High award for yard supervisor Sarah Visitor who stepped in when boss fell sick

A yard supervisor whose love of horses sparked her profession was honoured with a prestigious award in recognition of serving to others fulfil their potential.

Sarah Visitor received the management award and was named worker of the 12 months on the Thoroughbred Business Worker Awards, sponsored by Godolphin, at York racecourse on Monday (20 February). Her wins meant she took house £15,000, with the identical once more to be shared amongst her colleagues at coach John O’Shea’s yard.

In 2022, John fell sick and was out of motion for greater than three months. Sarah’s “initiative, management and dedication” was credited for holding the yard working and he or she was described as “the very definition of a pacesetter”.

“It’s very a lot a household. All of us work collectively and all of us assist one another,” stated Sarah, on accumulating her management award from ITV Racing’s Francesca Cumani and former champion jockey Richard Johnson.

“Everybody leans on me and I lean on them, as a result of we’re a small yard and we simply maintain the whole lot rolling.”

She credited John’s assist for the place she is immediately, and defined extra about how she helps folks observe their racing profession desires.

“We discover them the best paths in racing that fits them,” she stated. “It’s not all the time going to be the jockey route, it could possibly be extra of a form of administration route, we discover what’s proper for them and we push them down the best path.”

On receiving her general accolade, a “speechless” Sarah spoke about how studying by no means stops with regards to horses.

“I do know I’m not good and day by day is a faculty day,” she stated, including that the award is “huge” for the “little yard in the course of nowhere”.

“I study on programs, and immediately to talk to the newcomers, to the opposite employees right here and to the stud employees… that’s an inspiration. I’ve liked it and I’ve taken one thing from it. And I can’’ wait to return and inform everybody all about it,” she stated.

Broadcaster Nick Luck, chair of the judging panel, stated Sarah is a “richly deserving winner”.

“There may be no doubting the significance of Sarah to the John O’Shea operation, which was demonstrated to best impact throughout 2022 when he was unwell,” added Nick.

“Sarah is a shining instance of the form of laborious work and dedication that retains yards up and down the nation working, and we as an trade may be rightly happy with her dedication to making sure the wellbeing of her colleagues and the horses in her care.

“It’s significantly pleasing to call an worker of the 12 months from outdoors the nation’s strongest yards.”

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