THE DUCHESS OF CORNWALL WILL MEET EBONY HORSE CLUB STUDENTS AT ASCOT’S NOVEMBER RACING WEEKEND
Saturday 20th November 2021
The Duchess of Cornwall, President of Ebony Horse Club, will meet Ebony Horse Club Students at Ascot’s November Racing Weekend.
The Duchess of Cornwall will be greeted at Sovereign’s Gate by Her Majesty’s Representative at Ascot, Sir Francis Brooke.
Her Royal Highness will proceed to the Royal Box where she will meet Chairman of Ebony Horse Club, Mrs Sue Collins and watch the first race, The Molton Brown Novices’ Hurdle Race accompanied by Ebony syndicate members.
Her Royal Highness will then meet with Ebony students and view the horses who will be taking part in the Ebony Horse Club Steeple Chase.
After watching the second race of the day, The Ebony Horse Club Steeple Chase, The Duchess will present the winners in the Parade Ring, with the help of Ebony students and pioneering jockey and former Ebony Student, Khadijah Mellah.
Current students of the club, Amel, Jesse, Theo and O’Shane will be on the judging panel of ‘Best Turned Out’ of the race. These students recently spent a week at The British Racing School as part of the Riding a Dream Academy, set up in the wake of Khadijah’s Magnolia Cup win by Oli Bell, ITV’s Racing Correspondent and Great British Racing.
Following the race, Her Royal Highness will discuss with Oli Bell, how supporters in the racing industry have come together to create a racing syndicate which supports Ebony Horse Club – the Friend of Ebony syndicate.
The Duchess and Ebony Horse Club
The Duchess has been President of Ebony Horse Club since April 2009.
Her Royal Highness opened their current Brixton Centre, in Wyck Gardens in 2011, (2021 marks the Club’s 10th year ) and last visited the site in October 2020.
In 2019, The Duchess attended Khadijah Mellah’s ‘Riding a Dream’ documentary première at Ritzy Cinema. Khadijah was the first British Muslim woman to win a horse race in the UK.
Ebony Horse Club (EHC)
Ebony Horse Club is a charity and community riding centre in Brixton. The charity was founded in 1996 and the centre in Wyck Gardens opened in 2011.
Ebony Horse Club currently have 8 Horses, 140 riders per week, and have provided 1700 rides this year.
The Club’s mission is to use horses to raise the education, life skills, wellbeing and aspirations of young people from disadvantaged communities within Lambeth.
Ebony Horse Club provides riding lessons and youth work support to young people from the age of 8 to 18. The Club believes that opportunities shouldn’t be limited by a postcode and their priority is to work with and mentor those young people who are most in need of their work.
As well as riding and horsemanship, members are able to further develop key life skills such as communication, empathy and responsibility in a safe and enjoyable environment.
The experiences young people have at EHC equip them for a wide variety of careers. This years’ alumni have gone on to achieve first class honours degrees in Drama, apprenticeships at Accountancy Firms and Employment in the Mayor’s office at City Hall.
