Racing Home

On this latest episode we hear a heartwarming true story about fostering from Julia Bennet, the Vice-President of the National Association of Racing Staff.Julia shares her experience of fostering 16 children within the Lambourn community. We also hear from her friend Christina Dunlop, whose own children became friends with some of the foster children as they got up to some amazing adventures.As well as the highs, Julia also tackles some of the challenges she faced in an eye-opening conversation with broadcast producer and host Tim Williams.The Racing Home Podcast is a Women in Racing initiative, kindly brought to you in association with FDJ United and the Racing Foundation.You can also read an article by Julia for the Racing Home website here: https://racinghome.org.uk/2025/12/12/fostering-adoption-by-julia-bennet/

The Racing Home podcast is back for a brand new series!On today’s episode we discuss the latest groundbreaking report from Racing Home, addressing Menopause and Midlife. The research was published by Women in Racing and supported by FDJ United. You can read the full report here: https://racinghome.org.uk/2026/02/25/groundbreaking-report-announced-for-racing-addressing-menopause-midlife/Led by Dr Kate Clayton-Hathway of the Centre for Diversity Policy Research and Practice at Oxford Brookes University, the independent research explores how perimenopause, menopause and midlife intersect with working life across British horseracing – and outlines practical steps to better support and retain experienced women within the sport.Building on earlier Racing Home research into working motherhood, this study focuses on another pivotal life stage that often coincides with career progression, caring responsibilities and leadership roles. With women over 50 now the fastest-growing segment of the UK workforce, supporting midlife women is both a wellbeing priority and a strategic workforce issue.Enjoy this conversation with Dr Kate Clayton-Hathway, along with assistant trainer to John O’Shea, Sarah Guest, who was Thoroughbred Industry Employee of the Year in 2023. The episode is presented by broadcast producer and host Tim Williams.

We’re into June and it’s Royal Ascot next week! The sun is out and people who love racing are feeling pretty excited. In the meantime, there’s not only a Women in Racing event happening tomorrow but here at Racing Home we’ve also just released a brand new handbook that we’ve been working on for a while. It’s for both employers and employees in the breeding and racing world, including those of you who are self-employed, and providces information and advice on those who are thinking about a family, starting a family or are already parents. There’ll be a link in the shownotes to the guide which is called “Motherhood and Horseracing: Before, During and After Pregnancy Considerations for Parents and Employers” and we’d encourage you not only to read it but to send it on to anyone you think might benefit from it.Which brings me neatly on to today’s episode where I’m chatting with Vicky Low who joins us from the sport of sailing. Our first non-horse-related guest! You might wonder what sailing and horseracing have got in common, and it turns out…quite a lot, and as CEO of The Magenta Project, which you’ll here about, Vick is at the forefront of developing an equitable and inclusive marine industry.  The team here at Racing Home are big on collaboration and have been exploring the state of play for parents, mothers in particular, in other sports, and how we can work together to create change across multiple sports together. This has led us to realise that there are a lot of similarities as well as the obvious difference that one involves boats and one involves horseracing. Vic has become a real ally on some of the areas we’re working on here at Racing Home and we’re looking forward to announcing some further work later in the year.In the meantime, enjoy this conversation.Useful linksFind out more about The Magenta Project here If you're not familiar, have a look at the Women in Racing Mentoring Programme (the Mentors 4 Mums Programme is is also now live!)Check out the Racing Home website here (there's LOADS of useful info there)Read the Women in Racing and Oxford Brookes research on working mothers in horseracing hereAnd finally, the Women in Racing website is here too!

It’s May, we’ve had the Guineas and we are in the thick of spring, the time of new birth. The buds are flowering, the lambs are out and if you go anywhere near a Thoroughbred stud, you’ll likely see plenty of foals dashing about in the paddocks. And a stud was exactly where we went for this month’s episode of the Racing Home podcast - Mill Farm to be exact, home to Eileen and Keith Harte and their twins, plus their business Keith Harte Bloodstock. As well as co-owning the business, driving mares to their coverings, supervising the team on the farm and providing mentorship through Women in Racing’s excellent programme (yes, it gets ANOTHER plug in this episode), Eileen is also a coach and is just finishing a two-year qualification as a psychotherapist.She’s passionate about recruiting, developing and training people in the stud and bloodstock world, and talked to me here about the joy it brings her and Keith when people they’ve developed go onto great things, as well as raising twins on a very busy stud farm, away from their families in Ireland. Enjoy! Useful linksIf you're not familiar, have a look at the Women in Racing Mentoring Programme (the Mum Mentoring Programme is coming soon!)Check out the Racing Home website here (there's LOADS of useful info there)Read the Women in Racing and Oxford Brookes research on working mothers in horseracing hereAnd finally, the Women in Racing website is here too!

If you’ve listened to first two episodes this season then you may well have heard Susannah Gill mention the topic of how society values - or actually, doesn’t value - people who care for others, which we touched on in last time’s conversation in the context of people who care for children and the importance of caregiving to facilitate parents returning to work.But childcare is one thing. What about people who have caring responsibilities for older members of their family or if you have a family member who is chronically ill, disabled or needs daily help in any other way, shape or form that requires thinking and planning on a weekly basis?Back in Episode 15 we talked to Nick Luck about parenting a child with a chronic illness as his daughter, Xanthe, has cystic fibrosis, and Nick was open about the fact that his wife Laura, managed the majority of Xanthe’s care and medical arrangements. Today we’re hearing another perspective.Cheryl Caves is Operations Manager at the European Breeders Fund and has worked in and around the stud and bloodstock industry for 25 years. She comes from a non-racing background in Bristol and had no connection to racing before starting her studies at The National Stud. Cheryl has 2 kids, a husband who was in the military when said children were small and two parents with disabilities: her mother is deaf and her father is blind. As you’ll hear, there have been points in Cheryl’s life when her parents have required her help whilst her partner has been posted abroad and she had 2 very small children. Unsurprisingly, this has required significant organisational skills. No wonder she works in operations. Oh, and she also sits on the Women in Racing committee and is in charge of the Women in Racing Mentoring Programme. If you need something doing - as they say - ask a busy woman. So this episode is about the ‘sandwich generation’. Some of you will recognise the pressures that many people - often women -  face when caring both for children and parents, often with additional medical needs. Enjoy this one.    Useful linksIf you're not familiar, have a look at the Women in Racing Mentoring Programme (the Mum Mentoring Programme is coming soon!)Check out the Racing Home website here (there's LOADS of useful info there)Read the Women in Racing and Oxford Brookes research on working mothers in horseracing hereAnd finally, the Women in Racing website is here too!

Welcome to Part 2 of our conversation with Eleanor Boden, Lucy Gurney, Susannah Gill and Tallulah Wilson!If you haven’t listened to the first part of this conversation and you've got time to do so, maybe go back one episode and do just that, but either way, here’s a little recap on a few things about these 4 women, who’ve all had a big part to play in the work of Women in Racing and Racing Home:  Lucy’s daughter Francesca arrived 6 weeks prematurely and was in neonatal ICU, Eleanor had a planned caesarean then her son Angus spent a few days in NICU too, Tallulah herself developed sepsis post-natally and was re-admitted to hospital, and Susannah had a 48 hour labour followed by a caesarean section, so it’s fair to say that becoming a parent isn’t always a walk in the park…We discussed a lot in this episode, including the subject of changing your job whilst pregnant and why everyone has an opinion on how you should parent, but this part of the conversation started with a chat about maintaining your identity when you become a mother. How do you not become a person that feels like your entire life consists of feeding, changing, bathing, soothing and filling the washing machine?Useful linksIf you're not familiar, have a look at the Women in Racing Mentoring Programme (the Mum Mentoring Programme is coming soon!)Check out the Racing Home website here (there's LOADS of useful info there)Read the Women in Racing and Oxford Brookes research on working mothers in horseracing hereAnd finally, the Women in Racing website is here too!