Balding hands two apprentices a job after delays to contentious BHA plans

Andrew Balding has thrown a lifeline to two would-be apprentices he initially turned down for employment because a controversial BHA rule change over pay has been put on hold as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

Plans to give apprentice jockeys a larger share of their prize-money winnings and riding fees, which Balding and several other trainers opposed, were supposed to have been implemented in March.

But the abeyance means top pony racers Harry Davies and Taylor Fisher, who have recently completed spells of work experience at Balding's Kingsclere Stables, have been reoffered positions to start as apprentices next summer.