Roy Barrett received the prestigious Lifetime in Racing Award
Roy Barrett was a very deserving recipient of a Lifetime in Racing award, presented at Ayr racecourse today, Saturday 2nd November.
Presented by Peter Scudamore MBE, the award recognises Roy’s continued dedication to the racing industry, in a career that has spanned over 48 years.
Roy started working with horses while still at school and would arrive late most mornings after working at a local stable in Fivemiletown.
His first job at age 19 was for Commander Wilf and Mrs Patricia Crawford. Ron Barry, the stable jockey back then, taught Roy all he knew about riding racehorses. Though the falls came thick and fast, his ability to stay on improved dramatically during his time there and he came a very proficient handler.
Roy was promoted to Head Lad at 25. His patience with horses and staff made him very popular and he always brought out the best in both novice horses and novice jockeys through his kind tutoring.
Roy’s longest job was Head Lad at the brand new yard of trainer Len Lungo, and it wasn’t long before the partnership was producing lots of winners. Len became top Scottish trainer for several years and Roy’s dedication was recognised when he was declared “Employee of the Year” at the Godolphin Stud and Stable Staff Awards inaugural dinner in 2005 .
Following Len’s retirement Roy didn’t feel quite ready to stop, so for five happy years joined trainers Rose and Tony Dobbin at their yard in Northumberland and still helps out at his local yard at the ripe age of 72, continuing to ride out every day for Iain Jardine. Ron said
I’d like to thank Racing Welfare and Ayr Racecourse for the award and the day out, I really appreciate the recognition for all my years working in racing.
Racing Welfare would like to express their most sincere thanks to Ayr racecourse for their kind hospitality on the day and for continuing to support the Lifetime in Racing awards. The series is just one of a number of initiatives operated by Racing Welfare to engage racing’s retired community. Racing Welfare’s regional teams run regular trips and outings, coffee mornings, sporting reminiscence groups and an annual retiree holiday in a bid to combat loneliness and help people to keep in touch with old friends and colleagues.