Staff
We have a dedicated team of staff members who can help you from administration, accounting to syndication. Come and say hello to us at our Corporate Office:
10 Blissington Street
Springvale Vic 3171
Phone: 03 9547 8835
Mobile: 0417 486 501
Email: dilshan@aust-education.com.au
Email: nalaka@aust-education.com.au
Dilshan Fernando, CEO
Dilshan is the CEO of Speed of Light Racing and Australian Education Academy. He is the Recipient of Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal 2006 from the Prime Minister of Australia, Recipient of Multicultural Award for Excellence 2010 from the Premier of Victoria Australia, Recipient of Hume City Council Honours 2010, from the Mayor of Hume Victoria, Australia, Recipient of ‘Deshamanya Archarriya’ (Honarary Doctor) from Sri-Lanka. Dilshan was a former Board of Studies Assessor, Victoria, Australia, Former Science Coordinator, MacKillop College, Werribee. Former Head of Physics, Westbourne Grammar School, Hoppers Crossing, Member of 'Victorian Institute of Teachers' and a Registered Training Organisation Consultant.
"I want all my clients to enjoy their racing with cost effective racing syndicates. My aim is not just to be a low cost syndicator but the most effective racing syndicate promoter in Australia with transparent product disclosure statements. We will take our horses to any destination so the clients can have fun and experience the thrills of racing. All our syndicate horses will have the name 'Light' to symbolise 'Energy'. At Speed of Light Racing we are 'striving to race at the speed of light'."
Ayesha Fernando, Administrator
Ayesha is the Principal Executive Officer at Australian Education Academy and Speed of Light Racing Administrator. "Both myself and husband, Dilshan enjoy some of our weekends at the race tracks with our kids. Racing has given us a break from our busy schedule on weekdays. I believe we have the world’s best racing at our door-steps. For us its a pure passion."
Vivek Bhojak, Project Planning Officer
Vivek is our Project Planning Officer at ‘Speed of Light Racing’. His tasks include; managing our Seymour thoroughbred project, oversee expansion into horse breeding, managing syndications, marketing, stable management, staff and client welfare and liaison with our stakeholders. Vivek is highly qualified in Business, Management, Marketing and Welfare Services.
Jamie Scott, Racehorse Trainer
Jamie is an experienced racehorse trainer with a host of achievements and 35-Years experience within the racing industry. Jamie has plenty of time for his owners and more than happy to show prospective clients around our Seymour Training Complex and greet clients at jump-outs, trials and official races. Jamie brings to the stable an abundance of knowledge from his experience in training racehorses at Flemington, Victoria.. Jamie works closely with Sean with breaking-in, pre-training and training of racehorses.
Sean Cooper, Racehorse Trainer
Born into a family of generations of horsemen, Sean started riding
at the age of 5. His father was a successful race horse trainer and from a young age Sean worked in his father’s stables. Most recently he obtained his trainer license from Racing Victoria Limited.
Sean is a passionate and dedicated Equestrian with over 20 years experience and has been fortunate to study and work with the best names in each equestrian discipline he has pursued; George Morris, Geoff Murphy, Klaus Buenger, Miguel Tavora, Wayne and Vicki Roycroft to name a few.
Experienced in riding, training and coaching in Australia, Europe and Asia, Sean is skilled in working with students and horses of all experience levels, ages and backgrounds.
Sean has studied Dressage internationally, ridden World Cup/Grand Prix
Showjumping and competed in 4* Eventing. He has bred and produced
Elite Performance Horses to the highest level and is 100% committed to the pursuit of excellence. He is a holder of current MR license and fluent in English and German.
His notable Achievements:
Member of the successful NSW Equestrian Elite Squad.
Long listed for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Equestrian team
in Eventing. (The sudden death of his horse at this time was a major setback.)
Member of development squad for the Beijing Olympics in Showjumping.
Coached Jiangsu Provence Equestrian team to win the Gold Medal at the
Chinese National Games in 2005.
Nalaka Perera, Financial Controller
Nalaka is a fully qualified accountant and very knowledgeable in the area of finance. He is extremely well organised and very friendly to deal with. Nalaka has a willingness to be helpful to everyone’s individual needs so you can feel free to consult him regularly regarding any issues. He works full-time at our corporate office from Monday to Friday (9am to 5pm).
Dylan Fernando, IT Administrator
Dylan is our IT Wiz-Kid. He maintains our web portal and fix any bugs so we all can surf the website smoothly. He has qualifications in; Certificate 2&3 in Information Technology, Certificate-4 in Business and currently studying Computer Systems Engineering at RMIT University. He is also a Student Pilot undertaking his Commercial Pilot License at Pearson Aviation.
Paddy Kelly, Stable Trackrider
Paddy works at our Seymour stables as our full-time trackrider. He is a registered jockey with Racing Victoria and one of the leading riders at picnic races in Victoria & NSW. Paddy has riding experience from Ireland and now resides in Victoria. Speed of Light Racing is happy to have Paddy as their full-time trackrider so our horses don's miss-out on track gallops at Seymour racecourse.
Judy Farley, Stablehand
Judy is a stablehand working at our Seymour stables. Her main duties include helping Sean Cooper with stablehand duties. Judy is a local living in Seymour (next door to our stable complex).