He was born with no left hand, but don’t think for a second that that’s getting in the way as young Harry Enright sets out on the road to becoming a jockey.
Thanks to a prosthetic arm with a specially designed electromagnetic device that enables him to control the reins, the 17-year-old Londoner has completed two courses at the British Racing School (BRS) in Newmarket and now rides work for trainer Lawney Hill in Oxfordshire. Kate Johnson asked him about overcoming his disability and his hopes for the future. She also spoke to BRS finance director Andrew Braithwaite, who was instrumental in designing the device.
Kate Johnson: How did you find the British Racing School?
Harry Enright (right): I did the 9-week and 18-week courses, and there were some tough times. I felt like I was okay on the ground work. I wanted to work on my riding. Horseracing isn’t an easy sport, it’s all hard work and dedication. You’ve got to have the bottle, as anyone in racing would say: No bottle, no point.
How did this electromagnetic device come about?
I started with a normal pair of reins with a loop that was made for me, and I rode with those before I even started the course. I started riding in the indoor school. It’s hard, it’s such a tight space with so many other horses. If one of them kicked a wall, we’re all going. My balance wasn’t quite right, my shoulders were never in length, and I didn’t have the right equipment to hold them if I was to go galloping.
I worked with Andrew Braithwaite, who works in finance at the BRS, and he came up with ideas of what might work. The magnet made a massive change to my balance, my shoulders are in length and I use my left as much as my right arm.
Have you tried the release mechanism?
I’ve tested that plenty of times - not on my command. It’s not a good trip down to the floor when you’re up there, but it works.
Can you forget about the device?
I’m still aware of it. I have to be. This is only the prototype. We’re a million miles away from the end product.
What has surprised you?
Achieving one of my biggest goals - from racing school to workplace. The yard has always supported me. I can’t thank them enough for all they’ve done. Without the team, now and at the racing school, I don’t think I’d be here.
Were you told ‘no’ a lot when you were younger?
The odd friend - or I’d say, enemy - at school would put me down about what I can achieve, but it didn’t bother me. I always brushed it off and got back on and kicked on.
My teachers all said, go for it, run at it, what you’re trying to do sounds crazy, go and do it anyway.
Racing is dangerous, but have you found the horses empathic and attuned to your needs and nerves?
Yes, definitely. They adjust to it. They know if I’m in the box, they smell my arm, and I show them before I put it on and they always seem to be cool with it. Some pull, but they’re not trying to pull my arms out to the point where I have no control. They know their job.
When will we see you on a racecourse?
I’d like to be on a racecourse in a set of silks right now, but I haven’t got the right equipment. I’ve spoken to Guy Disney [the first amputee to ride a winner at a British racecourse] once on the phone - he’s a cracking man - and the main thing he said was that you’ve just got to be patient.
What’s the race you dream of winning?
The Melbourne Cup’s not half bad to win, but I’m not thinking about that. The race I’ve got at the minute is big enough. Hopefully the day my arm truly works is the day I can sit in the winner’s circle and happily wave my arm around.
Who are your role models?
I look up to Frankie Dettori, Oisin Murphy, and probably my father. He’s a silly goon and quite a character. So I’ve got work and family [role models]. That suits me.
What would you like your message to be?
My main message for other people is to never say you can’t. There is no such thing as impossible.
Andrew Braithwaite
Kate Johnson: Congratulations on finding such a creative solution. How did it come about?
Andrew Braithwaite (right): I don’t know what triggered it, but I felt there was a better way of doing it. Vanessa Cashmore, who works in racing and is big into climbing, put me onto a piece of kit, which holds the reins and then we figured out how to make it safe when Harry fell off. There were various experiments and iterations, and eventually we had the idea of using an electromagnet.
It sounds quite far removed from your normal daily duties
Yes, although it wouldn’t really have been anyone’s job at the racing school. I’ve worked in racing yards and ridden as an amateur, and I was just interested. Harry’s a great young man, very likeable and keen, and he rides really well, so it was a good project to work on.
How does it work?
Both the reins go through a shunt, which is a piece of climbing equipment, and, where the reins are usually rubbered, there’s a rope that holds the rein which can slide up and down, as you would with your hands.
His arm has a cup on the end, with an electromagnet in it. When it’s charged, it holds securely, and a wire runs from that device, attached to Harry’s leg below the knee, and is plugged into a weight cloth that has a battery in it. When Harry falls off, the plug’s pulled out of the battery, the electromagnet is not charged, and it releases instantaneously.
How did you feel seeing Harry on the gallops using it for the first time?
It was a slow process. There wasn’t a ‘wow’ moment. It’s been very rewarding for everyone to see how well he’s got on with it. The most wow moment was more relief when he fell off for the first time unexpectedly and it all released.
It’s great to see how much it’s meant to him to be able to do it.