In the first FEGENTRI race of the season at Siracusa, Italy, Des Dehdashsti won the gentleman’s race in his first ride representing GB. And in the FEGENTRI World Cup of Nations race, Margaret Morris finished second and Des third. A great start for GB! Many congratulations to both Des and Margaret.

ATTENTION ALL AMATEUR RIDERS! All riders MUST have a Baseline Neuropsychological Test annually. The Jockey Club Protocol applies regardless of where the concussion takes place, whether on a racecourse, in a point-to-point, on the gallops, in a car crash, or wherever.
Following a concussion, riders cannot return to racing until cleared by the Jockey Club Medical Department. This is the course of action required following a concussion: 1 Wait until you have fully recovered and are symptom free; 2 Contact Jockey Club Medical Department on 020-486-4921; 3 Indicate when you would like to start race riding again; 4 The Jockey Club Medical Department will make an appointment for you to attend one of the Regional Centres to undertake (a) a repeat neuropsychological assessment and (b) a consultation with a consultant physician; 5 Following the appointment, call the Jockey Club Medical Department to find out if you have been cleared to return to race riding.
PLEASE NOTE! ONLY WHEN YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN CLEARANCE BY THE JOCKEY CLUB MEDICAL DEPARTMENT CAN YOU THEN RETURN TO RACE RIDING (POINT-TO-POINT OR UNDER RULES)
For riders who hold a point-to-point permit only (ie do not have an Amateur A or B Licence) different rules apply: Baseline testing is not required. Action following a concussion: 1 Wait until you have fully recovered and are symptom free; 2 After a minimum of 6 clear days, report to a point-to-point doctor prior to racing and undergo a medical review to determine if you can return to riding; 3 Ensure that the Medical Record Book is completed accurately.
Any queries, please contact either the Jockey Club Medical Department on 020-486-4921 or Sarah Oliver on 01886-884488 or Sandy Murphy on 01484-666507.

Congratulations to Sarah Bosley for her fine win on Tony Carroll’s Brave Dane at Doncaster on the first day of the flat season last Thursday. The David Scott Lady Riders’ Handicap was supported by 19 runners and panned out well for Brave Dane, who needs a strong gallop and came up the inside from last to win going way by 2 lengths from Oldenway (Victoria Tunnicliffe) and Eton (Kelly Harrison) a further length and a half in third.

In a nail biting finish, Eamon Dehdashti beat off his rivals to take the AW Championship for 2003/2004 and received his award at the All Weather Championships Awards Dinner on Saturday 20th March from Derek Thompson and Zoe Bird.

If you wish to advertise yourself for rides, please e-mail to directory@amateurjockeys.co.uk with your name and address, contact phone numbers, e-mail address, riding weight, details of wins, type of licence held and any other information that you would like to give.
If you would like your photo included, please either e-mail this as an attachment or post it to Sarah Oliver at Crews Hill House, Crews HIll, Alfrick, Worcester WR6 5HF with your name written on the back of the photo.

Every year the AJA is proud and privileged to help in organising charity races in aid of The Spinal Injuries Association and Spinal Research as well as supporting other charities. The AJA undertake to provide riders and horses to participate in the charity races, and riders come from a variety of backgrounds. Importantly, none of the riders are holders of licences so that the day is a real challenge for them both in terms of physical fitness, ability and also of course the vital task of raising money by way of sponsorship.For 2004, there are four charity races planned as follows:10th June - Newbury - in aid of The Spinal Injuries Association, Spinal Research and Retraining of Racehorses13th June - Doncaster - in aid of The Spinal Injuries Association, Blue Bell Wood Children’s Hospice and Emergency Relief for Thoroughbreds 14th September - Salisbury - in aid of charities including The Spinal Injuries Associationand24th October - Wincanton - in aid of charities including The Spinal Injuries Association If you are interested in raising funds for charity by riding in a charity race, then please contact Sarah Oliver or Sandy Murphy.

The Amateur Jockeys Association is always looking at providing more for its members. So far this year we have sponsored amateur riders’ races at Ludlow (9th January) and Taunton (19th February). We look forward to 28th April when we will be sponsoring a Hunterchase at the Cheltenham evening meeting.Although many hunterchase riders are not AJA members, we want to show our support for racing by putting something back into the sport. We hope you may be able to ride in one of our races and join us afterwards to share congratulations or commiserations!

ATTENTION ALL AMATEUR RIDERS! BOTH CATEGORY A AND B! All riders MUST have a Baseline Neuropsychological Test annually. The Jockey Club Protocol applies regardless of where the concussion takes place, whether on a racecourse, in a point-to-point, on the gallops, in a car crash, or wherever. Following a concussion, riders cannot return to racing until cleared by the Jockey Club Medical Department.This is the course of action required following a concussion:1 Wait until you have fully recovered and are symptom free;2 Contact Jockey Club Medical Department on 020-486-4921;3 Indicate when you would like to start race riding again;4 The Jockey Club Medical Department will make an appointment for you to attend one of the Regional Centres to undertake (a) a repeat neuropsychological assessment and (b) a consultation with a consultant physician;5 Following the appointment, call the Jockey Club Medical Department to find out if you have been cleared to return to race riding.PLEASE NOTE! ONLY WHEN YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN CLEARANCE BY THE JOCKEY CLUB MEDICAL DEPARTMENT CAN YOU THEN RETURN TO RACE RIDING (POINT-TO-POINT OR UNDER RULES)For riders who hold a point-to-point permit only (ie do not have an Amateur A or B Licence) different rules apply:Baseline testing is not required.Action following a concussion:1 Wait until you have fully recovered and are symptom free;2 After a minimum of 6 clear days, report to a point-to-point doctor prior to racing and undergo a medical review to determine if you can return to riding;3 Ensure that the Medical Record Book is completed accurately.Any queries, please contact either the Jockey Club Medical Department on 020-486-4921 or Sarah Oliver on 01886-884488 or Sandy Murphy on 01484-666507.

If you are a registered owner, trainer, jockey or amateur rider, you would benefit from registering for the admin site. It is the first place that you view overnight declarations, provisional and confirmed entries and jockey bookings are updated dynamically as they are made by jockeys’ agents. To register for the site, e-mail Kelly Edwards at Weatherbys on kedwards@weatherbys-group.com or Andrew Dutton on adutton@weatherbys-group.com or fax on 01933 304779. There is no registration fee and only very small charges for viewing the very latest information on runners and riders.

Tables are selling fast for the AJA Charity Sweepstake to be held on 10th June at Newbury in aid of three charities - Spinal Injuries Association, Spinal Research and Rehabilitation of Racehorses. To make sure you are not disappointed, contact Sarah Oliver now on 01886 884488 to buy a table. £700 gives you admission tickets, champagne reception, lunch with wine and afternoon tea for ten people. What a way to entertain your friends at this prestigious event!