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New Clerk Of Course At Ayr 12/07/06

AYR Racecourse has a new Clerk of the Course in the shape of 33 year-old Katherine Self, a former General Manager at Yarmouth and point to point trainer.

Norfolk based Katherine will take up her duties full time following the totesport Gold Cup Festival in September but will be in attendance working closely with outgoing Clerk Of The Course Anthea Morsehead who is giving up her duties at Ayr to spend more time with her family and concentrate on her clerking duties at Perth, Musselburgh and Kelso.

Last night Katherine, who has an HND in Equine Business Management from Bishop Burton Agricultural College, Beverley, expressed her delight at landing the prestigious post at Scotland’s premier racetrack.

She said : “I am absolutely delighted at my appointment. With all the development planned at Ayr there couldn’t be a better time to take up this position. Its good to be back with a bang.”

Katherine worked with Clive Storey in his Point to Point yard in the Borders while at College before having a year long stint from 1996-97 with permit holder James Adam in Berwickshire.

She was Marketing Executive at Stratford Racecourse from 1997-2000; Operations Manager at Worcester from 2000-2002 and General Manager at Yarmouth from October 2002 until April 2005. She has officiated as Clerk of the Course at Yarmouth, Uttoxeter, Sedgefield, Worcester, Wolverhampton and Southwell.

Since leaving Yarmouth Katherine has worked as a Facilitator at Bramley Lakes Management Training Centre in Norfolk and also as an engineer with Saracen UK of Suffolk.

A keen and skilled sailor, she recently completed a Transatlantic challenge on a 95ft ketch from Antigua in the Caribean to Palma as a member of crew for a three week crossing.

Katherine has trained Point to Pointers and is a keen follower of both jumps and flat racing.

She added : “Ayr is so important to Scottish racing and a lot of investment is being made over the next few years to develop the course both from a racing and business angle.”

Ayr also announced the appointment of a full time PR yesterday. Iain Ferguson, 51, will be Head of PR at the course. A former Assistant Editor of both the Daily Record and Sunday Mail, Iain has been acting as a PR Consultant at Ayr for three years through his company Ferguson Media.

He will take up his full time duties on July 24 and said last night : “I enjoy my work at Ayr and to be able to do it full time at such an important time in the racecourse’s history is a real challenge and one I’m looking forward to.”