{"id":21528,"date":"2026-03-27T04:16:42","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T07:16:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/?p=21528"},"modified":"2026-04-19T07:15:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T10:15:11","slug":"mauritius-gambling-regulatory-authority-appoints-riding-masters-to-strengthen-horse-racing-integrity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/mauritius-gambling-regulatory-authority-appoints-riding-masters-to-strengthen-horse-racing-integrity","title":{"rendered":"Mauritius Gambling Regulatory Authority appoints riding masters to strengthen horse racing integrity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The regulator overseeing gambling and betting activities moves to establish a structured apprentice jockey development pathway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Mauritius.- The Mauritius Gambling Regulatory Authority <\/strong>(GRA) has appointed two Riding Masters within its Horse Racing Integrity Division <\/strong>(HRID) to strengthen training standards and integrity in the country\u2019s horse racing sector, a key part of the regulated betting market<\/strong>. The move comes ahead of the 2026 racing season, scheduled to begin on 25 April at the Champ de Mars racecourse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former jockeys<\/strong> Vijayanand Bundhoo and Belall Wachill have taken up the roles, where they will mentor apprentice riders and support the development of a structured training pathway for future jockeys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move forms part of broader efforts to establish a national jockey academy and apprentice development programme, aimed at improving the pipeline of locally trained riders and raising professional standards<\/strong> within Mauritian racing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The GRA said: \u201cTheir primary objective will be to set up a Jockey Academy for local talents <\/strong>and an apprentice programme for different categories of local apprentices.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Riding Masters will mentor apprentice riders and assess when trainees are ready to compete in official races. \u201cThey will also conduct theoretical and practical courses<\/strong> to familiarise apprentice jockeys with all aspects of horse racing,\u201d added the GRA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bundhoo is widely recognised within Mauritian racing circles, having enjoyed a successful career at the Champ de Mars racecourse, where he previously earned champion jockey honours. Wachill brings international experience <\/strong>to the role, having spent part of his career in Australia, where he worked as a senior track rider for the Godolphin Australia stable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By strengthening oversight and professional training within the sport, the authority aims to ensure riders meet appropriate technical and disciplinary <\/strong>standards before competing.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> Mauritius raises horse-racing prizes by 30%, boosting betting markets<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The regulator overseeing gambling and betting activities moves to establish a structured apprentice jockey development pathway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2809,"featured_media":21535,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The Mauritius Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) has appointed two Riding Masters to its Horse Racing Integrity Division, aiming to establish a structured apprentice jockey development pathway. This initiative seeks to enhance training standards, integrity, and the pipeline of local talent within the country's regulated horse racing sector. The move is part of broader efforts to create a national jockey academy, improving professional standards and ensuring riders meet technical and disciplinary requirements for competition.","focusai_entities":"Mauritius Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA), Vijayanand Bundhoo, Belall Wachill, Godolphin Australia","focusai_location":"Mauritius, Champ de Mars, Australia","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.75), regulator (0.95), compliance_legal (0.7), operator_casino (0.7), investor_analyst (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"GRA Funding Model","query":"What is the projected funding model for the national jockey academy and apprentice programme, and how will it impact the GRA's operational budget or industry levies?"},{"label":"Regulatory Impact","query":"How will the enhanced jockey training and integrity standards influence the GRA's B2B\/B2C licensing requirements or ongoing regulatory compliance audits for horse racing operators?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60013,60017],"tags":[935],"class_list":["post-21528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-east-africa","category-sportsbetting-news","tag-horse-racing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2809"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21528"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21528\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21571,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21528\/revisions\/21571"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}