As several of his students hot-walked horses in a barn at the Kentucky Horse Park near Lexington, Ky., Oct. 16, Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron unveiled the North American Racing Academy (NARA), the first and only national jockey training academy in the United States.

McCarron was accompanied at the press briefing by Kentucky Community and Technical College System president Michael McCall, Horse Park executive director John Nicholson, and the academy’s inaugural field of 11 students.

“Chris and fellow instructor, Dr. Reid McLellan, have set a mission to equip students to be top-quality riders, as well as train them in subjects such as equine health and nutrition, personal finance, track and farm management, and equine industry economics,” said McCall.

“Even students who many never ‘don the silks’ as jockeys will graduate with skills that give them access to all levels of the racing world and a variety of equine-centered industries