{"id":237514,"date":"2026-01-14T13:07:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T13:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/237514\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T13:07:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T13:07:07","slug":"finalists-announced-for-2026-thoroughbred-industry-employee-awards-sponsored-by-godolphin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/237514\/","title":{"rendered":"Finalists announced for 2026 Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards, sponsored by Godolphin"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

The finalists have been revealed today for the 2026 Thoroughbred Industry Employees Awards,\u00a0sponsored by Godolphin.<\/p>\n

Following two highly competitive rounds of judging, the 18 finalists from across British racing and breeding will head to Ascot Racecourse for the illustrious ceremony, hosted by ITV Racing\u2019s Ed Chamberlin.<\/p>\n

With \u00a3128,500 in prize money to be won across six categories, the awards celebrate the hard work, passion and dedication of the outstanding individuals who make a positive difference to the lives of our horses, people and local communities.<\/p>\n

The final round of judging will take place at Ascot on 23 February, before the winners in each category and the overall Employee of the Year are announced at the evening ceremony.<\/p>\n

All nominees who reached the 10-person\u00a0shortlists<\/a>\u00a0but did not progress to the final three will\u00a0receive a \u00a3250 prize in recognition of their achievement and contribution.<\/p>\n

Brant Dunshea, acting Chief Executive of the BHA, said:<\/p>\n

\u201cMy congratulations to this year\u2019s finalists, who are truly worthy of this accolade.\u00a0The 2026 ceremony promises to be another memorable occasion as we celebrate the very best of British racing and breeding.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone who was nominated, made the shortlists or got through to the final 18 should be immensely proud. You are all fitting representatives of the many individuals, yards, studs and communities across the country who make our wonderful industry the success it is.<\/p>\n

\u201cA huge thank you to our sponsors Godolphin, our award partners at the Racing Post, Racing TV and Ascot Racecourse, and of course to our esteemed judging panel \u2013 who no doubt have the toughest job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hugh Anderson, Managing Director at Godolphin (UK and Dubai), said:<\/p>\n

\u201cMany congratulations to the 18 finalists for this year\u2019s Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards, all of whom should be very proud of making it this far.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would also like to congratulate everyone who was nominated and to thank those who took the time to nominate their employees, colleagues and friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cGodolphin is incredibly proud to support these awards which celebrate the backbone of our industry \u2013 its people \u2013 and without whom our great sport simply could not function.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look forward to celebrating these outstanding people at Ascot in a few weeks\u2019 time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The finalists for each category are:<\/p>\n

Newcomer Award
Emma Skerritt \u2013 Richenda Ford
Freddie Wilks \u2013 Charlie Johnston
Poppy Hatton \u2013 Folland-Bowen Bloodstock<\/p>\n

Leadership Award
Carrie Sanderson \u2013 Karl Burke
Claire Freeman \u2013 Dan Skelton
Louisa Allen \u2013 Jim Boyle<\/p>\n

Rider \/ Racing Groom Award
Ellie Jefferson \u2013 Christian Williams
Kieran Kourdache \u2013 Karl Burke
Michelle Kramer \u2013 Paul Nicholls<\/p>\n

Stud Award
Dayna Walsh \u2013 Tweenhills
James Goddard \u2013 Chasemore Farm
Oleh Ihnatenko \u2013 Whitsbury Manor Stud<\/p>\n

Dedication Award
Christopher Pattenden \u2013 Diana Grissell
Derek Snaith \u2013 Charlie Fellowes
Helen Halliwell \u2013 James Fanshawe<\/p>\n

Community Award
Anna Collins \u2013 Chester Racecourse
Geraldine Jones \u2013 Godolphin
Hayley Clements \u2013 Micky Hammond<\/p>\n

More information on the 2026 Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards sponsored by Godolphin can be found\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The finalists have been revealed today for the 2026 Thoroughbred Industry Employees Awards,\u00a0sponsored by Godolphin. Following two highly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":237515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-237514","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}