“It took me 17 years and 114 days to become an overnight success.”

Those were the words of the genius that is Lionel Messi shortly after he had announced himself to an unsuspecting footballing world in a Barcelona shirt some 13 years ago now.

They are words that could be attached to many a sportsman or woman’s career of course – albeit the figures and the level of success will be different – and that is certainly the case for many of the jockeys who will be centre stage at the November Meeting at Cheltenham Racecourse.

Much of the work that goes into making a top sportsman or woman goes unseen and that is certainly true in the sport of racing.

These days a good number of the jockeys from these shores – both over the jumps and on the flat – have burst onto the scene after being given a more than helpful leg-up by the Pony Racing Authority which was set up in 2007, three short years after pony racing started in 2004.

If and when leading jockeys such as Sam Twiston-Davies, Sean Bowen, Bryony Frost and Harry Cobden punch the air in delight after crossing the finishing line first in any of the races at Cheltenham on 17th-19th November, then expect to see the powers-that-be at the PRA throwing their hats in the air just as high as if they had cleaned up on a 50-1 shot.

These days the PRA’s chairman is Edward Gillespie, the man who was ‘Mr Cheltenham Racecourse’ for more than 30 years before standing down as chief executive in 2012.

He’s been chairman of the PRA for the best part of five years and was heavily involved in its inception in the mid-noughties.

“The PRA was the result of a wide-ranging review of jumps racing carried out by the British Horseracing Authority in 2003, which I was a part of,” said Gillespie.

“One of the aspects that needed to be addressed was that jumps racing was dependent on people coming over from Ireland to be jockeys in England.

“There was a need to develop more jockeys from England, Scotland and Wales because 12 to 15 years ago the vast proportion of jockeys in this country were Irish.

“And one of the things that made the Irish jockeys so attractive to owners and trainers was that even at the age of 18 they had an enormous back catalogue of race riding experience.

“That was because they’d ridden in hundreds and hundreds of pony races and they were coming over here having won 100 or 200 of them.”

Although this set-up clearly worked for the wannabe Irish jockeys, the BHA nevertheless spotted an opportunity to do something over here because pony racing across the Irish Sea was unregulated.

That’s when the PRA was born and since those early days much has been achieved, as Gillespie explains.

“There are three levels to what the PRA does to develop jockeys,” he said. “Firstly, there are the very local racedays that are organised by the local pony clubs.

“In Gloucestershire they are organised by the Cotswold Pony Club and take place at Cheltenham Racecourse on Good Friday.

“There can be eight to 10 races and anyone from any part of the country can take part.

“We start off with the little ones who may be only nine or 10 years old – their ponies won’t measure more than 128 cm. Then we progress through the day to the 148cm ponies who will be ridden by the 15-year-olds.

“They are so good it’s easy to mistake them for being real jockeys because by now they will have had five years’ experience.”

These sort of occasions don’t just happen in Cheltenham, of course, they are taking place all over the country and Gillespie is keen to stress that anyone – and he means anyone – can join a pony club.

The next level in developing the top jockeys of tomorrow sees the riders compete at point to point meetings.

“There are over 140 races at about 70 point to point meetings and they are organised by the PRA in conjunction with the local point to point organisers and are a slightly higher level of proficiency,” Gillespie explained.

“The final level is the Charles Owen Racecourse Series which consists of a series of races at 30-odd race meetings. These are for quite accomplished riders and a youngster can ride in 15 to 20 of these in a season.”

After that, if the rider is good enough – or lucky enough – a career in racing may beckon.

While developing more homegrown jockeys is a clearly key part of what the PRA is all about, there are other areas that it focuses on as well.

One of those is to broaden the appeal of the sport.

“Our dream is to have kids from diverse cities and from all backgrounds bursting through and becoming champion jockeys of the future,” said Gillespie. “We’re well funded by the BHA and we’ve set up an academy at City Farm in Gloucester. It’s run by Imran Atcha and gives four boys and girls the chance to ride in a pony race.

“There’s a similar academy in Brixton and you don’t need a pony to get involved.”

The last part of that sentence is very important, of course, because for many years racing was considered to be a sport for the elite.

That is a perception that Gillespie and his team are working hard to change

“We’ve got another academy in Liverpool,” he said with some pride. “We’re trying to attract kids from the city heartlands who wouldn’t normally be interested.

“If in 10 to 15 years we are more diverse and truly reflect the British population then we’ll be more attractive to potential funders.

“At the moment the Government does not see us as a diverse sport... it sees us as a niche sport. Fortunately, racing knows it must change and I’m really proud of what the PRA has achieved so far.

“All of top trainer Paul Nicholls’ jockeys have come through the PRA scene headed up by Sam Twiston-Davies.

“Tom Marquand is another local jockey. He’s from Woodmancote and his mum was really keen on horses but Tom showed no interest until he was 12 or 13.

“Within two years of graduating from pony racing he was in Flat racing and he’s now won his first Group 1 race.”

While the likes or Peter Scudamore back in the day and current champion Richard Johnson were born into racing families and were always likely to get involved in the sport, Gillespie insists that anyone can learn to ride.

“You can teach a young person to ride in six weeks given the right attitude and focus,” he said.

“Then it’s a case of practice, practice, practice and coach, coach, coach to get the skills honed down.

“You’ve still got to learn to react to the other horses around you and learn how to fall but the complexities are far easier than in rugby and cricket.

“We say, ‘Give us a child and we’ll do the rest’.”

And the evidence suggests they are as good as their word.

“The PRA is now the envy of the Irish because everything we do is very regulated,” said Gillespie. “That covers jockeys and the ponies. The Irish are still unregulated.”

It certainly looks like racing in this country is on another winner with the PRA!