Competitions

TRAINING COMMENCES FOR BRITAIN’S FIRST FEMALE HORSERACING COMMENTATOR

Hayley Moore, winner The Filly Factor, a competition to find Britain’s first female racing commentator, started the official commentary training course at Kempton Park Racecourse on Wednesday 25th January, where she was mentored by professional commentator, Mark Johnson.

The organisation behind Lovetheraces.com, Racing for Change created a nationwide competition to find Britain’s first female racing commentator, which culminated at Ascot Racecourse last summer, with Hayley, 23, from West Sussex, winning by a distance.

Hayley’s victory, which was decided by a public text vote, has resulted in her being placed on the industry’s official ‘Commentary Training Course’, in a bid to become the first official female race caller in the UK. Since winning the competition, Hayley has already been a guest commentator at racecourses including Brighton and Lingfield Park, but her commentary has yet to be heard on television or in betting shops.

The Commentators’ Training Course involves twelve racedays throughout the year (a mixture of All- Weather, Flat and Jump racing fixtures), where Hayley will operate alongside the official commentator, who will offer guidance. Hayley’s commentaries won’t be aired to racegoers or television viewers, but they are recorded separately and then reviewed by ‘The Commentators’ User Group’ who will monitor her progress.

On completion of the Commentary Training Course in September, Hayley will be interviewed by the Race Commentator Management Committee who will decide if she is worthy of a place on the Professional Commentators’ Roster for 2013. If she is successful, Hayley will become Britain’s first official female race commentator.

Hayley is daughter of Sussex racehorse trainer Gary, while her older brother is former champion jockey Ryan, winner of the 2010 Epsom Derby. Having previously embarked on a career in broadcasting, Hayley reverted back to racehorse training and now works for her father, full-time at Cisswood House Stables, near Horsham. While she is the only one of her siblings not pursuing a career as a professional jockey, she competes regularly on the amateur jockey circuit and she won the prestigious Ladies’ Diamond Stakes at Ascot last year.