'The interaction is magical' - join Group 1 winner Goldream for his latest big date at a brain injury centre

Top-class sprinter Goldream raced on the global stage during a distinguished career but as he boards his horsebox at New Beginnings on a tranquil morning in East Yorkshire, it is hard to think of many more important events he has attended.

Remy, as he has become affectionately known, has a date at a brain injury centre in York where he is tasked with bringing a ray of light to those who need it most.

Immaculately turned out, the sprightly 15-year-old strides up the ramp with purpose, followed by his miniature grey sidekick Poppy the pony. It is a routine the unlikely pair have gone through many times at the rehoming and retraining centre on the Garrowby Estate.

"Hopefully Remy behaves today as he's a bit cross because I had to give him a bath this morning," says Pam Atkinson, the co-founder of New Beginnings.  

"We started by taking our horses to racecourses and it has gone from there to doing community work at hospices, care homes and hospitals. The horses need to have a particular temperament for it, but Remy has developed into an absolute dude."

Atkinson, 62, and her husband Kevin, 61, have done some extraordinary work since setting up New Beginnings in 2010 and now have 32 horses, but Remy is their masterpiece. Turning a revved-up coiled-spring sprinter into a carefree and intuitive ambassador has shown their capabilities and elevated their cause to another level.

Kevin and Pam Atkinson with Remy and Poppy the ponyCredit: Louise Pollard

"When Remy finished racing they sent him to the racing school in Newmarket to train the next generation of jockeys, but he kept clearing off with them," says Kevin. "He was still a racehorse going back into a racing environment. He wasn't being naughty, he was just doing his job. All he knew was getting from A to B as fast as he could."

As happens with many ex-racehorses, Goldream's first phase after racing was not suitable for him and he ended up being sent to New Beginnings. The Atkinsons have had notable horses before but nothing compares to a King's Stand and Prix de l'Abbaye winner. There was no special treatment for the ex-Robert Cowell star, though; he went through the same tried and tested process as all the others.

"When he first came to us we turned him out and got to know him and he slowly came down," says Pam. "It was a change of pace and life for him.

"We started bringing him into work and riding him. You have to teach them in a way that is acceptable to them, but we saw he had a really good approach to life and the things we were asking him to do."

After a half-hour drive, Remy and Poppy arrive at Brainkind, a neurological centre in the grounds of the old Terry's chocolate factory behind York racecourse. The pair are led into the garden of the facility and stand attentively waiting for the patients to come out.

"What we've seen from taking the horses out is that when someone strokes a horse for the first time, they always smile," says Pam. "Nobody ever grimaces, they always smile. That interaction with a horse is magical.

"Some people can be intimated at first and that's why we have Poppy, so they can go to her and then to Remy. When you get a horse with the power and size of Remy who gives so much, it's special. Dogs and cats are great, but horses are just something else – they're very intuitive and empathic."

Pam Aktinson and Remy at Brainkind in YorkCredit: York Racecourse

Research conducted by Bristol University last year identified that ex-racehorses, in particular, have a suitability to such valuable roles, with thoroughbreds possessing the necessary characteristics more than other breeds.

Remy is a shining example of that as he stands statuesque for two hours and engages with around 20 patients who have acquired brain injuries through accidents or strokes. It is a powerful and moving sight. The patients use most of their senses – sight, touch, smell and hearing – as Remy provokes a series of delighted responses.

None of this would be possible without Pam and Kevin, though.

Pam could easily be quite flustered, having been left to run the show after Kevin hurt his back pulling up fence posts the previous day, yet she exudes a natural calm around people as well as horses. "Let him sniff your hand as that's his hello, and then stroke his nose as that's the soft part," she says to ease a patient's nerves as they approach Remy.

Remy standing serenely at Brainkind in YorkCredit: York Racecourse

The couple's passion and knowledge have impressed many in the racing industry and those efforts were recognised last year when New Beginnings and Remy were crowned the inaugural winners of the Sir Peter O'Sullevan Community Impact Award at the Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) annual ceremony.

York racecourse, which organised this visit, has been there from the very start. "We've had a partnership with New Beginnings since 2010 and we're really proud of the work they do," says the track's chief executive William Derby.

"It's really important for us to have the horses there on a raceday so people have the opportunity to get up close to these wonderful horses, and also outside of the raceday on days like today. People are fascinated by them and it also shows racehorses have a life and second career after racing. Educating people about that and how we look after our horses in the sport is really important."

New Beginnings, in attendance on all four days of the Ebor meeting and Sunday's family fun day at York, has become ingrained in the raceday experience on the Knavesmire and the success of engaging people at race meetings has paved the way to the ground-breaking community work.

Remy is York’s first equine ambassador, while others at the centre fulfil similar roles at other tracks, such as Nearly Caught at Pontefract. Building on New Beginnings' crucial work, RoR, in collaboration with Godolphin, launched the Horses for Courses initiative last year to encourage more racecourses to have equine ambassadors, although Pam warns: "Being an ambassador doesn't suit every horse; some of them can't cope with going back to the racecourse. It's a big ask going back into the environment where they used to race."

Kevin and Pam Atkinson with RemyCredit: Louise Pollard

Going to York is a particular test as they are placed right in the thick of the action in a pen opposite the parade ring in the Clock Tower enclosure so everyone can get access to them. Social media videos of Remy watching on serenely as the runners fly past him after the winning line have gone viral.

"People are amazed that the horses do that and it's a very positive message that they can convert to doing something else," Pam says.

"We get a lot of families coming to see us and in many cases we find both the children and adults have never stroked a horse. Having had a positive interaction, they've realised they like horses and we've actually had children come back to see us saying they've started riding. They could be the next generation of riders and maybe racehorse owners one day."

The away days are only part of the New Beginnings operation, which is underpinned by the day-to-day routine at the stables on Lord and Lady Halifax's estate on the edge of the Yorkshire Wolds. One of only ten centres in Britain to be RoR-accredited, it plays a key role in the vulnerable horse scheme by providing care, compassion and stability for ex-racehorses in need of extra support.

Kevin and Pam Atkinson at New Beginnings in East YorkshireCredit: Louise Pollard

"We don't get many straightforward horses as plenty of people can look after those, we get the complicated and nervous ones," says Pam. "A lot of the time it is the people they have gone to after racing that are the problem. We don't judge anybody, though, we just bring the horses back and sort them out. Once we've turned them around, we retrain them.

"We never sell our horses, we put them out on long-term loans instead. The idea is that if in the future something happens and people can no longer keep the horse, they will never be sold on or put to sleep. We offer security for the rest of their lives."

As with all charitable organisations, funding is vital and while support is provided for specific projects, making ends meet is tricky for a couple who left professional jobs to pursue their goal.

"We both committed financial suicide to give this a proper go," Pam admits. "We always say to people we don't do this for money, we just need money to do it. 

"Our core costs are the hardest bit; we have to earn the money to pay the rent, staff, vet, farrier and feed bills ourselves. We have regular friends of New Beginnings who are our lifeblood and we're grateful to the donations we receive.

"Our strapline is 'Life Past The Post' and we do it because we think every horse that finishes racing deserves a chance. 

"We've worked hard at it and built up our reputation. We're only small but we do a good job." 

The beaming smiles that follow Remy and the New Beginnings team wherever they go are testament to that.

Part five of Life After Racing, in which Alan Sweetman visits Treo Eile and looks at the situation in Ireland, will be online from 6pm on Thursday. You can read parts one, two and three below:

'It's not just the social licence, it's morally the right thing to do' - how racing is raising its game for horses in retirement 

'He won us the Gold Cup - but we've got just as much of a thrill out of what he's achieved since he retired' 

A Cheltenham legend is baffled by balloons - but horses' enthusiasm for their second careers can't be deflated 

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