Lesley White, 53, is Travelling Head Lass at trainer Mick Channon’s yard in West Isley, Berkshire. She is nominated for the Dedication to Racing Award, which is a testament to her career in racing spanning over 29 years.

Kevin Mooney, 60, is Assistant Trainer at Charlie Hills’ yard in Lambourn, Berkshire. He is up for the Leadership Award.

Both are in with a chance of winning £5,000 in prize money for themselves and a further £5,000 for the stables. The winner of these awards will also be put forward for the prestigious Employee of the Year Award. The winner of this award will receive an additional £15,000, with the same amount awarded to their yard.

The Awards recognise the dedication and skill of over 6,500 members of stable staff nationwide who provide first class care and attention for the 14,000 racehorses in training in Britain.

Lesley has been with Mick Channon so long that she was even a babysitter for his children. She was the first person he recruited before he even took out a trainer’s licence in the 1980s.

Since then Lesley has been at Mick’s side during his time as assistant to John Baker and Ken Cunningham Brown before moving to Lambourn, where they worked out of three different yards, before moving to and settling in West Ilsley.

Lesley is dedicated to providing the highest level of care to the horses. She is currently in Dubai performing the role of Assistant Trainer, riding out and overseeing the training of the horses in the trainer’s absence. Throughout the summer she regularly represents the trainer whilst on duty travelling with the runners.

Mick Channon said of Leslie: “Since coming to work for me, Lesley has done everything and has shown total commitment. To say that Lesley White has shown dedication to racing is a massive understatement. I couldn’t imagine working without her.”

Formerly a successful jump jockey, for the last 23 years Kevin Mooney has been an integral part of the training operation of first Barry Hills and now his son Charlie. Kevin has played a vital role in the smooth and successful transition of the yard from father to son.

During Kevin’s time working for Barry and Charlie Hills, the yard has been responsible for 114 Group winners including six Classics. As well as mentoring numerous pupil assistants and apprentice jockeys, his boss Charlie Hills acknowledges Kevin also taught him a huge amount.

Charlie Hills said of Kevin: “Kevin is a horseman through and through – he still rides work to this day and his feedback is invaluable to owners, vets, feed merchants and racing managers who all respect his opinion. He is the linchpin of the yard between myself, the staff and the horses. I would love it if his hard work and dedication, and our appreciation of him, was recognised in this award.”

The final judging takes place on Monday 23rd February, when the finalists are also invited to a special reception in the Houses of Parliament.

The winners of these prestigious awards will be announced at an evening ceremony hosted by presenter Clare Balding at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower hotel in London on Monday 23rd February 2015.

l NICKY Henderson is ready to take on Balder Success again at the Cheltenham Festival following Saturday’s defeat at Ascot.

Lambour trainer Henderson’s Ma Filleule was beaten into seconde place by Alan King’s Balder Success in the Grade 1 Ascot Betfair Chase on Saturday.

But Henderson is not about to throw in the towel.

He said: “She will come on for that and I suppose we better take the winner on again. I suspect the Ryanair is the right race for her. She travels and she jumps and if you went any further you wouldn’t be able to fire her like you can over this trip.”