Think you're fit enough to be a jockey? Flutter kicks might change your mind

Being a jockey can’t be that hard, can it? They just sit there and let the horse do all the work, right? In the brief history of time there is yet to be a race run anywhere in the world without someone somewhere suggesting they, their grandmother or their daughter’s dead goldfish could have done a better job than one of the individuals on board. So how hard can it really be?

That is the question I was sent to Epsom last week to answer. As the least fit member of Racing Post staff available – Paul Kealy was on holiday – I was deemed the ideal candidate to take on Hayley Turner and Tom Marquand in a series of exercises that comprise #jockeyfit. As someone who is neither fit nor a jockey – I somewhat shamefully would have the combined mass of Turner and Marquand covered were we required to weigh out – I found myself at something of a disadvantage and feeling more out of my depth than one of Sir Mark Prescott’s more stamina-laden types debuting over five furlongs.

For added authenticity Great British Racing, which organised the whole event not purely for my humiliation but also to showcase the immense strength and fitness of jockeys, paused the heatwave and arranged for it to be heaving down. They also provided a branded T-shirt and told me that, due to riding commitments at Wolverhampton, Turner was unable to take part. This did not bode well. If Turner deemed facing the kickback the lesser of two evils, then I really began to fear what was in store.