Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm - The anglo-swedish duo taking French racing by storm

Article by Katherine Ford 

Training partnerships are now firmly established in racing. Father and son (or daughter), husband and wife, or experienced trainer and long-standing assistant; these entities are now regularly seen in Europe and beyond. The association of George & Zetterholm Racing, one of the newest names in the French jumps trainers’ column, doesn’t fit in any of the usual categories but has already proven its efficiency in less than a year of operation.
Twenty-four-year-old Noel George, who found his way to France during Covid, is a former amateur rider and the son of Gr. 1 winning British trainer Tom George; whereas dynamic Swedish-born Amanda Zetterholm boasts a wealth of experience in a variety of capacities in racing and bloodstock around the world. The pair have no background together, and a chance remark has seen them launch as one of France’s most exciting training operations. 

“We knew each other, but that was all; and it was (fellow Chantilly trainer) Tim Donworth who suggested we set up together,” explains Amanda. “Noel wanted to train in France, but of course it is complicated to set up here, so it was a good opportunity to do it in partnership. I told Noel I’d found this yard I love, so we went to visit it together, and he said he’d love to train here. I bought the yard exactly a year ago, in September 2022”.

Creating a masterpiece

Amanda and Noel each bring their own talents to the partnership, “I’m the Louvre, and he’s Thomas Gainsborough”! Amanda’s marketing background shines through with her metaphor illustrating that she provides the solid base for Noel to fulfil his role as “the artist” with the horses. 

Growing up in Sweden, Amanda Zetterholm enjoyed riding and show jumping but didn’t have any involvement in racing until studies took her to Australia, where she spent time with David Hayes and Matthew Ellerton. “My first job in racing was with agent Damon Gabbedy, who taught me a lot about the breeding side. Then I went to South Africa and spent three years with Mike de Kock, which was a great experience—between Dubai, England and South Africa. He is very avant-garde”.

In 2013, Amanda was recruited by the Aga Khan Studs as commercial executive and has fulfilled a variety of roles for the famous operation. She currently balances the burgeoning training career with work for the Aga Khan Studs but is soon set to devote herself fully to George & Zetterholm Racing. “I’ve spent 10 wonderful years with the Aga Khan Studs, but I will finish at the end of the year; I can’t do both. They’re very proud of what I’ve achieved”.

Add to these achievements a successful amateur riding career on the flat, a stint as Goffs French representative and an instrumental part in the setting up of the stable of former partner David Cottin, with whom she has two young sons, Winston and Clovis, plus success in buying young jumping stock to sell on, which has set her up financially to be able to buy the Chantilly yard; it is clear that Amanda is not shy of a challenge or a busy schedule. 

Well-defined roles

“We passed the trainers’ licence together, and the idea was always that Noel wanted to do his training regime. He’s on the track every morning with the horses. I’m out here maybe three times a week currently, but that will change once I finish with the Aga Khan Studs. We both discuss and do the entries. We’re on the same wavelength, and I would say I am a very easy partner. I have a lot of experience, and I don’t feel I have anything to prove.

“In France, there is so much paperwork. I deal with the business side, the staff and the logistics; and I do the communication with the owners, which I love. I don’t feel the stress that Noel feels with the owners as he is the one who has directly prepared the horse, so I can be more relaxed. I am there to reassure them and make sure that they have a good day out. We are very complementary. Noel is a very confident person. You need to be confident to be a good trainer because the horses feel the confidence, and the owners too. He passes that confidence on to everyone”.

Living the dream in France

Noel George displays a confidence which belies his years, and in France he has found an opportunity to fulfil a dream that he had not imagined possible. “Since I left school, I aimed to train flat horses because I didn’t see economically and business-wise how it could work training jumpers in the UK”. After a year with Graham Motion in the USA and summer holidays with Sir Mark Prescott and Joseph O’Brien, Noel George has learnt from some of the best on the flat. 

The French connection came about by coincidence, although there is family history across in Chantilly as father Tom George spent time with the pioneering François Doumen in the days of The Fellow, whetting his appetite for cross-Channel raids. “I remember when Dad always used to come over with runners and then Halley won the Gp. 1 Maurice Gillois. I wasn’t there that day but I remember it—Dad built his new kitchen because of it! That stuck in my mind, that the French prize money is amazing… I was meant to be going to Australia as an assistant, but then Covid happened and French racing started before anywhere else; so I moved over to work for Fabrice Chappet”.

Noel didn’t speak French when he arrived but learnt quickly—thanks to language apps, Chappet’s former assistant, and now young trainer Xavier Blanchet, as well as being motivated to communicate when chasing a few French girls!

During the period with Classic-winning Chappet, Noel oversaw a string of horses running under a provisional licence for his father Tom. “I was giving orders to Dad’s horses on the same gallops, and it was a help that I knew the farrier, the feed suppliers etc”.

Provisional training operations in France are restricted to three months, but the experience served to reiterate the financial sense of racing in France but also the accompanying bureaucracy.

“I eventually passed the trainers exams, which aren’t easy! It’s not just knowing the language, it’s knowing all the anatomy of the horse, in French, the employment laws, how to write a payslip—all the different taxes… For that, having Amanda is a huge asset because I can focus on training the horses and she does all that complicated stuff”.

Noel is also full of praise for his father Tom. “He’s a great source of advice for me; I ring him whenever I have a question. We couldn’t do it without him. He’s put his neck on the chopping block by pushing a lot of the horses over here, and it seems to be paying off”.

Top-class training grounds

Another huge advantage for George & Zetterholm Racing is their stable and accompanying facilities. The yard, on the outskirts of the village of Avilly-St-Léonard, has already sent out three winners of France’s feature Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris as former owner Christophe Aubert was responsible for Line Marine (2003) and Mid Dancer (2011 & 2012). 

This is part of France Galop’s huge Chantilly training domain, but being slightly out on a peaceful limb compared with the more famous locations of Chantilly, Gouvieux, Lamorlaye and Coye-la-Forêt, it has all the benefits of a private establishment. “We can’t praise France Galop enough for all they do for us,” says Amanda. “When the English owners come over, they just can’t believe it, and even Noel’s dad has his own amazing facilities; but he has to run it all himself. This area of Avilly has been almost dormant for several years and so the France Galop teams are very keen to revive it and make improvements”. 

In concrete terms, this means that Noel and Amanda, having the only active stable in the vicinity, have exclusive use of extensive schooling facilities and gallops. “We’ve got cross-country, steeplechase fences and hurdles. They are a little bit smaller than the racecourse ones, but I don’t think you have to jump big in the mornings. It’s better if they’re a bit smaller as they give the horses confidence. We tell the France Galop staff the days when we will be schooling and they make sure everything is prepared”.

Noel adds, “The training centre is incredible, and we are so well looked after by France Galop who really want to help us. They give the horses the best chance possible. We have a 2000m sand gallop through the forest, which we use daily; then there’s a big 2000m sand circle which isn’t watered but in the winter it’s very good for the youngsters—it’s like a racecourse! We have to go to Chantilly to use the grass, but I think it does the horses good to go on the lorry”.

Schooling is an integral part of training jumpers in France; and Noel admits, “I’ve watched videos of how Macaire and Nicolle do all the French schooling and we’ve mixed it with the English way; and it seems to be working”.

The French policy of regular schooling has been adopted, and here again, the French system offers benefits. “The likes of James Reveley, Felix de Giles, Nicolas Gauffenic, and Kevin Nabet will be in nearly every Wednesday. It’s not like in England where the jockeys might be riding up north or down south and are less available for schooling. The horses, especially the older ones over from England, love it. It gives them a change, especially with the different steeplechase obstacles like the bullfinch the bank, the white wall… And as we don’t have the hills they have in England, it is good for fitness”.

“The horses jump more in races here. In a two-mile hurdle in England, they jump eight small hurdles; whereas round Auteuil over two miles, they jump 12 mini-English fences. If you lose two lengths at a hurdle here, it makes such a big difference as the next hurdle comes much quicker than in England. Jumping is very important”.

Making financial sense

Jumping is important, but prize money is even moreso; and in less than a year of operation, the stable has already earnt plenty. “We’ve had 100 runners for 800,000€ in prize money, so that’s 8000€ per runner which is a great statistic. French racing is very lucrative,” says Amanda, while Noel emphasises the point further: “The very fact that a horse can be in training and not cost money is a huge benefit. The number of horses that pay for their training fees in England is very few; whereas if your horse isn’t paying your training fees here, you probably need to think about moving it on. It’s an incredible way to be and a massive advert for French racing. It just takes the pressure off everything”.

Capacity is maybe the only source of pressure currently for George & Zetterholm Racing. The yard has 25 boxes and 14 turn-out paddocks, with a further 15 boxes rented nearby and a barn with 16 more stables under construction at the yard. “We are limited in space, and we want to focus on quality rather than quantity,” says Amanda; although Noel’s ambitions have no limits. 

“The dream eventually would be to compete with the top trainers in the championship, but we want to race on both sides of the channel. I’m English. I’ve grown up in England, and we’ve got English owners; so our dream is to win big races in England too. I can’t see why we can’t do that training here. We have amazing grass gallops; we can do racecourse gallops at tracks like Compiègne, so we can get them as ready as anyone in England. Cheltenham is quicker to access for us on the lorry than it is for Gordon Elliot and Willie Mullins; and Kempton is closer to us than Pau”!

Again, the support from Tom George will be key, as horses will spend a few days at his Down Farm in Slad near Cheltenham to acclimatise and school over British obstacles. 

“I can understand why Britain is not a priority for many French trainers, as there is so much money to be won here; but we have owners that are buying horses to win on big days and they want to win at the big meetings. When we do get on the boat, hopefully we will bring a few winners back for France, with English owners and English and Swedish trainers”! 

Warsaw finally hosts EMHF assembly and stewards' conference

Article by Paull Khan

It’s just possible that the main benefit of the EMHF to its racing administrator members is the social dividend. Many of us have been involved for a dozen years or more, and the bonds that have developed within our network allow easy and unhesitating communication whenever some international issue or other should crop up in our racing lives. This column’s regular reader will know that the EMHF seeks to enrich our members’ education by moving our biannual meetings around the region and combining them with attending the races in the host country. In this issue, following a successful gathering in Poland, we try to convey a little of the flavour of an EMHF General Assembly reunion.

Back in 2019, when we gathered in Oslo and memorably celebrated Norway’s exuberant May 17th National Day celebrations, it was announced that, the following year, we would reconvene in Warsaw. That was not to happen, due to COVID, and the next two years were Zoom affairs. When the pandemic’s grasp began to ease, the Polish plan was back on the table— only for the conflict in neighbouring Ukraine to put an end to those hopes. Ireland manfully stepped in to host us at The Curragh in 2022; and so, when our party—of 48, from 19 countries—finally descended on the Polish capital on the middle weekend of May, there was a palpable feeling of relief.

By common consent, it was worth the wait.

Following the pattern introduced in Ireland, the event was split across two days. The first afternoon was devoted to all the things that one associates with a General Assembly: financial, membership and administrative matters, together with updates, from each member country present, on the state of racing in their respective nations, as well as from various relevant committees and sister organisations. The hosts also gave a colourful account of the rollercoaster that is the history of racing in their homeland.

We were pleased to welcome, once again, representatives of the European Federation of Thoroughbred Breeders’ Associations (EFTBA) and the European and African Stud Book Committee (EASBC). Because the EMHF has long taken the view that we in the equine sector should avoid operating in isolation, and instead benefit from cross-fertilisation of knowledge and ideas, these organisations, together with the European Trotting Union (UET) and European Equestrian Federation (EEF), are standing invitees to our General Assemblies.

After an excellent dinner that evening at the elegant Rozana restaurant in the Konstancin area of the city, our second morning was wider in its scope, and the floor was given to a number of experts who presented on a range of matters of current interest or concern. 

Police involvement in French racing

Those who followed the high-profile rape allegations against Pierre Charles Boudot or the arrests of the Rossi trainer brothers might have been struck and intrigued by the closeness of the involvement of the French police. Henri Pouret, EMHF executive council member for France, explained how there is a branch of the national French police force—the Service Centrale Courses et Jeux—dedicated to racing and gaming matters. No licenced or registered participant in French racing—be they owner, trainer, jockey or breeder—is allowed to participate unless their registration is authorised by the ‘racing police’. Then, once registered, if such an individual becomes subject to judicial proceedings, the racing police may require France Galop, or its trotting equivalent, Le Trot, to withdraw or suspend their licence. This is not just a theoretical power—on no fewer than 25 occasions did they do just this in the course of last year.

It is only for the past three years that doping a racehorse has been a criminal act in France. It seems likely that the racing police will play an ever more central part in the regulation of French racing.

FEGENTRI and the International Pony Racing Championship

With EMHF’s formation last year of the European Pony Racing Association (EPRA) and the launch in 2023 of FEGENTRI’s Junior Championship, never has there been a more opportune time to explore and develop the relationship between the amateur and professional communities in European racing. It was therefore a pleasure to receive FEGENTRI’s secretary-general, Charlotte Rinckenbach, to explain the work and relevance of her organisation.

FEGENTRI, the international federation of gentlemen and lady riders, has a history that stretches back to 1955. It is therefore longer established, not only longer  than the EMHF, but also longer than both the IFHA and the Asian Racing Federation. It organises amateur races around the world, across four main championships, and prides itself on providing a distinct and effective route by which to involve people in our sport from diverse walks of life.

FEGENTRI Junior is the first international pony racing championship of its kind. It has started in a modest way, with four countries each fielding two young riders, aged between 14 and 16 years. (The competition, which has the full support of the EPRA, is open to those of 12 years and over; but no-one younger than 14 was chosen this year). Their level of experience varies greatly—some have only ridden in a dozen races; others have 150 rides and over 50 winners under their belts. These eight trail-blazing youngsters have the wonderful opportunity of riding competitively in Florence, Bro Park, Chantilly, Livorno and Kincsem Park. And who’s to say that, from amongst them, we will not see a champion of the future?

Gene doping and its implications for EMHF members

‘Gene doping is not a rumour anymore’, was the stark opening warning from Dr Kanichi Kusano of the Japan Racing Association, one of the world’s experts in this sphere. He explained that the abuse of genetic therapies is a major threat to racing’s integrity. In the worst-case scenario, the heritable genome of a thoroughbred would be changed through genetic modification at the breeding stage—of the eggs, sperm or embryo. The good news is that, in this race, the ‘good guys’ are up with the pace, and already there are out of competition (OOC) tests for gene doping that are being deployed. 

Smaller countries, without extensive resources to direct towards research or detection, were advised to prepare by ensuring their rules adequately outlawed the practice and to publicise and start a programme of deterrent sample collection, followed by OOC testing as soon as the leading racing nations offer a suitable commercial service.

The World Pool

Tallulah Wilson, UK Tote Group’s head of international racing, spoke of the burgeoning impact of the World Pool and how EMHF countries could get involved through the World Tote Association (WoTA). World Pool, the Hong Kong-based system for commingling bets placed on key international races, is only four years old; but it has already demonstrated that races selected for inclusion enjoy a startling increase in pool betting turnover. 

Higher liquidity attracts the high-rollers and creates a virtuous circle from which the participating racecourses benefit, potentially boosting prize money. However, legislative restrictions in Hong Kong mean that the races included do not number in the thousands, or even hundreds. Just 25 race days, predominantly in Britain and Ireland, will form the 2023 roster. While this number is growing, the prospects of most EMHF member countries having a race included in the near term are only distant (although fresh ground has been broken this year through the inclusion—as a single race from a different country within a World Pool Day—of the German Derby).

However, Wilson’s message was that ‘everyone is welcome’ within WoTA. Member countries’ Tote operators were encouraged to apply to join, opening up the possibility of their punters being able to bet into the commingled World Pools and earning that pool operator and its racing industry a slice of the take-out.

Racing to school and National Racehorse Week

For over 20 years, a British programme has been introducing racing to schoolchildren, presenting aspects of their school curriculum through the lens of a visit to a racecourse, training yard or stud. John Blake, CEO of Racing to School, spoke of 16,000 children who attended such a course last year, instilling in many of them a positive sentiment towards the sport, which may hopefully translate in time into ownership or professional involvement. 

The third National Racehorse Week in Britain will take place in September, when racing yards and stud farms will open their doors to welcome members of the public. Over 10,000 took up the offer last year, of whom one-fifth were new to racing. 

At a time when our sport’s public image is under increasing pressure, these positive interactions with the public are initiatives which many member countries could look to replicate.

Racing at Sluzewiec 

With the business affairs completed, it was off to the races. The approach to Sluzewiec Racecourse is through a proud avenue of mature trees, and the whole expansive site was lush and green. The stands were indeed grand, completed, with unfortunate timing, in 1939—just before the onset of war. An attractive feature of the main grandstand is a sloping, stepless zigzag by which one ascends and descends from floor to floor. It makes for a photogenic feature—ideal for the fashion catwalks that are sometimes staged there.

The EMHF Cup was run over a mile for unraced three-year-olds worth €3,200. It attracted a field of eight runners. The winner, Sopot was one of only two Polish-breds, taking on horses foaled in Great Britain, France, Czech Republic and Ukraine.

The nine-race card was worth a total of €24,000. A mixed programme comprised thoroughbred, trotting and Arab races, from 1300m (6 1/2f) up to 2400m (1 1/2m). No race attracted fewer than seven runners and the largest field was 11. Interestingly, in an apprentice race, for riders who had ridden fewer than 25 winners, the whip was not allowed to be carried, let alone used.

Horserace betting is not ingrained in Polish society, and there was little evidence of avid form study, or raucous cheering. However, the crowd’s demographic was a revelation: it was hard to spot a grey hair, with patrons almost exclusively families or young adults. It made for a beguilingly relaxed atmosphere.

Our horizons have been broadened by the experience of witnessing racing in such diverse settings across the EuroMed region as Waregem, (Belgium), La Zarzuela (Madrid, Spain), Kincsem Park (Budapest, Hungary), Casablanca (Morocco), Leopardstown and The Curragh (Ireland),  St. Moritz (Switzerland), Bro Park (Sweden),  Hamburg (Germany), Marcopoulo (Athens, Greece),  Bratislava (Slovakia), Les Landes (Jersey, Channel Islands), Pardubice (Czech Republic), Ovrevoll (Oslo, Norway), Veliefendi, Istanbul and Izmir (Turkey), Cheltenham (Great Britain) and now Warsaw. 

Seeing the sport flourish in such varied surroundings brings home the need to do all we can to preserve racing in every country in which it currently takes place. Singapore’s decision to draw the curtain down on horseracing was such dispiriting news.  A broad and thriving base to our pyramid enriches us all.

First  EuroMed Stewards’ Conference

Few things in international racing excite as much comment and criticism as comparing decisions taken by stewards around the world. There is a constant cry for consistency in the rules that apply to the running of a race, in the way stewards interpret both the races and the rules, and in the levels of penalty handed down. Harmonisation of such matters is a real challenge, not least because there is nobody in horse racing that sets world rules; each national racing authority sets its own. But that is not to say that substantial efforts are not made constantly to improve things in this area. It is the very raison d’etre of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities’ (IFHA’s), International Harmonisation of Racing Rules Committee (IHRRC), and is also the subject of much of the discussion at the International Stewards’ Conferences (ISC) that the IFHA has staged, roughly every two years, around the world. 

But these meetings must limit the numbers of delegates in attendance, and it is in practice that only the major racing nations benefit from being party to the discussions. For this reason, it was decided to stage a Stewards’ Conference for the EuroMed region and to welcome all EMHF member countries—large and small. This suggestion, proposed by Germany, was picked up with enthusiasm by Britain. Thus, it came to be that the day after the General Assembly, the BHA’s Brant Dunshea chaired the inaugural EuroMed Stewards’ Conference, which attracted a pleasing turnout of 30 delegates from 12 countries.

Joining from Australia via Zoom was Kim Kelly, who has for many years chaired both the IHRRC and ISC; he set the scene and placed this gathering into its global context. There followed a range of presentations, including the following.

Competency-based training programme

The job of the steward is high-profile, highly-charged and perpetually subject to criticism from both the media and the public. The BHA’s Cathy O’Meara described how Britain has recently introduced a competency-based training programme to ensure that its stewarding workforce, along with all raceday teams, is (and remains) up to the job. Through a combination of interactive on-line learning, shadowing, mentoring and more, stewards learn, and are then assessed on, race reading, the rules, enquiry training and report writing. And, once initial competencies are met, the learning journey is not over. All stewards will be required to complete continued professional development, where half of the content relates directly to their roles and half to general industry-related issues such as equine and human welfare. A next step will be to develop a module for the use of those in the industry, such as trainers and the general public. The BHA also has plans to offer to receive stewards from smaller racing nations to assist in their development.

Illegal betting

The EMHF’s equivalent in the Asian and Oceanian region, the Asian Racing Federation (ARF) and, in particular, Hong Kong, is on the front line in a battle against illegal betting. The ARF has established a Council on Anti-Illegal Betting and Related Financial Crime; and its chair, Martin Purbrick, joined us by video conference.

The stark facts are that illegal betting is growing much more quickly than legal betting and already represents the majority of online betting. Aside from the fact that illegal betting makes no contribution to racing, nor to society at large, through taxation, it is also intrinsically linked to race-fixing and organised crime. While Asia may be the historic hotbed of this activity, Purbrick cautioned that Asian illegal betting has already expanded into Europe.

Online betting is no respecter of national boundaries, and if we are to be successful in this war, it will require a joined-up, cross-border and multi-agency approach, involving governments, racing authorities, gambling authorities and the police. But we cannot leave it to these organisations alone—it is incumbent upon all of us to be aware of the risks of race manipulation and to whistle-blow if ever we encounter it.

Virtual stewards’ room

This column (April 2020) described a novel system of remote stewarding, witnessed by the author in Johannesburg. It looked forward to a day when Stewards are situated at a central location, away from the track, from which they communicate with the principals on-track and view video footage. This might be widely adopted, promising more consistent application of the rules and the opportunity for smaller countries to outsource their stewarding function to larger countries.

The Conference heard how this brave new world might just have moved a step closer. The BHA reported on a system first trialled in 2020 and prompted by the COVID outbreak. The pandemic created a situation in which there was a real risk of stewards being unavailable due to a requirement to isolate. In response, assistant stewards began working remotely, through video conferencing from their homes, but initially without access to the full range of views available to the stewards on-course. The BHA then set about developing a hub, away from the racecourse, which offered the full range of race replays. While it was considered there was still the need to have a senior person on the course, the hub provided resilience against absence, allowed stewards to officiate at afternoon and evening meetings on the same day, etc.

The trial has now been rolled out in Britain, such that all assistant stewards have the option to work from home, improving their work/life balance. Around 25 percent of fixtures are covered by the technology, and it is planned to expand this further in the future.

Anti-doping activities

It has long been appreciated that trainers, when racing in different jurisdictions, should, as far as is practicable, be assured of facing similar treatment regarding medication control. To that end, the European Horseracing Scientific Liaison Committee (EHSLC) was set up over 30 years ago and continues to lead on this area of racing administration in our region. The Conference heard how the EHSLC (which is comprised of the chief veterinary officer/anti-doping manager from the member countries, representatives of the national laboratories, which carry out regulatory work for those countries, specialist pharmacologists and senior administrators from the racing authorities)  has generated a significant amount of data relating to common use medications and has published detection times for many substances. The science underlying these data is rigorous and the subject of considerable review and has often been accepted by the wider global racing community, forming the basis of international screening limits.

Feedback on the inaugural EuroMed Stewards’ Conference has been universally positive, and there is much enthusiasm to make this a regular event, perhaps again being staged alongside our General Assemblies.