How many winners must an apprentice jockey ride to lose his/her claim?

In Flat racing, an apprentice jockeys’ licence allows young, inexperienced riders – aged between 16 and 26 years – to receive a weight allowance, or ‘claim’, when riding against full professional jockeys to compensate for their initial lack of experience. According to Rule (F) 140 of the Rules of Racing, apprentice jockeys can claim 7lb until they have ridden 20 winners, 5lb until they have ridden 50 winners and 3lb until they have ridden 95 winners.

In other words, once an apprentice has ridden 95 winners, his or her apprentice licence becomes invalid and he or she is said to have ‘ridden out’ his or her claim. He or she is then required to apply for a full professional licence with six months. Of course, it is also possible for an apprentice to turn 26 before he or she has ridden out his or her claim, in which case his or her apprentice licence becomes invalid anyway and he or she must apply for a full professional licence immediately.

What is Weight-for-Age?

Weight-for-Age (WFA) is a weight allowance given to younger horses, usually three-year-olds, to compensate for their lack of physical maturity and allow them to compete with older, mature horses on equal terms, at least in theory. The so-called Weight-for-Age Scale was first formalised by Admiral Henry John Rous, Jockey Club Steward, in the mid-nineteenth century and, although it has been revised several times over the years, the underlying principle remains the same. The modern Weight-for-Age Scale is a table that lays down, fortnight by fortnight, how much weight horses of different ages should receive from their elders, over different distances, until they reach maturity at the age of four years. The weight allowance decreases, in linear fashion, as the year progresses, and is based on the development of the theoretical ‘average’ horse.

 

In horse racing, what is a penalty?

In simple terms, in horse racing, a penalty is a disadvantage, or handicap, in the form of extra weight to be carried, imposed on a horse for winning a race under certain circumstances. In Group Two, Group Three and Listed races on the Flat, for example, penalties are incurred by horses that have won at the same, or higher, level within a certain period of time.

Usually after three runs on the Flat, or three runs over hurdles or fences, or a combination of the two, a horse qualifies for an official rating. The official rating represents the ability of the horse, according to a team of handicappers at the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), and is reassessed after each subsequent race.

If the horse wins, say, a handicap race – which each horse has a theoretically equal chance of winning – it must, logically, have performed better its current official rating so, when reassessed, its official rating will increase, typically by 6lb or 7lb. However, if the same horse if turned out again within the space of seven days – that is, before it has been reassessed by the BHA handicappers – it typically has to carry a standard penalty, of 6lb or 7lb, to allow for that fact.

1 2