Racing SA Senior Steward Sean Callanan is about to set off on a trip of a lifetime after a successful application to Racing Australia following a nomination to attend the Japan Association for International Racing and Stud Book (JAIRS) specialised Study Program (Stewards).
He’ll be hosted by the Japanese Racing Association for a four day course designed specifically for Stewards.
“I’m super excited to see how the industry works over there,” said Callanan.
“The Japanese are pretty advanced with their technology so that’s one of the key things I’m looking forward to seeing. The tour of the training centre facilities will be impressive as well to see how they go about things.”
Callanan’s study program begins at the world’s largest horse racing training centre – Miho, which is home to over 2000 racehorses and 100 trainers. He’ll observe morning track work and attend lectures on Stewards activities. There’s also a study tour of the Japanese Racing Association Horseracing School.
“Racing is huge over there so to get a glimpse of what they do and how they do it will be pretty impressive,” said Callanan.
“I’ve been lucky during my time with Racing SA to take part in a number of learning experiences. I visited Hong Kong for 10 days on a similar trip in 2019, and Western Australia for a week in 2017.
“Each time I’ve been somewhere I’ve learnt something new and taken something away and improved my style so hopefully I’ll do the same with this.
“I’m heading over there with an open mind and I think I’ll be blown away with what I see,” he said.
The itinerary concludes with a race meeting at the Tokyo Racecourse which has a 223,000 person capacity, is home to the world’s largest video screen (66m wide) and includes a turf, dirt and jumps course.
At the conclusion of the study program Callanan will take some leave and return via Honk Kong to visit friends and will sit in with the HKJC Stewards Panel during meetings at both Happy Valley and Sha Tin to further his experience.
Callanan returns home on July 4.
