloodstock courses in South Africa for over 20 years.

The three organisations have agreed a system for one School of Excellence graduate to have a fully funded place on the internationally renowned Diploma in Stud Practice and Management run annually at The National Stud.

The scholarship will provide the graduate from the School of Excellence with the opportunity to further their career by experiencing a northern hemisphere season, attaining internationally renowned qualifications and managerial skills at the heart of the British Thoroughbred breeding industry. The Diploma in Stud Practice and Management is recognised globally, with 24 students a year experiencing a combination of practical thoroughbred stud work with seminars and academic lectures during the five month residential course starting in January 2012.

2011 Shool of Excellence students with autographed copies of Horse Chestnut: The Story of a Legend, donated by Mike and Diane de Kock.

The Childwick Trust will fund a scholarship covering the costs of the successful applicant attending the Diploma programme. A number of the School’s students come from disadvantaged communities from all over South Africa and training at the School of Excellence was established to improve young people’s opportunities and skills within the Thoroughbred breeding industry.

Brian O’Rourke, Managing Director at The National Stud, explained, “We’re delighted to be working with the School of Excellence and Summerhill Stud to offer a successful graduate the opportunity to study with us here at The National Stud in Newmarket. With the great support of the Childwick Trust Scholarship, the South African student will join the other Diploma students working alongside our experienced Stud staff during the breeding season and take advantage of the excellent teaching facilities in the Joan Westbrook Lecture Theatre and stay in the recently extended and refurbished ensuite student accommodation at Westbrook House. We hope that the scholarship sets precedence for future opportunities with other countries and similar education initiatives in the years to come.”

School Of Excellence students with Principal, Heather Morkel.

Mick Goss from Summerhill Stud and the Al Maktoum School of Excellence, commented: “Our young and enthusiastic students are keen horse people, who display an unusual potential and connectivity with the world of racing and we’re delighted to be offering one of our graduates the opportunity to study with The National Stud. We believe the overseas placement will develop a management focused role and fast-track our graduate into a world they might never have accessed without the scholarship, with the hope that they bring their experiences back to fellow students at home.”

Anthony Cane, Trustee of the Childwick Trust, explained: “Horseracing has an incredibly rich heritage in Britain and we wanted to be part of bringing this learning experience to a South African graduate for the first time. We’ve been active in South Africa since the establishment of The Jim Joel Education and Training Fund in Johannesburg during the late 1980’s and we look forward to working with The National Stud, to bring the education excellence of the Northern and Southern hemispheres together. We appreciate that it is not the language you speak with horses, instead the skills you need are universal and the most important attribute is passion, something that we’re sure the chosen graduate will bring in abundance.”