‘It feels especially harsh to see our racing heritage suffer such change’.
In a decision that has disappointed many in the Amateur Jockeys Association and among racing enthusiasts, professionals will now be able to ride in the National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham Festival change in a race that had long served as a showcase for amateur riders. One event, synonymous with the festival for many years, will now be run as a class two novice handicap chase, which only opens up opportunities for operatives to ride in one of the most iconic events of the jump racing calendar.
Sarah Oliver, chief executive of the Amateur Jockeys Association, is furious at both the removal of the amateur-only status and the lack of consultation before the change was made. It is a bad day for amateur jockeys, as the announcement of the change of race conditions for the National Hunt Chase today is bitterly disappointing to many of them, particularly since we have been reading about this change only just this morning and didn't even get a chance to call on its retention," said Oliver. She stressed amateur racing's history while lamenting the loss of an important platform through which up-and-coming professional jockeys would gain important experience.
The National Hunt Chase has been one of the three events at Cheltenham where a strict view has been taken about amateur riders and is supplemented by the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup and the St James's Place Festival Hunter Chase. In recent years, this contest has undergone several revisions. A measly four of eighteen runners finished the race in 2019, prompting a cut in distance from four miles to three miles and six furlongs in 2020. Now that it is switching to a handicap for horses rated 0-145, many fear that it will lessen its prestige as a proving ground for amateur riders.
Well, this is a big blow for the aspirant amateur jockeys, especially those dreaming of their Cheltenham win. Recently, the race was classified under Grade Two and gave the greatest amateurs in the industry the chance to showcase their skills. The top Irish amateur jockeys, such as Patrick Mullins, Jamie Codd, and Derek O'Connor, had dominated the particular competition. Each of them had won the race more than once and, therefore, remained significant for their career. Codd, a three-time winner of the race, described the decision as "hugely disappointing from an amateur's perspective.". "I suppose with the new conditions, they could still have left it an amateur race."
While the National Hunt Chase has changed, Oliver said Cheltenham's clerk of the course, Jon Pullin, has agreed to look at staging a compensatory race for amateurs somewhere else in the season. "We have some top-class amateur jump jockeys in this country, and their talents must be allowed to be showcased in such races," she said, once again underlining the need to preserve platforms for amateur jockeys.
Amateur riders still have the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Handicap Chase and the St James's Place festival, Hunter Chase, but the loss of the National Hunt Chase only serves to deny more young riders the opportunity to go amateur, fears. "Taking away races like this," Codd warned, "won't happen overnight but you'll see a serious lack of people wanting to become amateurs at working yards."
The debate over the decision speaks to a broader tension within racing as authorities seek to balance tradition with the need to adapt. It feels like a big loss, though, for those passionate about the amateur sides of things. As Oliver said near the end, "It feels especially harsh to see our racing heritage suffer such change."
