Racing Media Academy unveils diverse first intake of students for coveted course

The first intake of the Racing Media Academy has been revealed, with ten lucky candidates named from among nearly 200 applicants.

The class of '22 will attend presentations and workshops run by some of the sport's leading personalities, as well as from major media players outside the sport, in addition to placements with a range of racing media including the Racing Post, Racing TV, ITV Racing, Sky Sports Racing and Equine Productions.

The initiative is designed to broaden the diversity of people entering racing media and to offer opportunities to sections of society who are under-represented in both the sport and the organisations that present and report on it.

Broadcaster and entrepreneur Josh Apiafi has worked for 15 months with both the media partners and the Racing Foundation, which has provided crucial funding for the first year of the project.

Apiafi said: "If you can find something that is a winner for every single part of it, you’re doing okay. The students are winners but the media houses will be enriched as well with diverse new people and thinking from those individuals. Racing itself wins by becoming more reflective of society.

Josh Apiafi wants to see a racing media that is more reflective of the society it servesCredit: Dan Abraham

"As to the course itself, everyone I’ve spoken to has said they want to go along for the week to hear what Clare Balding has to say and what Tik-Tok has to say. Lee Mottershead and Lydia Hislop are hosting a day, and Equine Productions are doing a session on camerawork."

Among the ten successful applicants, most have little or no connection to racing through family or work, but all have demonstrated a real passion for the sport.

The Racing Post will host 20-year-old Ali Akber Amersy, a student of International Relations and Politics who also runs his own Boxing and MMA promotions.

"I'm most looking forward to learning how social media marketing techniques are implemented to increase the amount of readership in sports fans,” said Ali, who learned more about racing as part of the BHA’s Step On Track programme.

While ten students have been selected for the 2022 intake, all 188 applicants have been invited to a racing media day at Kempton racecourse on May 19.

Racing Media Academy Class of 2022

Ali Akber Amersy, Manchester – Racing Post
Alexia Chester, Nantwich – JSC Communications
Charles Day, Wolverhampton – RaceTech Placement
Hannah Henn, Northampton – Sky Sports Racing
Sophie Manners, London – RacingTV
Kwesia, London – ITV Racing
Lewis Knowles, Wirral – Sky Sports Racing
Ashley Scott, Northampton – Equine Productions
Albert Symonds, East Sussex – Equine Productions
Michael Teeney, Newcastle – RacingTV

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