From finances to food and number crunching to cooking, 28 professional jockeys attended training courses at RACE on Tuesday.  The courses form part of the Jockey Continuous Professional Development (JCPD) cycle implemented by the Turf Club that aims to provide some career specific training to all professional jockeys in three year cycles.  This year’s options of Advanced Nutrition, Finance, Personal Fitness and Mental Focus were developed in response to feedback from all jockeys who attended the first round of JCPD over the last three years. 

The Advanced Nutrition was a great success with jockeys receiving information on a wide range of areas including what to eat when injured, bone health and general healthy eating information.  Some jockeys even donned a chefs apron and tried their hand at some easy to cook healthy meal options including a chicken curry, teriyaki salmon noodles and penne pasta with a fresh vegetable and tomato sauce.  Those not cooking provided encouragement and tasted the food when it was completed, saying that they liked the taste of all three and were surprised how easy they were to cook. 

Although no dinners were produced by those attending the Finance course, they went away armed with information on personal finances, tax issues and pensions, with one jockey stating that ‘the course was helpful in giving a better understanding about finances’.   The Fitness and Mental Focus courses will take place later in the year and all four courses will be rolled out over three years to all professional jockeys.   

Johnny Murtagh with Dietician Gillian O Loughlin with the finished meal

Robbie Dunne with Dietician Gillian O Loughlin with Teriyaki Salmon Noodles cooked by Robbie