My name is Billy Aprahamian, I am Assistant Trainer to Nicky Henderson at Seven Barrows Racing Stables, and I have been with him for three seasons now. Prior to that I was in the British Army, commissioned into the First Battalion Irish Guards, for whom I served in Kenya, Thailand, Belize, France, and Germany, to name a few.

I have always had a love for equestrianism; I grew up on the hunting field and I think I was on there before I could properly walk! My first passion was polo and as a child all I wanted to do was play it – if I wasn’t on a pony playing it, I was on my bike playing it and imitating some of the best polo players in the world! When I left school at eighteen, I played professionally for three years before I decided that it wasn’t a viable long term career option for me and so I left to go to university.  From there I joined the Army and during that time I found myself back chasing the equine athlete in me, through point-to-point riding. I have always been an avid National Hunt fan and the love really grew once I started race riding.  Even when I joined the Army I said that one day I would train racehorses, and that is the path I am on now.

After five years with the Army I knew I wanted to go into National Hunt racing.  I had ridden for Nicky as a military rider for the Grand Military Gold Cup and we had spoken about my future plans.  I began working for Nicky as his Assistant Trainer and became responsible for some of the top racehorses in England.

I began looking into options for racing qualifications that would set me on the road to gaining my trainer’s licence.  Originally, I thought the only options for this were limited to organisations that involved off-site induction courses and that weren’t all based on a yard.   I spoke with Haddon Training’s Racing Specialist, Sam Davies-Thomas, who explained about their entirely yard-based courses and how this could work for me.

I undertook the senior racing groom qualification with Haddon Training and was supported by Trainer Coach Alex Hubbard, with some additional sessions from Sam.  Alex helped me in every aspect of my course – the initial documentation for the course can be daunting, but she fully supported me to ensure my understanding of it.  She highlighted the modules that I needed to complete and fully explained everything before we began working towards them.  Sam also went out of his way to help me, including additional support with the professional discussions and practical side of things, so for me the Trainer Coach support was second to none.

The qualification was tough at times because of the amount of evidence required to successfully pass; it is a very robust assessment, and I would advise anyone starting it to work closely with their Trainer Coach to gather their evidence in effective ways, such as through a professional discussion.

The best part of the qualification has been the practical side of it, Sam came down to Seven Barrows and we went through all the practical aspects, including the evidence building and requirements.  It was superb, and I could be comfortable in my own working environment which meant I felt at ease demonstrating my knowledge.

Since successfully completing the qualification, my next goal is completing my trainer modules at The British Racing School.  Once those are done, I will then apply for my trainer’s licence and hopefully by the summer I will start putting together the Billy Aprahamian Racing Yard and take a big leap of faith!

Ultimately the senior racing groom qualification with Haddon Training has been an excellent stepping stone to achieving more of my career goals and I couldn’t recommend it more.


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