The battle for the NH Amateur Jump Championships reach their conclusion on Friday evening at Stratford-upon-Avon when both the gentleman and lady amateur champions will be presented with a magnum of champagne by AJA President Dr Philip Pritchard.  Current rankings are as follows:

2012/2013 NATIONAL HUNT GENTLEMAN AMATEUR JOCKEYS CHAMPIONSHIP

The championship runs from 1st June 2012 until 7th June 2013

2012/2013 NATIONAL HUNT LADY AMATEUR JOCKEYS CHAMPIONSHIP

The championship runs from 1st June 2012 until 7th June 2013

The Amateur Jockeys Association (AJA) is delighted to welcome a new sponsor with the announcement of the Betfair Novice Flat Amateur Series 2013.  

The Series is open to amateur jockeys who are members of the AJA and who at the start of the 2013 Flat Season (22nd March 2013) have ridden no more than 3 winners under the Rules of Racing (both Jump and Flat).  This does not include point-to-point or Arab racing wins.  Irish amateur jockeys with no more than 3 winners are eligible to ride in this series under their Irish permits and are also welcome to participate.

The Amateur Jockeys Association will manage the series in consultation with the British Horseracing Authority.  Participating jockeys will benefit from having Jimmy Bleasdale, the Jockey Coach based at the Northern Racing College, to walk the course before each race and to offer them help and advice.

A jockeys’ points system will be in place and the winning rider of each race will earn 5 points, with 3 points awarded to the 2nd placed jockey, 2 points to the 3rd and 1 point to all other jockeys who complete.  In addition to winning connections being presented with Betfair trophies after each race, the winning series jockey will be presented with the Betfair Novice Flat Amateur Series Trophy and will be awarded a two-week working holiday with Betfair Ambassador Gordon Elliott, the County Meath based trainer, to be taken before the end of the year.

Races are scheduled to take place as follows:

17th July Catterick Bridge

24th July Leicester

31st July Redcar

12th August Thirsk

26th August Ripon

28th August Carlisle

Sarah Oliver, CEO of the AJA, said “This series is devised to act as a launching pad for the race riding careers of young amateur jockeys who often struggle to get rides.  Thanks to the generosity of Betfair’s sponsorship, we can now offer these riders more opportunities to race ride together with education and training.”

Susannah Gill, Head of Public Affairs at Betfair, said “Betfair is pleased that its longstanding commitment to the grassroots of racing now extends to the AJA and it members. We hope the series will prove a great opportunity for amateur jockeys throughout the country to extend their experience with the potential of winning a truly unique prize.”

Please note that all amateur jockeys who enjoy a winning ride abroad should notify BHA Licensing Department (Joanne Crawforth 020 7152 0148 jcrawforth@britishhorseracing.com) upon returning home so that it can be recorded against your career records.

This is vital in order that you always carry the correct claim when riding under rules.

The AJA are pleased to announce that Betfair are very kindly sponsoring a new series on the flat this summer for amateur jockeys who have not ridden more than 3 winners under the rules of racing, which includes both flat and jump racing but discounts point-to-point and Arab race wins.

The series is made up as follows:

1 CATTERICK BRIDGE 17 JULY

2 LEICESTER 24 JULY

3 REDCAR 31 JULY

4 THIRSK 12 AUGUST (EVENING)

5 RIPON 26 AUGUST

6 CARLISLE 28 AUGUST

A Jockey Coach will be in attendance throughout the series to conduct a course walk prior to racing and to discuss the race afterwards with all participating jockeys.

Please note: should you wish to take out your amateur licence specifically for this series, that you should apply for your licence in plenty of time (ie early June) as all amateur licences expire on 30th June and Licensing at the BHA will therefore have a backlog of applications in early July.

An exciting opportunity awaits NH amateur (and professional) riders preferably aged under 26 who are interested in working, riding and holidaying in New Zealand!

You will be placed in friendly, family run racing environments (usually yards with 10 - 20 horses in work) where you will be looked after, shown a good time and just as importantly given opportunities to race ride.  

The AJA are delighted to announce that this summer will see the inaugural running of the JRL Group’s gentlemen rider’s Flat series.

This will consist of 5 races as follows:

1 Saturday 27th July (evening) SALISBURY

2 Sunday 4th August NEWBURY

3  Friday 4th October ASCOT

4 Sunday 13th October GOODWOOD

5  Monday 21st October ROYAL WINDSOR finale

Congratulations to Sam Waley-Cohen who finished 4th in today’s Grand National with OSCAR TIME trained in Ireland by Martin Lynch.

2nd in 2011 behind Ballybriggs, the partnership were always prominent and enjoyed a great spin.  Sam’s father Robert said “That was amazing, so exciting.  Sam had him in a great position and gave him every chance.”

Katie Walsh went to post favourite with SEABASS trained by her father Ted in a bid to become the first lady jockey to win a National (the pair having finished 3rd last year) and finished 13th of the 17 who completed, the horse having tired in the final stages of the race.

Many congratulations to 18 year old Jamie Hamilton who enjoyed a 100-1 victory today at Aintree with the horse who gave him his first career success under rules just over 12 months ago at Kelso when winning the AJA amateur chase, 13 year old TARTAN SNOW.

After a false start, 25 runners set off with CLOUDY LANE, WARNE and SILVERBURN leading the field and everyone safely negotiating the first.

As they turned into the home straight, it was Ollie Greenall and COOL FRIEND who looked the likely winners moving into a clear lead as they approached the elbow, but they were worn down by a well timed run from Jamie as the line approached and a photo finish decided the outcome with TARTAN SNOW winning by a neck.  Fresh from winning the men’s flat race at Doncaster only a fortnight ago for Richard Fahey, Jamie (son of clerk of the scales Michael Hamilton) is in the form of his life and said “This horse has been very good to me.  He gave me my first winner under rules.  He jumped for fun and all thanks to Stuart Coltherd for the opportunity.”

Watch the final stages of the race here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx20Lwss-Xg

There was a sad postscript to the race as tragically prolific point-to-point winning BATTLEFRONT collapsed after being pulled up by Katie Walsh when tiring and died from a heart attack.  The race was also the last for popular CLOUDY LANE who was retired by connections after finishing 9th.

Congratulations to our Fegentri GB representative Emma Sayer who enjoyed success today riding in a ladies Arab race in Oman.

The 20 points earned takes Emma into 2nd place and puts her in a strong position for this season along with our gentleman representative Freddie Mitchell who currently leads the men’s table.  Further information can be found at http://www.fegentri.com