2026 Les Young Scholarship

Submissions are now being accepted. Submissions close at 5:00PM 1 May 2026 (AEST).

IMPORTANT: Please read information below to assist you in completing your application online.

The Les Young Scholarship provides young people within the thoroughbred breeding industry the opportunity to further develop their skills and knowledge via an international course at The National Stud, United Kingdom. 

About Les Young

In 2019, the thoroughbred and racing industry lost one of their most devoted figures. Les Young was a renowned industry all-rounder – respected bloodstock agent, journalist, long-serving committee member of Thoroughbred Breeders NSW as well as a foundation member and vice president of the NSW Racehorse Owners Association, Les spent a lifetime committed to the thoroughbred.
He was an industry leader on the NSW Breeders’ Association committee, a foundation member and vice president of the NSW Racehorse Owners Association, as well as a past president and life member of the Federation of Bloodstock Agents of Australia. Les was also a passionate and successful owner-breeder, running his own sales company, and was a regular contributor to several industry publications.

In 1995, Les was a foundation member of the Equine Advisory Committee (under the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation) allocating funding for equine research projects. To this day, the AgriFutures Thoroughbred Program [CS3.1]continues to invest in high-impact research and development that improves sustainability, productivity, and competitiveness of the Australian Thoroughbred Industry. The program supports investment in projects across key priority areas including:

  • Thoroughbred horse welfare, workforce safety and environmental sustainability
  • Thoroughbred breeding
  • Workforce, industry and community engagement
  • Thoroughbred diseases and parasites

Les was renowned and generous with his time mentoring young people who were keen to work within the thoroughbred breeding and racing industries, and we are proud to establish this scholarship in his honour.

About the scholarship

The scholarship will provide funding and support to the successful applicant via a combination of theory and practical coursework at The National Stud in the United Kingdom where they will develop further understanding around foaling and breeding, bloodstock husbandry and stable and equine management. The programme can be tailored to the recipient’s experience, career goals, and preferred duration. All travel and accommodation will be covered by the scholarship.

Find out more about the UK National Stud courses

How to apply

To be considered for the scholarship, applicants should be aged between 18 and 30 years, have at least two years industry experience in breeding, bloodstock, spelling or racing, as well as an intention to remain part of the industry as their career progresses.

Provide your answers to the following questions:

  1. What is your experience within the thoroughbred industry?
  2. What are your long-term goals, and where do you see yourself in five years?
  3. In your opinion, what are the industry’s top five challenges and/or opportunities?
  4. Are you willing to remain within the thoroughbred industry for a minimum of 12 months once you return? 

Please attach to your application: 

  • Two letters of support, including one from your current employer, and one from another thoroughbred industry member 
  • Your resume 

For more information on the desired skills set for the Les Young Scholarship, please see the scholarship assessment matrix here 

Applications for the 2026 Les Young Scholarship close Friday, 1 May 2026 at 5pm AEST

For more information please contact: 

Caitlin Smith 

Manager, Research – Thoroughbred Horses and Chicken Meat 

caitlin.smith@agrifutures.com.au | 0407 987 738

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

You may begin anywhere in this application form. Please ensure you save as you go.

If you need more help using this form, download the Help Guide for Applicants or check out Applicant Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)

NAVIGATING (MOVING THROUGH) THE APPLICATION FORM

On every screen (page of the form) you will find a Form Navigation contents box, this links directly to every page of the application. Click the link to jump directly to the page you want.

You can also click 'next page' or 'previous page' on the top or bottom of each page to move forward or backward through the application.

SAVING YOUR DRAFT APPLICATION

If you wish to leave a partially completed application, press 'save and close' and log out. When you log back in and click on the 'My Submissions' link at the top of the screen, you will find a list of any applications you have started or submitted. You can reopen your draft application and start where you left off.

You can also download any application, whether draft or completed, as a PDF. Click on the 'Download PDF' button located at the bottom of the last page of the application form.

SUBMITTING YOUR APPLICATION

You will find a Review and Submit button at the bottom of the Navigation Panel. You need to review your application before you can submit it.

Once you have reviewed your application you can submit it by clicking on 'Submit' at the top or bottom of the screen or on the navigation panel. You will not be able to submit your application until all the compulsory questions are completed and there are no validation errors.

Once you have submitted your application, no further editing or uploading of support materials is possible.

When you submit your application, you will receive a confirmation email with a copy of your submitted application attached. This will be sent to the email you used to register.

If you do not receive a confirmation of submission email then you should presume that your submission has NOT been submitted.

Hint: also check the email hasn't landed in your spam or junk email folder.

ATTACHMENTS AND SUPPORT DOCUMENTS

You may need to upload/submit attachments to support your application. This is very simple, but requires you to have the documents saved on your computer, or on a storage device.

You need to allow enough time for each file to upload before trying to attach another file. Files can be up to 25MB each; however, we do recommend trying to keep files to a maximum of 5MB – the larger the file, the longer the upload time.