Top stable prizes for head girl in industry awards
THE HEAD Girl at a Yorkshire based racing yard took home two titles at the prestigious Godolphin Stud and Stable Staff Awards.
Rebecca ‘Beck’ Edmunds, who works for Bryan Smart Racing was named the 2021 Employee of the Year at the virtual awards, having also taken the Leadership Award earlier in the evening.
The awards recognise the sport’s ‘everyday heroes’ and Ms Edmunds, who has worked on Mr Smart’s Thirsk yard for 17 years was nominated by her boss for what he described as her “exceptional knowledge, unwavering dedication and loyalty”.
Mr Smart also highlighted his Head Girl’s “attention to detail” when working with horses or humans.
Ms Edmunds, who is married to Mr Smart’s Assistant Trainer Kevin, won £10,000 for herself after being named Employee of the Year and a further £10,000 to be shared among her colleagues at the Yard as well as the perpetual Godolphin Trophy.
She also took home prize money of £5,000 for the Leadership Award with the same amount to be shared among her colleagues.
Nick Luck, Chair of the Judging Panel, said: “There surely cannot be many prizes as difficult to judge as the Godolphin Stud and Stable Staff Awards. Everybody nominated is so deserving of the recognition winning brings and it was a pleasure to get to know the individuals put forward by their colleagues for consideration this year.
“Beck is a most deserving winner of the Employee of the Year Award and all of her colleagues at Bryan Smart Racing should rightly feel very proud this evening.
“We know that the continuation of racing over the past few months has had a positive impact on the mental health of the sport’s fans during a most difficult year, so it is right that we acknowledge the sacrifices made by racing staff to make this possible.”