‘No time to argue over emptying the dishwasher,’ says new Racing to School Trustee, Anna Lisa Balding

There are no complaints from Anna Lisa Balding about the pace of her busy family life and her role managing the staff at one of Flat racing’s busiest yards, Kingsclere.

One thing is certain, Anna Lisa has not taken on the role with Racing to School to fill time in her day. Three children: Jonno 14, Toby 12 and Flora 10 soak up their share of the clock and then there’s the full-time role for husband, Andrew.

“Ever since I was working at Windsor Racecourse in 2000, I have been hugely impressed by the work that the team at Racing to School do to try and encourage and support young people coming to the racecourse as part of their school programme,” says Anna Lisa.

“Racing is an extraordinary industry, enabling a huge number of people to be involved in so many different ways. The opportunities that we can offer young people is wonderful, however, sometimes it is difficult to encourage them into the industry due to the fact that they genuinely know nothing about it, their parents weren’t involved, or they find it rather intimidating from the gambling angle.”

Focused on developing young people

“The main bit of my job now is looking after the staff, getting in new starters and trying to attract the young into the sport,” says Anna Lisa. “We have produced some great jockeys over the years but even if they haven’t made it that way, they have remained in the industry within different roles, be it Travelling staff, barn managers, horse physios, secretaries and other roles.”

Champion apprentices, such as William Buick and David Probert can vouch for the nurturing and opportunities that came their way at Park House, and it’s no coincidence that in five of the last seven Flat seasons, the Balding team has posted over 100 winners. The record-breaking miler and 2,000 Guineas winner Kameko set the tone for a truncated but hugely successful campaign for the stable in 2020.

Organised and amazing

“We split the roles at Park House. I don’t have anything to do with the training of the horses, that’s Andrew’s job and I think he is quite good at it! I’m much better than he is with the admin side of life,” explains Anna Lisa.

“We have an amazing life, so different from so many, but we have been incredibly lucky through this pandemic where we have stayed very busy and not had much time to argue over whose turn it is to cook dinner, that is a given! Living and working together is great, most of the time, but sometimes escaping to the northern tracks in the summer to do the saddling is a lovely change of scenery!”

Everyone treated the same whatever their talents

On her new role as a Trustee with Racing to School, Anna Lisa added: “I firmly believe that the charity opens the door to so many and both Andrew and I really believe that the younger the children can be shown the opportunities available to them, the easier it is to work with them and support them on their career paths towards the racing industry, which can be the right place for so many. It can also be a steppingstone to a job outdoors, with animals or likeminded people.

“Here at Kingsclere, we have a hostel with 24 young racing grooms, some of whom aspire to be jockeys, some head lads, others travelling grooms, or Racing Secretaries – they come from Hampshire, London, Liverpool, Belfast, Bradford, Sudan and many other places. They all come from totally different backgrounds, from different areas, different cultures and hold different skills. When they are all at work, they are all treated 100% the same.

“We all hope they love the horses, love working outside and love to be part of a successful team and above all feel their worth. This is so key to the young these days, and I think the more we can do to help and encourage young kids from all over the UK, the better.”

Spreading the word far and wide

Anna Lisa is already giving the Racing to School team a run for its money, as she is a regular at local secondary schools, agriculture colleges, pony clubs and local community centres, talking about the yard and why racing is an option for so many.

“We offer 17 weeks of work experience a year, weekend work, school trips, university days, ‘team bonding days’, all to try and encourage people to give racing a go. We have some great stories from Kingsclere of people who ‘were on the brink’, ‘didn’t want to get out of bed in the morning’ ‘needed to escape their parents’ ‘fed up of sitting at a desk’ ‘just don’t know what I want to do’. They were all given a chance, ‘a carrot’ and so many of them are now fully employed with a career, a passion, friends and a home within racing.

“I believe that Racing to School helps to make this happen and I can’t wait to be able to use some of my experience and day-to-day skills to ensure that this wonderful charity goes from strength to strength.”